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Find out when swimming starts in the Olympics so you can make sure to catch all the action.
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When is the first day of swimming in the Olympics?
The first swimming event in the Olympics is set for Saturday, August 6, 2016. The event, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be the Men’s 400m Freestyle.
What are the events that will be swum on the first day?
The first day of swimming at the Olympics will feature two events: the men’s 400 meter freestyle and the women’s 100 meter butterfly. The finals for both of these events will be held in the evening, so everyone will have a chance to watch.
What are the qualifying times for each event?
The qualifying time standards are set by the respective governing body for each event and are sometimes changed to suit the conditions of the host city or to promote participation. For the 2016 Olympics, the standards were generally faster than those used for the 2012 Olympics.
The table below shows the minimum qualifying time standards for each swimming event for men and women. Note that these are not “seeding” times – all swimmers who achieved the qualifying time standard in an event are entered into that event, regardless of their time.
Event|Men|Women
—|—|—
50 m freestyle|22.00|24.60
100 m freestyle|48.90|55.50
200 m freestyle|1:51.00|2:08.00
400 m freestyle|3:45.00 4:10.00
800 m freestyle 8:18.02 9:05.56
1500 m freestyle 15:03.23 16:19.14
100 m backstroke 53.40 1:01.10
200 m backstroke 1:56.70 2:13.10
100 m breaststroke 1:02.90 1:11.50
200 m breaststroke 2:17-30 2:36-00
100 m butterfly 57-30 1:05-80
200m butterfly 2:02-20 2;19-70
200m individual medley 2:11 8 2;29 3
400m individual medley 4;31 7 4;57 5
Swimming at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will take place from Sunday, July 26 to Sunday, August 2 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, Japan
How many swimmers will be competing in each event?
The swimming events at the Olympic Games have been divided into two types since the 1920 Antwerp Games: long-distance freestyle races and medley races. In long-distance freestyle events, swimmers cover a prescribed distance in either a pool or open water, with the winner being the first to complete the race. In medley races, swimmers swim different strokes over different distances in either a pool or open water, with the winner again being the first to complete the race.
There are a total of 34 swimming events that will be contested at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: 17 for men and 17 for women. This is four more events than were contested at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and two more than were contested at both the 2012 London Olympic Games and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In each event, there will be a maximum of 2 swimmers per country allowed to compete.
Who are the current Olympic champions in each event?
The current Olympic champions in each event are:
– men’s 100 meter freestyle: Kyle Chalmers (Australia)
– men’s 200 meter freestyle: Sun Yang (China)
– men’s 400 meter freestyle: Yang Sun (China)
– men’s 4x100 meter freestyle relay: Australia
– men’s 4x200 meter freestyle relay: United States
– men’s 4x400 meter freestyle relay: United States
– men’s 800 meter freestyle: Mack Horton (Australia)
– men’s 1500 meter freestyle: Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy)
– men’s 10 kilometer open water: Ferry Weertman (Netherlands)
– women’s 50 meter freestyle: Pernille Blume (Denmark)
– women’s 100 meter freestyle: Cate Campbell (Australia)
– women’s 200 meter freestyle: Katie Ledecky (United States)
– women’s 400 meter freestyle: Katie Ledecky (United States)
– women’s 800 meter freestyle: Katie Ledecky (United States)
– women’s 1500meter freestyle Leah Smith (United States) – women’s 4x100meter medley relay United States
– women’s 4x200meter medley relay United States – women’s 4x400meter medley relay United Kingdom
