Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

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Contents

Swimming
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Swimming 2008.png
Pictogram for swimming at the 2008 Games
Venue Beijing National Aquatics Centre (pool)
Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (open water)
Dates9–17 August 2008 (pool)
20–21 August 2008 (open water)
Competitors1,026 from 162 nations
  2004
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.

Venue

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 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, 3 feet (0.91 m) 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]

Events

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]

Schedule

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] [11]

Legend
HHeats½Semi-finalsFFinal
Men [11]
Date →Aug 9Aug 10Aug 11Aug 12Aug 13Aug 14Aug 15Aug 16Aug 17Aug 21
Event ↓MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
50 m freestyle H½F
100 m freestyle H½F
200 m freestyle H½F
400 m freestyle HF
1500 m freestyle HF
100 m backstroke H½F
200 m backstroke H½F
100 m breaststroke H½F
200 m breaststroke H½F
100 m butterfly H½F
200 m butterfly H½F
200 m individual medley H½F
400 m individual medley HF
4 × 100 m freestyle relay HF
4 × 200 m freestyle relay HF
4 × 100 m medley relay HF
10 km open water F
Women [11]
Date →Aug 9Aug 10Aug 11Aug 12Aug 13Aug 14Aug 15Aug 16Aug 17Aug 20
Event ↓MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
50 m freestyle H½F
100 m freestyle H½F
200 m freestyle H½F
400 m freestyle HF
800 m freestyle HF
100 m backstroke H½F
200 m backstroke H½F
100 m breaststroke H½F
200 m breaststroke H½F
100 m butterfly H½F
200 m butterfly H½F
200 m individual medley H½F
400 m individual medley HF
4 × 100 m freestyle relay HF
4 × 200 m freestyle relay HF
4 × 100 m medley relay HF
10 km open water F

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]

Participating nations

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):

Medal summary

Medal table

Michael Phelps holding his gold medal from the 4 x 100 relay Michael Phelps medal 2008 Olympics.jpg
Michael Phelps holding his gold medal from the 4 × 100 relay

Retrieved from 2008 NBC Olympics website. [13]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)1291031
2Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)66820
3Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)2226
4Flag of Japan.svg  Japan  (JPN)2035
5Flag of Germany.svg  Germany  (GER)2013
6Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands  (NED)2002
7Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China  (CHN)1326
8Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe  (ZIM)1304
9Flag of France.svg  France  (FRA)1236
10Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS)1124
11Flag of Italy.svg  Italy  (ITA)1102
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea  (KOR)1102
13Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil  (BRA)1012
14Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia  (TUN)1001
15Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary  (HUN)0303
16Flag of Norway.svg  Norway  (NOR)0112
17Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia  (SRB)0101
Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia  (SLO)0101
19Flag of Austria.svg  Austria  (AUT)0011
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada  (CAN)0011
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark  (DEN)0011
Totals (21 entries)343436104

Men's events

GamesGoldSilverBronze
50 m freestyle
details
César Cielo
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
21.30 OR , AM Amaury Leveaux
Flag of France.svg  France
21.45 Alain Bernard
Flag of France.svg  France
21.49
100 m freestyle
details
Alain Bernard
Flag of France.svg  France
47.21 Eamon Sullivan
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
47.32 Jason Lezak
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
César Cielo
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
47.67
47.67 NR
200 m freestyle
details
Michael Phelps
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:42.96 WR Park Tae-hwan
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea
1:44.85 AS Peter Vanderkaay
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:45.14
400 m freestyle
details
Park Tae-hwan
Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea
3:41.86 AS Zhang Lin
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
3:42.44 NR Larsen Jensen
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
3:42.78 AM
1500 m freestyle
details
Oussama Mellouli
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia
14:40.84 AF Grant Hackett
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
14:41.53 Ryan Cochrane
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
14:42.69
100 m backstroke
details
Aaron Peirsol
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
52.54 WR Matt Grevers
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
53.11 Arkady Vyatchanin
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Hayden Stoeckel
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
53.18
200 m backstroke
details
Ryan Lochte
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:53.94 WR Aaron Peirsol
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:54.33 Arkady Vyatchanin
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
1:54.93 ER
100 m breaststroke
details
Kosuke Kitajima
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
58.91 WR Alexander Dale Oen
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
59.20 Hugues Duboscq
Flag of France.svg  France
59.37 NR
200 m breaststroke
details
Kosuke Kitajima
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
2:07.64 OR Brenton Rickard
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
2:08.88 OC Hugues Duboscq
Flag of France.svg  France
2:08.94 NR
100 m butterfly
details
Michael Phelps
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
50.58 OR Milorad Čavić
Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia
50.59 ER Andrew Lauterstein
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
51.12 OC
200 m butterfly
details
Michael Phelps
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:52.03 WR László Cseh
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
1:52.70 ER Takeshi Matsuda
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
1:52.97 AS
200 m individual medley
details
Michael Phelps
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:54.23 WR László Cseh
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
1:56.52 ER Ryan Lochte
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:56.53
400 m individual medley
details
Michael Phelps
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
4:03.84 WR László Cseh
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
4:06.16 ER Ryan Lochte
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
4:08.09
4 × 100 m freestyle relay
details
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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 WR Flag of France.svg  France
Amaury Leveaux (47.91)
Fabien Gilot (47.05)
Frédérick Bousquet (46.63)
Alain Bernard(46.73)
Grégory Mallet*
Boris Steimetz*
3:08.32 ER Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Eamon Sullivan (47.24) WR
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
details
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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 WR Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
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 Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
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
details
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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 WR Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
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 Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Junichi Miyashita (53.87)
Kosuke Kitajima (58.07)
Takuro Fujii (50.89)
Hisayoshi Sato (48.35)
3:31.18 AS
10 km open water
details
Maarten van der Weijden
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
1:51:51.6 David Davies
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
1:51:53.1 Thomas Lurz
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
1:51:53.6

