The 2008 Oceania Swimming Championships were held in New Zealand and featured competition in swimming, open water swimming and synchronized swimming. It was the 7th Oceania Swimming Championships and second time that New Zealand hosted the event after playing host to the 2000 Championships.
The open water competitions were held from 3 February to 5 February near Rotorua in Lake Okataina and Lake Rotoma whilst the swimming and synchronized swimming competitions were carried out from 5 June to 8 June in Christchurch at the QEII Leisure Centre.
Twelve of the 13 federated members of the Oceania Swimming Association competed with the Northern Mariana Islands the only member not to send any swimmers. Two associate members also attending, bringing the total to 14: the French overseas department New Caledonia and the USA State Hawaii.
The ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by a member federation (or associate member) of the Oceania Swimming Association. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. The host country, New Zealand, is highlighted in lavender. The greatest number of medals won in each medal category, gold, silver, bronze, and total, is in boldface.
A total of 38 swimming events were contested in a 50-metre pool. To give the smaller island nations a chance against the stronger swimming nations of Australia and New Zealand the championships rules stated that in the individual events only the top two qualifiers from each country progress through to the final with the third fastest swimmer only from those countries with two swimmers qualifying for the ‘A’ final permitted to swim in the ‘B’ final. In the relay events it was one medal per country. So, for example, if New Zealand 'A' finishes first, Australia 'A' finishes second, New Zealand 'B' finishes third and New Caledonia finishes fourth, New Caledonia would be awarded the bronze medal.
| Event: | Gold: | Time | Silver: | Time | Bronze: | Time |
| Freestyle | ||||||
| Men's 50 m details | William Benson Mark Herring | 22.92 CR | Matthew Brooks | 23.27 | ||
| Men's 100 m details | Mark Herring | 50.17 | Cameron Gibson | 50.43 | Reece Turner | 50.61 |
| Men's 200 m details | Robert Hurley | 1:48.84 CR | Andrew McMillan | 1:51.14 | Reece Turner | 1:51.44 |
| Men's 400 m details | Robert Hurley | 3:53.56 CR | Theodore Pasialis | 3:54.77 | Bryn Murphy | 4:00.81 |
| Men's 1500 m details | Theodore Pasialis | 15:27.31 CR | Kane Radford | 15:43.87 | Bryn Murphy | 15:48.17 |
| Backstroke | ||||||
| Men's 50 m details | Robert Hurley | 25.64 CR | Daniel Bell | 26.13 | Bradley Byrne | 26.56 |
| Men's 100 m details | Robert Hurley | 55.04 CR | Bobby Jovanovich | 56.54 | Gareth Kean | 56.82 |
| Men's 200 m details | Robert Hurley | 2:01.23 CR | Cameron Stanley | 2:02.08 | John Zulch | 2:04.35 |
| Breaststroke | ||||||
| Men's 50 m details | Glenn Snyders | 28.31 CR | James Stacey | 29.03 | Stephane Debaere | 29.61 |
| Men's 100 m details | Glenn Snyders | 1:02.31 | James Stacey | 1:03.16 | Dean Kent | 1:03.92 |
| Men's 200 m details | Glenn Snyders | 2:16.24 CR | James Stacey | 2:16.36 | Kekoa Taparra | 2:28.60 |
| Butterfly | ||||||
| Men's 50 m details | Corney Swanepoel | 23.98 CR | Chris Wright | 24.32 | Ryan Pini | 24.48 |
| Men's 100 m details | Ryan Pini | 52.33 CR | Corney Swanepoel | 52.54 | Chris Wright | 53.40 |
| Men's 200 m details | Moss Burmester | 1:58.00 CR | Chris Wright | 1:59.50 | Ryan Napoleon | 2:02.11 |
| Individual Medley | ||||||
| Men's 200 m details | Dean Kent | 2:02.21 CR | Stephen Parkes | 2:05.71 | John Gatfield | 2:07.04 |
| Men's 400 m details | Stephen Parkes | 4:30.49 | Brett Newall | 4:36.32 | Bryn Murphy | 4:41.64 |
| Freestyle Relay | ||||||
