Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics
| Swimming at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 %252C_Tokyo_2020.svg.png.webp) Pictograms for Swimming (left) and Marathon Swimming (right) | |
| Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre (pool) Odaiba Marine Park (open water) |
| Dates | 24 July – 1 August 2021 4–5 August 2021 (Marathon) |
| No. of events | 37 |
| Competitors | 1000 |
| Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Qualification | |||
| Freestyle | |||
| 50 m | men | women | |
| 100 m | men | women | |
| 200 m | men | women | |
| 400 m | men | women | |
| 800 m | men | women | |
| 1500 m | men | women | |
| Backstroke | |||
| 100 m | men | women | |
| 200 m | men | women | |
| Breaststroke | |||
| 100 m | men | women | |
| 200 m | men | women | |
| Butterfly | |||
| 100 m | men | women | |
| 200 m | men | women | |
| Individual medley | |||
| 200 m | men | women | |
| 400 m | men | women | |
| Freestyle relay | |||
| 4×100 m | men | women | |
| 4×200 m | men | women | |
| Medley relay | |||
| 4×100 m | men | mixed | women |
| Marathon | |||
| 10 km | men | women | |
The swimming competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were due to take place from 25 July to 6 August 2020 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed to 2021. However, their official name remained 2020 Summer Olympics with swimming events set for 24 July–1 August 2021 and marathon swimming set for 4–5 August 2021.[1]
Swimming featured a record total of 37 events (18 for each gender and 1 mixed), with the addition of the men's 800 m freestyle, women's 1500 m freestyle, and the mixed 4 × 100 m medley relay.
Events
Swimming at the 2020 Olympics featured a total of 37 events (18 each for men and women and 1 mixed event), including two 10 km open-water marathons. This was a slight increase from the 34 events contested in the previous Olympic Games. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in meters unless stated):
- Freestyle: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,500;
- Backstroke: 100 and 200;
- Breaststroke: 100 and 200;
- Butterfly: 100 and 200;
- Individual medley: 200 and 400;
- Relays: 4×100 free, 4×200 free; 4×100 medley (men's, women's, and mixed)
- Marathon: 10 kilometres
Schedule
Unlike the previous Olympics, swimming program schedule occurred in two segments. For the pool events, prelims were held in the evening, with semifinals and final in the following morning session, spanning a day between semifinals and finals in those events with semifinals. The shift of the normal morning prelims and evening finals (to evening prelims and morning finals) occurred for these Games due to the prior request made by US broadcaster NBC (due to the substantial fees NBC has paid for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed NBC to have influence on event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible; NBC agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games,[2] is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC),[3] so that the finals from the event could be shown live in the United States.[4][5]
| H | Heats | ½ | Semifinals | F | Final |
M = Morning session, starting at 10:30 local time (01:30 UTC).
E = Evening session, starting at 19:00 local time (10:00 UTC).
| Date → | Jul 24 | Jul 25 | Jul 26 | Jul 27 | Jul 28 | Jul 29 | Jul 30 | Jul 31 | Aug 1 | Aug 5 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
| 50 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 400 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 800 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1500 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 100 m backstroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m backstroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m breaststroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m breaststroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m butterfly | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m butterfly | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m individual medley | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 400 m individual medley | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 km open water | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date → | Jul 24 | Jul 25 | Jul 26 | Jul 27 | Jul 28 | Jul 29 | Jul 30 | Jul 31 | Aug 1 | Aug 4 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
| 50 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m freestyle | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 400 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 800 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1500 m freestyle | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 100 m backstroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m backstroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m breaststroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m breaststroke | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 100 m butterfly | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m butterfly | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 200 m individual medley | H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||
| 400 m individual medley | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 km open water | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date → | Jul 24 | Jul 25 | Jul 26 | Jul 27 | Jul 28 | Jul 29 | Jul 30 | Jul 31 | Aug 1 | Aug 4 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | H | F | ||||||||||||||||||
Qualification
Swimming – individual events
FINA establishes qualifying times for individual events. The time standards consisted of two types: an "Olympic Qualifying Time" (OQT) and an "Olympic Selection time" (OST). Each country was able to enter up to two swimmers per event, provided both swimmers met the (faster) qualifying time. A country was able to enter one swimmer per event that met the invitation standard. Any swimmer who met the "qualifying" time was entered in the event for the Games; a swimmer meeting the "invitation" standard was eligible for entry, and their entry was allotted/filled in by ranking. If a country has no swimmers who meet either of the qualifying standards, it may have entered one male and one female. A country that did not receive an allocation spot but had at least one swimmer who met a qualifying standard might have entered the swimmer with the highest ranking.[9]
Swimming – relay events
Each relay event features 16 teams, composed of:[9]
- 12 teams including the top-12 finishers at the 2019 World Championships in each relay event.