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Women's events

GamesGoldSilverBronze
50 m freestyle
details
Britta Steffen
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
24.06 OR , ER Dara Torres
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
24.07 AM Cate Campbell
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
24.17
100 m freestyle
details
Britta Steffen
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
53.12 OR Lisbeth Trickett
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
53.16 Natalie Coughlin
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
53.39 =AM
200 m freestyle
details
Federica Pellegrini
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
1:54.82 WR Sara Isaković
Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia
1:54.97 NR Pang Jiaying
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
1:55.05 AS
400 m freestyle
details
Rebecca Adlington
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
4:03.22 Katie Hoff
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
4:03.29 Joanne Jackson
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
4:03.52
800 m freestyle
details
Rebecca Adlington
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
8:14.10 WR Alessia Filippi
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
8:20.23 NR Lotte Friis
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
8:23.03
100 m backstroke
details
Natalie Coughlin
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
58.96 AM Kirsty Coventry
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
59.19 Margaret Hoelzer
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
59.34
200 m backstroke
details
Kirsty Coventry
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
2:05.24 WR Margaret Hoelzer
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
2:06.23 Reiko Nakamura
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
2:07.13 AS
100 m breaststroke
details
Leisel Jones
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
1:05.17 OR Rebecca Soni
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1:06.73 Mirna Jukić
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
1:07.34
200 m breaststroke
details
Rebecca Soni
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
2:20.22 WR Leisel Jones
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
2:22.05 Sara Nordenstam
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
2:23.02 ER
100 m butterfly
details
Lisbeth Trickett
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
56.73 OC Christine Magnuson
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
57.10 Jessicah Schipper
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
57.25
200 m butterfly
details
Liu Zige
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
2:04.18 WR Jiao Liuyang
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
2:04.72 Jessicah Schipper
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
2:06.26
200 m individual medley
details
Stephanie Rice
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
2:08.45 WR Kirsty Coventry
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
2:08.59 AF Natalie Coughlin
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
2:10.34
400 m individual medley
details
Stephanie Rice
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
4:29.45 WR Kirsty Coventry
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
4:29.89 AF Katie Hoff
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
4:31.71
4 × 100 m freestyle relay
details
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Inge Dekker (54.37)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39)
Femke Heemskerk (53.42)
Marleen Veldhuis (52.58)
Hinkelien Schreuder*
Manon van Rooijen*
3:33.76 OR Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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 Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
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
details
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
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 WR Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
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 Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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
details
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
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 WR Flag of the United States.svg  United States
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 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
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
details
Larisa Ilchenko
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
1:59:27.7 Keri-Anne Payne
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
1:59:29.2 Cassandra Patten
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
1:59:31.0

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Olympic and world records broken

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.

