Olympic Swimming History

The modern Olympic Games started late 19th century with the first Olympics held in Greece in 1896. has been inspired by the ancient Olympic games started and held in Greece (dated as far back as 776 BC) for centuries. Although swimming has always been part of the modern Olympics or the Summer Olympic Games, it was not part of the ancient Olympics. t The 1896 Summer Olympics, four swimming events were contested, all for men. In 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden, women also were allowed to race and compete for medals in an indoor swimming pool.

Swimming in the Modern Olympic Games

In the first modern Olympics in 1896, all athletes including swimmers were male and competed in a very limited numbers of sports. Athletics (track and field), cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, fencing, shooting, and tennis all have been part of modern games since the first Olympics. In the 1896 Olympics, male swimmers competed in 4 swimming events in open water and only the 100-meter freestyle has survived to date. 100-meter freestyle indeed is still to this date is part of the Olympic games including Paris 2024  both for male and female swimmers. Swimming events for female swimmers started in 1912 Olympics in Sweden with 4 events and in an indoor swimming pool. The first Olympic swimming event for female swimmers was 100-meter freestyle. The gold medalist was an Australian swimmer (Fanny Durack).

Swimming Pools for Olympic Swimming Events

These days, apart from Marathon Swimming (10K swim), all Olympians swim in 50-meter pools which are the majority of time are indoors. In Barcelona’s 1992 Summer Olympics, it was the last time Olympic swimming was held in an outdoor 50-meter pool.

Swimming pools sometimes are built specifically for the Olympic Games by the host nations. The London Aquatics Centre is a beautiful aquatic centre that includes a 50-meter pool and was built for the London 2012 Olympics.

In Paris 2024, a temporary 50-meter pool has been put in a venue which recently was used for Taylor Swift concert. You can see how the pool was built in this video.

What Swimming Strokes Olympians Swim in the Olympics

In the Olympics, swimmers compete in 37 events and 35 events are in a swimming pool. Olympic swimmers who compete in a 50-m pool in different events which could vary in length.  Swimmers compete in events in four major swimming strokes; Freestyle or Front Crawl, Breaststroke, Backstroke or Back Crawl, and Butterfly.

The Shortest and Longest Distance in Olympic Swimming Events

In the swimming pool, a minimum of 50 meters and a maximum distance of 1500 meters are for swimming events. In open water, like sea or river, the Marathon swimming which is to cover 10,000 meters is taking place.

Individual freestyle, or front crawl, is the stroke with the most events. Both male and female freestyle swimmers compete over 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m.

Backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly individual events take place over 100m and 200m distances, whilst the individual medley (which means a swimmer has to swim all four strokes) take place over 200m and 400m.

The Superstars of Olympic Swimming

The first superstar of the world of swimming was Johnny Wesissmuller who not only won five gold medals in the Olympics , but, became a famous actor after retiring from swimming. Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals in the 1972 Olympics in Germany. Michael Phelps broke his record in 2008 Olympics in China by winning 8 gold medals.

Swimming Stars in Paris 2024

New stars have risen in Paris and some old stars kept shining. The new swimming sensation is Leon Marchant of France. Only 22 years of age, he won two gold medals, one for 200-meter butterfly and breaststroke in 1 session.

Another star of Paris Olympics was Sarah Sjöström from Sweden who won both 50 and 100meter freestyle in Paris. Sarah has competed in 5 consecutive Olympics and she became the fastest female swimmer in Paris. Kat Ledecky also became a legend as she won a gold medal in 800-meter freestyle for a the fourth time. She won a gold at the same event at 4 Olympic games. Katie Ledecky becomes the only woman  with four Olympic golds in the same event.

Summer McIntoch of Canada, only 17 years old, won 3 gold medals.

Learning to Swim is for All Even Olympians

Swimming never stops with the Olympics. For thousands of years, humans have been enjoying swimming and passing time in water. Never forget that even Olympic swimmers once were non-swimmers and had to learn to swim.

To learn to swim, you need a swimming teacher and swim lessons.

If you live in southwest London, feel free to reach out to us for swimming lessons.