- 4 teams including the 4 fastest non-qualified teams, based on times in the 15-months preceding the Olympics.
Open-water swimming
The men's and women's 10 km races featured 25 swimmers:[9]
- 10: the top-10 finishers in the 10 km races at the 2019 World Championships
- 9: the top-9 finishers at the 2020 Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier
- 5: one representative from each FINA continent (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania).
- 1: from the host nation (Japan) if not qualified by other means. If Japan already contained a qualifier in the race, this spot had been allocated back into the general pool from the 2020 Olympic qualifier race.
Participating nations
As the host nation, Japan receives guaranteed quota place in case it would not qualify any qualification places.
- United States
- Australia
- Algeria
- Great Britain
- China
- ROC
- Japan
- Canada
- Hungary
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Germany
- Tunisia
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Hong Kong
- Israel
- Ukraine
- France
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Finland
Medal summary
Medal table
* Host nation (Japan)
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 11 | 10 | 9 | 30 |
| 2 |  Australia | 9 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
| 3 |  Great Britain | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 |  China | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 |  ROC | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 |  Japan* | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 |  Hungary | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 |  South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 |  Brazil | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
 Germany | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 12 |  Tunisia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 |  Netherlands | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 |  Italy | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 15 |  Hong Kong | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 |  Ukraine | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 |  France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Sweden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 |  Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 |  Denmark | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (21 NOCs) | 37 | 37 | 37 | 111 | |
Men's events
a Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.
Women's events
b Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.
Mixed events
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 100 m medley relay |
Great Britain Kathleen Dawson (58.80) Adam Peaty (56.78) James Guy (50.00) Anna Hopkin (52.00) Freya Anderson[c] | 3:37.58 WR | China Xu Jiayu (52.56) Yan Zibei (58.11) Zhang Yufei (55.48) Yang Junxuan (52.71) | 3:38.86 | Australia Kaylee McKeown (58.14) Zac Stubblety-Cook (58.82) Matthew Temple (50.26) Emma McKeon (51.76) Bronte Campbell[c] Isaac Cooper[c] Brianna Throssell[c] | 3:38.95 |
|
AF African Record | AM Americas Record | SA South American Record | AS Asian Record | ER European Record | OC Oceanian Record | OR Olympic Record | WJR World Junior Record | WR World Record | ||||||
c Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.
Records broken
Men
| Event | Round | Swimmer | Team | Time | Date | Record | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's 800 metre freestyle | Heat 4 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | Ukraine | 7:41.28 | 27 July | OR | 4 |
| Men's 200 metre butterfly | Final | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 1:51.25 | 28 July | OR | 5 |
| Men's 200 metre breaststroke | Final | Zac Stubblety-Cook | Australia | 2:06.38 | 29 July | OR | 6 |
| Men's 100 metre freestyle | Final | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 47.02 | 29 July | OR | 6 |
| Men's 100 metre butterfly | Heat 8 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 50.39 | 29 July | OR | 6 |
| Men's 100 metre butterfly | Semifinal 1 | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 50.31 | 30 July | OR | 7 |
| Men's 100 metre butterfly | Semifinal 2 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 49.71 | 30 July | OR | 7 |
| Men's 200 metre backstroke | Final | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 1:53.27 | 30 July | OR | 7 |
| Men's 100 metre butterfly | Final | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 49.45 | 31 July | WR | 8 |
| Men's 50 metre freestyle | Final | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 21.07 | 1 August | OR | 9 |
| Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay | Final |
| United States | 3:26.78 | 1 August | WR | 9 |
Women
Mixed
| Event | Round | Swimmer | Team | Time | Date | Record | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay | Heat 1 |
| Great Britain | 3:38.75 | 29 July | OR | 6 |
| Mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay | Final |
| Great Britain | 3:37.58 | 31 July | WR | 8 |
- All world records (WR) are consequently Olympic records (OR).
