| Event: | Swimming |
| Games: | 1986 Asian Games |
| Venue: | Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool |
| Dates: | 21–26 September 1986 |
| Prev: | 1982 |
| Next: | 1990 |
Swimming was contested at the 1986 Asian Games in Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool, Seoul, South Korea from 21 September to 26 September 1986.
| 100 m freestyle | 51.56 | 51.69 | 52.27 | ||||
| 200 m freestyle | 1:52.32 | 1:53.26 | 1:53.36 | ||||
| 400 m freestyle | 4:00.35 | 4:01.57 | 4:03.35 | ||||
| 1500 m freestyle | 15:50.93 | 15:51.33 | 16:17.03 | ||||
| 100 m backstroke | 57.39 | 57.98 | 58.67 | ||||
| 200 m backstroke | 2:05.13 | 2:07.15 | 2:07.11 | ||||
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:04.02 | 1:04.13 | 1:04.99 | ||||
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:20.07 | 2:20.34 | 2:22.02 | ||||
| 100 m butterfly | 54.64 | 55.13 | 55.37 | ||||
| 200 m butterfly | 2:01.06 | 2:02.38 | 2:02.99 | ||||
| 200 m individual medley | 2:05.48 | 2:08.83 | 2:09.07 | ||||
| 400 m individual medley | 4:27.99 | 4:31.35 | 4:42.06 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | Shen Jianqiang Yang Qing Mu Lati Feng Qiangbiao | 3:27.51 | Keisuke Okuno Shigeo Ogata Hiroshi Miura Katsunori Fujiwara | 3:29.78 | Ang Peng Siong David Lim Tay Khoon Hean Oon Jin Gee | 3:31.36 | |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | Keisuke Okuno Shigeo Ogata Tomohiro Noguchi Katsunori Fujiwara | 7:36.07 | Chen Suwei He Runhua Xie Jun Wang Dali | 7:49.38 | Oon Jin Gee David Lim Oon Jin Teik Tay Khoon Hean | 7:56.27 | |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | Daichi Suzuki Hisashi Fuwa Hiroshi Miura Katsunori Fujiwara | 3:46.55 | Wang Hao Jin Fu Zheng Jian Shen Jianqiang | 3:48.72 | Lukman Niode Wirmandi Sugriat Sabeni Sudiono Daniel Arief Budiman | 3:55.85 |
| 100 m freestyle | 57.62 | 58.23 | 58.42 | ||||
| 200 m freestyle | 2:05.21 | 2:05.30 | 2:06.24 | ||||
| 400 m freestyle | 4:15.61 | 4:20.49 | 4:21.05 | ||||
| 800 m freestyle | 8:43.42 | 8:50.44 | 8:50.45 | ||||
| 100 m backstroke | 1:04.62 | 1:05.11 | 1:05.96 | ||||
| 200 m backstroke | 2:18.33 | 2:19.75 | 2:21.19 | ||||
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:12.70 | 1:12.71 | 1:13.11 | ||||
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:34.01 | 2:37.62 | 2:38.62 | ||||
| 100 m butterfly | 1:01.36 | 1:01.56 | 1:02.37 | ||||
| 200 m butterfly | 2:12.83 | 2:13.53 | 2:16.56 | ||||
| 200 m individual medley | 2:21.02 | 2:21.23 | 2:22.30 | ||||
| 400 m individual medley | 4:52.43 | 4:57.30 | 4:57.73 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | Xia Fujie Huang Hong Zhou Xun Qian Hong | 3:52.21 | Yoko Shimao Miki Wakahoi Miki Saito Chikako Nakamori | 3:55.62 | Fenella Ng Celeste Hung Fu Mui Suzanna Lee | 4:03.65 | |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | Kaoru Ono Hiroko Nagasaki Yoko Kawahigashi Yoko Shimao | 4:16.07 | Zhou Xun Huang Xiaomin Qian Hong Xia Fujie | 4:16.75 | Choi Yun-hui Park Seong-won Lee Hong-mi Kim Jin-suk | 4:22.76 |