The 14th FINA World Championships were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronized swimming. At this championships, synchronized swimmer Natalia Ishchenko, of Russia, was the most decorated competitor winning all six gold medals of her events, at solo, duet and team routines. These championships served as qualifying stages for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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.
Daiya Seto is a Japanese professional swimmer who specializes in individual medley, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle events. He won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021 world short course championships, as well as at the 2013, 2015, and 2019 world long course championships. Seto holds the world records in the short course 200-metre butterfly and the 400-metre individual medley.
The men's 200 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 4.
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 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 100 metre butterfly competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 8.
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 competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were due to take place from 25 July to 6 August 2020 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed to 2021. However, their official name remained 2020 Summer Olympics with swimming events set for 24 July–1 August 2021 and marathon swimming set for 4–5 August 2021.