| Men's 4×100 m details | Mark Herring Orinoco Faamausili-Banse William Benson Cameron Gibson | 3:19.91 CR | Reece Turner Chris Wright Matthew Brooks Robert Hurley | 3:22.84 | ? ? ? ?  New Caledonia | 3:35.12 |
| Men's 4×200 m details | Ryan Napoleon Reece Turner Theodore Pasialis Robert Hurley | 7:25.63 CR | ? ? ? ? | 7:33.29 | ? ? ? ? New Caledonia | 8:11.72 |
| Medley Relay | ||||||
| Men's 4×100 m details | Daniel Bell Glenn Snyders Corney Swanepoel Cameron Gibson | 3:38.62 CR | Robert Hurley James Stacey Chris Wright Reece Turner | 3:38.90 | ? ? ? ? New Caledonia | 4:02.88 |
| Event: | Gold: | Time | Silver: | Time | Bronze: | Time |
| Freestyle | ||||||
| Women's 50 m details | Rebecca Ohlwein | 25.84 CR | Kacey Pilgrim | 26.05 | Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane | 26.84 |
| Women's 100 m details | Hayley Palmer | 55.55 CR | Merindah Dingjan | 56.27 | Rebecca Ohlwein | 56.54 |
| Women's 200 m details | Helen Norfolk | 2:00.31 CR | Lauren Boyle | 2:00.73 | Merindah Dingjan | 2:02.80 |
| Women's 400 m details | Lauren Boyle | 4:14.29 | Morgan-Lee Barnes | 4:16.45 | Jacinta Powell | 4:16.73 |
| Women's 800 m details | Lauren Boyle | 8:44.06 | Jacinta Powell | 8:45.72 | Morgan-Lee Barnes | 8:51.21 |
| Backstroke | ||||||
| Women's 50 m details | Elizabeth Coster | 28.16 CR | Emily Thomas | 28.46 | Bridgette-Rose Taylor | 28.50 |
| Women's 100 m details | Elizabeth Coster | 59.44 CR | Melissa Ingram | 59.87 | Bridgette-Rose Taylor | 1:00.40 |
| Women's 200 m details | Melissa Ingram | 2:11.03 CR | Siobhan Keane | 2:14.55 | Bridgette-Rose Taylor | 2:17.32 |
| Breaststroke | ||||||
| Women's 50 m details | Jessica Legge | 32.22 CR | Annabelle Carey | 33.14 | Kacey Pilgrim | 33.76 |
| Women's 100 m details | Jessica Legge | 1:11.30 | Annabelle Carey | 1:11.53 | Olivia Halicek | 1:15.27 |
| Women's 200 m details | Jessica Legge | 2:34.66 | Annabelle Carey | 2:46.48 | Elizabeth Matthews | 2:47.88 |
| Butterfly | ||||||
| Women's 50 m details | Amy Smith | 27.46 | Jessica Ash | 27.92 | Emily Thomas | 28.52 |
| Women's 100 m details | Amy Smith | 59.96 CR | Elizabeth Coster | 1:00.07 NR | Jessica Ash | 1:01.29 |
| Women's 200 m details | Amy Smith | 2:09.63 CR | Jessica Ash | 2:15.15 | Marissa Yamamoto | 2:32.37 |
| Individual Medley | ||||||
| Women's 200 m details | Helen Norfolk | 2:14.74 CR | Jessica Legge | 2:18.37 | Blair Evans | 2:20.43 |
| Women's 400 m details | Helen Norfolk | 4:47.32 CR | Blair Evans | 4:54.03 | Jessica Legge | 4:58.93 |
| Freestyle Relay | ||||||
| Women's 4×100 m details | Olivia Halicek Rebecca Ohlwein Kacey Pilgrim Merindah Dingjan | 3:47.32 | ? ? ? ? | 4:00.19 | ? ? ? ? New Caledonia | 4:08.03 |
| Women's 4×200 m details | Helen Norfolk Lauren Boyle Hayley Palmer Tash Hind | 8:10.78 CR | Merindah Dingjan Blair Evans Jacinta Powell Morgan-Lee Barnes | 8:13.31 | ? ? ? ? | 9:06.10 |
| Medley Relay | ||||||
| Women's 4×100 m details | Bridgette-Rose Taylor Jessica Legge Amy Smith Olivia Halicek | 4:09.14 CR | ? ? ? ? | 4:11.68 | ? ? ? ? | 4:36.98 |
| Event: | Gold: | Time | Silver: | Time | Bronze: | Time | |
| Men's 5 km details | Trent Grimsey | 58:34.21 | Kane Radford | 59:41.30 | Blake Collis | 59:47.39 | |
| Men's 10 km details | Trent Grimsey | 1:59:34.8 | Kane Radford | 1:59:53.2 | Blake Collis | 2:00:06.9 |
| Event: | Gold: | Time | Silver: | Time | Bronze: | Time | |
| Women's 5 km details | Stacey Hansford | 1:01:30.90 | Amy Thompson | 1:01:31.99 | Joyce Wiegersma | 1:06:43:55 | |
| Women's 10 km details | Amy Thompson | 2:04:51.0 | Stacey Hansford | 2:04:51.0 | Joyce Wiegersma | 2:08:22.4 |
During the 2008 Oceania Swimming Championships, 42 Championship Records (or Meet Records) were set. Multiple Continental and National Records were also set.