History of Olympic Swimming
The first Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, with competitive swimming being at the center of the competition. Competitive Swimming in the Olympic Games is one of only four sports that have been retained in every Olympic games, dating back to the very first in 1896. Swimming at the 1896 Olympics was an experimental event that include events that are no longer included today. Swimming at the first Olympics was also an all men sport and no women were allowed to swim. Some of these events included:
- 100 m Freestyle
- 500 m Freestyle
- 1200 m Freestyle
- Sailors 100 m Freestyle (only including members of the Greek Navy)
It was not until the 1912 Stockholm Olympics that women were allowed to compete in competitive swimming at the Olympic games. However they were only allowed to compete in the 100 m Freestyle and 400 m free relay.
By 1924, new swimming events at the Olympics were constantly being added to the Summer Olympic games. Backstroke and breaststroke were becoming common events among competitive men and women swimming. The 1924 Olympic Games consisted of 11 competitive swimming events, 6 for men and 5 for women.
Post World War II
After World War II, Olympic sports saw an increase in innovation and technological advancements. This translated to the swimming world; formation of lane lines, advanced training techniques, increase in indoor swimming pools, hydrodynamic swimsuits, and better drainage systems contributed to many reasons as to why competitive swimming popularity increased, thus creating more events at the Olympic games for both men and women.
The 1956 Olympics was the first Olympic games to included the Butterfly event, both 200 m for men and 100 m for women. The 1956 Summer Olympics included 13 events for swimming, making it a record high at the time.
Today
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics included 37 total events, 18 for each gender, and also included a co-ed event. Competitive swimming at the Summer Olympics continued to change at each Summer Olympic games. Technological advances and innovation of indoor swimming pools both helped increase the popularity of the sport as well as the betterment of competitor swimmers.
See also
- Artistic swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Swimming at the 2018 Asian Games
- Swimming at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Swimming at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
- Swimming at the 2019 African Games
- Swimming at the 2019 Pacific Games
- Swimming at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Swimming at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
References
- McCurry, Justin; Ingle, Sean (24 March 2020). "Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - "Olympics on NBC through 2032". USA Today. Gannett Company. 7 May 2014.
- "Fewer Russians Could Be a Windfall for U.S. Olympic Business". The New York Times. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- "Tokyo 2020 Aquatics To Have Morning Olympic Finals". Swimming World Magazine. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- Longman, Jeré (12 February 2018). "For Olympic Figure Skaters, a New Meaning to Morning Routine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
- "Schedule - Swimming Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympian Database. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Swimming Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Marathon Swimming Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympia – Tokyo 2020; FINA, 19 March 2018.
- "Swimming - Final Results". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- "Swimming - Women's 100m Breaststroke Heat 5 Results". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
12. “List of Participating Countries in Tokyo OLYMPICS 2020-21.” Tokyo 2020-21 Summer Olympics Participating Countries: 206 NOCs Nations List, www.whereig.com/olympics/summer-olympics-participating-countries.html.
13. Yu, Cindy, and Talya Minsberg. “A Look at All of the World Records That Were Broken at the Tokyo Olympics.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Aug. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/sports/olympics/world-records-tokyo-olympics.html.
14. 2019, Kaylie Williams, 04 February, and Kaylie Williams. “From Past to Present: The Evolution and History of Olympic Swimming.” Swimming World News, 4 Feb. 2019, www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/from-past-to-present-the-evolution-and-history-of-olympic-swimming/.
15. “Swimming: Olympic Sport.” Tokyo 2020, olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/sports/swimming/.
16. Olympic Medal Count.” Tokyo 2020 Olympics (Jul 23-Aug 8, 2021), olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm.
17.“Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Sept. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics.
18. 2019, Kaylie Williams, 04 February, and Kaylie Williams. “From Past to Present: The Evolution and History of Olympic Swimming.” Swimming World News, 4 Feb. 2019, https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/from-past-to-present-the-evolution-and-history-of-olympic-swimming/.
External links
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