| Event: | Swimming |
| Games: | 2008 Summer |
| Venue: | Beijing National Aquatics Centre (pool) Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (open water) |
| Dates: | 9–17 August 2008 (pool) 20–21 August 2008 (open water) |
| Competitors: | 1,026 |
| Nations: | 162 |
| Prev: | 2004 |
| Next: | 2012 |
The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre.[1] The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.[2]
Swimming featured 34 events (17 male, 17 female), including two 10 km open-water marathons. The remaining 32 were contested in a 50 m long course pool within the Olympic Park.
The United States claimed a total of 31 medals (12 golds, 9 silver, and 10 bronze) in the leaderboard to maintain its standings as the most successful nation in swimming.[3] A stellar performance in the pool also made an Olympic history for Michael Phelps, who captured eight gold medals to break Mark Spitz's 1972 record, a total of seven, at a single Games.[4] [5] Despite the male swimmers failing to attain a single gold in swimming, Australia managed to repeat a second-place effort on its third consecutive Olympics with 20 medals (six golds, six silver, and eight bronze).[3] Meanwhile, Great Britain finished third with a total of six medals by the benefit of a sterling long-distance freestyle double from Rebecca Adlington.[5]
A total of 25 world records and 65 Olympic records were set during the competition.
See main article: Beijing National Aquatics Center. All the swimming, synchronized swimming, and diving events of the 2008 Olympics were held at the Beijing National Aquatics Center (better known as the "Water Cube"), which was claimed to be built to increase the speed of the swimmers.[6] The main pool is about 10feet deep, 3feet deeper than any other Olympic pool.[6] The lane lines, nicknamed "wave eaters", buffer the waves produced by swimmers while they stroke.[6] The technological advances of the pool were enhanced by several advantages inherent to an indoor swimming venue, namely: temperature, humidity and lighting control. Even the wide decks were built to help give the swimmers a sense of space.[6]
The swimming program for 2008 was expanded from 2004, with the addition of the 10 km marathon open water swimming events, bringing the total number of events to 34 (17 each for men and women). The following events were contested (all pool events were long course, and distances are in metres unless stated):[7]
50, 100, 200, 400, 800 (women), and 1,500 (men);
100 and 200;
100 and 200;
100 and 200;
200 and 400;
4 × 100 free, 4 × 200 free; 4 × 100 medley
10 kilometres
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 because of 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[8] and is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC),[9] so that the finals from the event could be shown live in the United States.[10]
| Date → | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 14 | Aug 15 | Aug 16 | Aug 17 | Aug 21 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | |
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| F | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Date → | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 14 | Aug 15 | Aug 16 | Aug 17 | Aug 20 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | |
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | ½ | F | |||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| H | F | ||||||||||||||||||||
| F | |||||||||||||||||||||
See main article: Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification.
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter up to 2 qualified athletes in each individual event if both meet the A standard, or 1 athlete per event if they meet the B standard. An NOC may also enter a maximum of 1 qualified relay team per event. NOCs may enter swimmers regardless of time (1 swimmer per sex) if they have no swimmers meeting qualifying B standard.[12]
A total of 1,026 swimmers (571 men and 455 women) from 162 nations would compete in swimming events at these Olympic Games. American Samoa, Botswana, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, and Tanzania made their official debut in swimming. Meanwhile, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Netherlands Antilles, and Tajikistan returned to the sport after an eight-year absence. Nations with swimmers at the Games are (team size in parentheses):
