The first world record in the 100 metres freestyle in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1905. In the short course (25 metres) swimming events the world's governing body recognizes world records since 3 March 1991.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos, OIS is a South African competitive swimmer who is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion as well as the Commonwealth record holder in the 50 and 100-metre butterfly. He is a former world record holder in the short course 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre butterfly. He won gold in the 200-metre butterfly and silver in the 100-metre butterfly in the 2012 Olympics in London, as well as silver medals in the 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly in the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won five medals at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Le Clos has won the Overall Swimming World Cup four times: 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2017. In 2018, Le Clos claimed three gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events at the Commonwealth Games. He also placed second in the 100m freestyle and third, along with teammates Cameron van der Burgh, Calvyn Justus and Brad Tandy, in the 4x100 medley relay. With another win in the 200m butterfly, Le Clos made history by becoming the first man to win three consecutive 200m butterfly Commonwealth titles.
Thomas Allen Shields is an American competitive swimmer. He is a two-time Olympian and the current American record-holder in the short course 50-meter and 200-meter butterfly events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Shields won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay for swimming the butterfly leg of the relay in the prelims. Later the same year he became the first American to swim faster than 44 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, setting a new American record of 43.84. For the 2020 Summer Olympics, he swam the butterfly leg of the 4x100-meter medley relay in the prelims, and won a gold medal in the event when the finals relay finished in first place. At the Kazan stop of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, Shields was the one and only swimmer representing the United States to compete in the international swimming competition, winning two gold medals and one silver medal in individual events. For the whole 2021 World Cup, Shields was the highest scoring American competitor and second-highest scoring male competitor.
The men's 200 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 4.
Women's 200 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 5.
The men's 100 metre breaststroke competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 4.
The men's 100 metre backstroke competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 4.
The men's 400 metre individual medley competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 5.
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 5.
The men's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 6.
The men's 200 metre backstroke competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 6.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 6.
The men's 200 metre butterfly competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 6.
The men's 200 metre individual medley competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 7.
The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 7.
The men's 1500 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 8.
The men's 100 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 9.
The swimming events of the 15th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 28 – August 4, 2013, in Barcelona, Spain. The competition was held in a long course pool inside the Palau Sant Jordi. It featured 40 LCM events, split evenly between males and females. Swimming was one of the five aquatic disciplines at the championships.
Caeleb Remel DresselOLY is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won a record seven gold medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, nine medals, six of which were gold, at the 2018 World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, and eight medals, including six gold, at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju. Dressel is a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and holds world records in the 100 meter butterfly, 50 meter freestyle, and 100 meter individual medley.