Retrieved from 2008 NBC Olympics website.[13]
| 50 m freestyle | 21.30, AM | 21.45 | 21.49 | ||||||
| 100 m freestyle | 47.21 | 47.32 | 47.67 47.67 NR | ||||||
| 200 m freestyle | 1:42.96 | 1:44.85 AS | 1:45.14 | ||||||
| 400 m freestyle | 3:41.86 AS | 3:42.44 NR | 3:42.78 AM | ||||||
| 1500 m freestyle | 14:40.84 AF | 14:41.53 | 14.42.69 | ||||||
| 100 m backstroke | 52.54 | 53.11 | 53.18 | ||||||
| 200 m backstroke | 1:53.94 | 1:54.33 | 1:54.93 ER | ||||||
| 100 m breaststroke | 58.91 | 59.20 | 59.37 NR | ||||||
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:07.64 | 2:08.88 OC | 2:08.94 NR | ||||||
| 100 m butterfly | 50.58 | 50.59 ER | 51.12 OC | ||||||
| 200 m butterfly | 1:52.03 | 1:52.70 ER | 1:52.97 AS | ||||||
| 200 m individual medley | 1:54.23 | 1:56.52 ER | 1:56.53 | ||||||
| 400 m individual medley | 4:03.84 | 4:06.16 ER | 4:08.09 | ||||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | valign=top | Michael Phelps (47.51) AM Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65) Jason Lezak (46.06) Nathan Adrian* Ben Wildman-Tobriner* Matt Grevers* | 3:08.24 | valign=top | Amaury Leveaux (47.91) Fabien Gilot (47.05) Frédérick Bousquet (46.63) Alain Bernard(46.73) Grégory Mallet* Boris Steimetz* | 3:08.32 ER | valign=top | Eamon Sullivan (47.24) Andrew Lauterstein (47.87) Ashley Callus (47.55) Matt Targett (47.25) Leith Brodie* Patrick Murphy* | 3:09.91 OC |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | valign=top | Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) Klete Keller* Erik Vendt* David Walters* | 6:58.56 | valign=top | Nikita Lobintsev (1:46.64) NR Yevgeny Lagunov (1:46.56) Danila Izotov (1:45.85) Alexander Sukhorukov (1:44.65) Mikhail Polishchuk* | 7:03.70 ER | valign=top | Patrick Murphy (1:45.95) Grant Hackett (1:45.87) Grant Brits (1:47.13) Nic Ffrost (1:46.03) Leith Brodie* Kirk Palmer* | 7:04.98 |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | valign=top | Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) Matt Grevers* Mark Gangloff* Ian Crocker* Garrett Weber-Gale* | 3:29.34 | valign=top | Hayden Stoeckel (53.80) Brenton Rickard (58.56) Andrew Lauterstein (51.03) Eamon Sullivan (46.65) Ashley Delaney* Christian Sprenger* Adam Pine* Matt Targett* | 3:30.04 OC | valign=top | Junichi Miyashita (53.87) Kosuke Kitajima (58.07) Takuro Fujii (50.89) Hisayoshi Sato (48.35) | 3:31.18 AS |
| 10 km open water | 1:51:51.6 | 1:51:53.1 | 1:51:53.6 | ||||||
| 50 m freestyle | 24.06, ER | 24.07 AM | 24.17 | ||||||
| 100 m freestyle | 53.12 | 53.16 | 53.39 =AM | ||||||
| 200 m freestyle | 1:54.82 | 1:54.97 NR | 1:55.05 AS | ||||||
| 400 m freestyle | 4:03.22 | 4:03.29 | 4:03.52 | ||||||
| 800 m freestyle | 8:14.10 | 8:20.23 NR | 8:23.03 | ||||||
| 100 m backstroke | 58.96 AM | 59.19 | 59.34 | ||||||
| 200 m backstroke | 2:05.24 | 2:06.23 | 2:07.13 AS | ||||||
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:05.17 | 1:06.73 | 1:07.34 | ||||||
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:20.22 | 2:22.05 | 2:23.02 ER | ||||||
| 100 m butterfly | 56.73 OC | 57.10 | 57.25 | ||||||
| 200 m butterfly | 2:04.18 | 2:04.72 | 2:06.26 | ||||||
| 200 m individual medley | 2:08.45 | 2:08.59 AF | 2:10.34 | ||||||
| 400 m individual medley | 4:29.45 | 4:29.89 AF | 4:31.71 | ||||||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | valign=top | Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) Hinkelien Schreuder* Manon van Rooijen* | 3:33.76 | valign=top | Natalie Coughlin (54.00) Lacey Nymeyer (53.91) Kara Lynn Joyce (53.98) Dara Torres (52.44) Emily Silver* Julia Smit* | 3:34.33 AM | valign=top | Cate Campbell (54.40) Alice Mills (54.43) Melanie Schlanger (53.85) Lisbeth Trickett (52.34) Shayne Reese* | 3:35.05 OC |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | valign=top | Stephanie Rice (1:56.60) =OC Bronte Barratt 1:56.58) Kylie Palmer (1:55.22) Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) Lara Davenport* Felicity Galvez* Angie Bainbridge* Melanie Schlanger* | 7:44.31 | valign=top | Yang Yu (1:56.79) Zhu Qianwei (1:56.64) Tan Miao (1:58.11) Pang Jiaying (1:54.39) Tang Jingzhi* | 7:45.93 AS | valign=top | Allison Schmitt (1:57.71) Natalie Coughlin (1:57.19) Caroline Burckle (1:56.70) Katie Hoff (1:54.73) Christine Marshall* Kim Vandenberg* Julia Smit* | 7:46.33 AM |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | valign=top | Emily Seebohm (59.33) OC Leisel Jones (1:04.58) Jessicah Schipper (56.25) Lisbeth Trickett (52.53) Tarnee White* Felicity Galvez* Shayne Reese* | 3:52.69 | valign=top | Natalie Coughlin (58.94) AM Rebecca Soni (1:05.95) Christine Magnuson (56.14) Dara Torres (52.27) Margaret Hoelzer* Megan Jendrick* Elaine Breeden* Kara Lynn Joyce* | 3:53.30 AM | valign=top | Zhao Jing (59.56) NR Sun Ye (1:06.76) Zhou Yafei (57.40) Pang Jiaying (52.40) Xu Tianlongzi* | 3:56.11 AS |
| 10 km open water | 1:59:27.7 | 1:59:29.2 | 1:59:31.0 | ||||||
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, new world records were set 25 times (affecting 21 distinct world records) and new Olympic records were set 65 times and one other was equalled (affecting 30 distinct Olympic records).[14] Only Ian Thorpe's 3:40.59 in the 400 metres freestyle and Inge de Bruijn's 56.61 in the 100 metres butterfly, both set in Sydney, remained Olympic records. Michael Phelps of the United States also broke the record for the most gold medals ever won by an Olympian with a total of 14; 8 of which were won during the 2008 Summer Olympics - this was also a world record.
| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 9 | Heat 7 | 59.41 | OR | 1 | ||||
| August 9 | Heat 4 | 4:07.82 | OR | 1 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 4 | 53.41 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Semifinal 2 | 59.16 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Final | 4:03.84 | WR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 1 | Nathan Adrian (48.82) Cullen Jones (47.61) Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03) Matt Grevers (47.77) | 3:12.23 | WR | 2 | |||
| August 10 | Heat 1 leadoff* | 47.76 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 11 | Semifinal 1 | 53.06 | OR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Semifinal 2 | 52.97 | OR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Final | 58.91 | WR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Heat 6 | align=left | 1:53.70 | OR | 3 | |||
| August 11 | Final | Michael Phelps (47.51) Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65) Jason Lezak (46.06) | 3:08.24 | WR | 3 | |||
| August 11 | Final leadoff* | 47.24 | WR | 3 | ||||
| August 12 | Final | 1:42.96 | WR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Final | 52.54 | WR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Heat 5 | 2:08.98 | OR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Heat 7 | 2:08.68 | OR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Semifinal 2 | 1:53.70 | OR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Heat 2 | David Walters (1:46.57) Ricky Berens (1:45.47) Erik Vendt (1:47.11) Klete Keller (1:45.51) | 7:04.66 | OR | 4 | |||
| August 13 | Semifinal 1 | 47.20 | WR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Semifinal 2 | 47.05 | WR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Semifinal 1 | 2:08.61 | OR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Final | 1:52.03 | WR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Final | Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) | 6:58.56 | WR | 5 | |||
| August 14 | Heat 11 | 21.47 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Heat 12 | 21.46 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Heat 7 | 51.14 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Heat 9 | 50.76 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 15 | Semifinal 1 | 21.34 | OR | 7 | ||||
| August 15 | Heat 3 | 14:40.84 | OR | 7 | ||||
| August 15 | Heat 5 | 14:38.92 | OR | 7 | ||||
| August 15 | Final | 1:53.94 | WR | 7 | ||||
| August 15 | Final | 1:54.23 | WR | 7 | ||||
| August 16 | Final | 21.30 | OR | 8 | ||||
| August 16 | Final | 50.58 | OR | 8 | ||||
| August 17 | Final | Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) | 3:29.34 | WR | 9 |
Note: At the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay final, anchor Jason Lezak swam the fastest 100 m split (46.06); however, this is not considered an official FINA record, as he did not swim the first leg.
| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10 | Heat 5 | 4:03.71 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 6 | 4:02.19 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 5 | align=left | 59.61 | OR | 2 | |||
| August 10 | Heat 6 | 59.36 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 7 | 59.00 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Heat 7 | 1:05.64 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Final | 4:29.45 | WR | 2 | ||||
| August 10 | Final | Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) | 3:33.76 | OR | 2 | |||
| August 10 | Final leadoff* | 53.38 | OR | 2 | ||||
| August 11 | Heat 4 | 1:57.37 | OR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Heat 5 | 1:55.86 | OR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Heat 6 | 1:55.45 | WR | 3 | ||||
| August 11 | Semifinal 2 | 58.77 | WR | 3 | ||||
| August 12 | Final | 1:05.17 | OR | 4 | ||||
| August 12 | Semifinal 1 | align=left | 2:09.53 | OR | 4 | |||
| August 13 | Final | 1:54.82 | WR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Heat 5 | 2:22.17 | OR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Final | 2:08.45 | OR | 5 | ||||
| August 13 | Heat 1 | Alena Popchanka (1:58.27) Céline Couderc (1:58.92) Camille Muffat (1:57.32) Coralie Balmy (1:55.86) | 7:50.37 | OR | 5 | |||
| August 14 | Heat 4 | 8:18.06 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Heat 4 | 2:06.76 | OR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Final | 2:04.18 | WR | 6 | ||||
| August 14 | Final | Stephanie Rice (1:56.60) Bronte Barratt (1:56.58) Kylie Palmer (1:55.22) Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) | 7:44.31 | WR | 6 | |||
| August 15 | Final | 53.12 | OR | 7 | ||||
| August 15 | Final | 2:20.22 | WR | 7 | ||||
| August 16 | Final | 8:14.10 | WR | 8 | ||||
| August 16 | Final | 2:05.24 | WR | 8 | ||||
| August 17 | Final | 24.06 | OR | 9 | ||||
| August 17 | Final | Emily Seebohm (59.33) Leisel Jones (1:04.58) Jessicah Schipper (56.25) Lisbeth Trickett (52.53) | 3:52.69 | WR | 9 |
See main article: LZR Racer. Another big change to swimming occurred when Speedo launched the LZR Racer swim suits on February 13, 2008. The suits, developed by the Australian Institute of Sport,[15] were designed to repel water, allow oxygen to flow to the muscles, and hold the body in a more hydrodynamic position.[16] [17] The suits had been proven to give the swimmer a lower time by 1.9 to 2.2%. Due to the advantage provided by the suits, some swimmers complained about the fairness in its use, because some people used multiple swimsuits to improve buoyancy and compressing of body;[18] the official blog for the National Collegiate Athletic Association pondered whether they were "technology doping" and what was the difference between gaining advantage from a swimsuit and gaining advantage from performance-enhancing drugs.[19] In response to these complaints, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) scheduled a meeting with Speedo to discuss the suits.[18] After the meeting, FINA dismissed the claims of cheating, and endorsed the suits for future swimming meets.[18] By August 14, 2008, 62 world records had been broken by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer.[20] [17]