Men

EventDateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecordDay
Men's 100 m breaststroke August 9Heat 7 Alexander Dale Oen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 59.41OR1
Men's 400 m individual medley August 9Heat 4 Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:07.82OR1
Men's 100 m backstroke August 10Heat 4 Matt Grevers Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.41OR2
Men's 100 m breaststroke August 10Semifinal 2 Alexander Dale Oen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 59.16OR2
Men's 400 m individual medley August 10Final Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.84WR2
Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 10Heat 1 Nathan Adrian (48.82)
Cullen Jones (47.61)
Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03)
Matt Grevers (47.77)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:12.23WR2
Men's 100 m freestyle August 10Heat 1 leadoff* Amaury Leveaux Flag of France.svg  France 47.76OR2
Men's 100 m backstroke August 11Semifinal 1 Arkady Vyatchanin Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.06OR3
Men's 100 m backstroke August 11Semifinal 2 Hayden Stoeckel Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.97OR3
Men's 100 m breaststroke August 11Final Kosuke Kitajima Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 58.91WR3
Men's 200 m butterfly August 11Heat 6 Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:53.70OR3
Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 11Final Michael Phelps (47.51)
Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02)
Cullen Jones (47.65)
Jason Lezak (46.06)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:08.24WR3
Men's 100 m freestyle August 11Final leadoff* Eamon Sullivan Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 47.24WR3
Men's 200 m freestyle August 12Final Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:42.96WR4
Men's 100 m backstroke August 12Final Aaron Peirsol Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.54WR4
Men's 200 m breaststroke August 12Heat 5 Paolo Bossini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:08.98OR4
Men's 200 m breaststroke August 12Heat 7 Dániel Gyurta Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:08.68OR4
Men's 200 m butterfly August 12Semifinal 2 Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:53.70OR4
Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 12Heat 2 David Walters (1:46.57)
Ricky Berens (1:45.47)
Erik Vendt (1:47.11)
Klete Keller (1:45.51)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 7:04.66OR4
Men's 100 m freestyle August 13Semifinal 1 Alain Bernard Flag of France.svg  France 47.20WR5
Men's 100 m freestyle August 13Semifinal 2 Eamon Sullivan Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 47.05WR5
Men's 200 m breaststroke August 13Semifinal 1 Kosuke Kitajima Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 2:08.61OR5
Men's 200 m butterfly August 13Final Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:52.03WR5
Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 13Final Michael Phelps (1:43.31)
Ryan Lochte (1:44.28)
Ricky Berens (1:46.29)
Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:58.56WR5
Men's 50 m freestyle August 14Heat 11 César Cielo Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 21.47OR6
Men's 50 m freestyle August 14Heat 12 Amaury Leveaux Flag of France.svg  France 21.46OR6
Men's 100 m butterfly August 14Heat 7 Jason Dunford Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 51.14OR6
Men's 100 m butterfly August 14Heat 9 Milorad Čavić Flag of Serbia (2004-2010).svg  Serbia 50.76OR6
Men's 50 m freestyle August 15Semifinal 1 César Cielo Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 21.34OR7
Men's 1500 m freestyle August 15Heat 3 Ryan Cochrane Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14:40.84OR7
Men's 1500 m freestyle August 15Heat 5 Grant Hackett Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 14:38.92OR7
Men's 200 m backstroke August 15Final Ryan Lochte Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:53.94WR7
Men's 200 m individual medley August 15Final Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:54.23WR7
Men's 50 m freestyle August 16Final César Cielo Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 21.30OR8
Men's 100 m butterfly August 16Final Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.58OR8
Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay August 17Final Aaron Peirsol (53.16)
Brendan Hansen (59.27)
Michael Phelps (50.15)
Jason Lezak (46.76)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:29.34WR9

* World record split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay

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.

Women

EventDateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecordDay
Women's 400 m freestyle August 10Heat 5 Katie Hoff Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.71OR2
Women's 400 m freestyle August 10Heat 6 Federica Pellegrini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 4:02.19OR2
Women's 100 m backstroke August 10Heat 5 Anastasia Zuyeva Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 59.61OR2
Women's 100 m backstroke August 10Heat 6 Reiko Nakamura Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.36OR2
Women's 100 m backstroke August 10Heat 7 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 59.00OR2
Women's 100 m breaststroke August 10Heat 7 Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:05.64OR2
Women's 400 m individual medley August 10Final Stephanie Rice Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 4:29.45WR2
Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 10Final Inge Dekker (54.37)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39)
Femke Heemskerk (53.42)
Marleen Veldhuis (52.58)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3:33.76OR2
Women's 100 m freestyle August 10Final leadoff* Britta Steffen Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.38OR2
Women's 200 m freestyle August 11Heat 4 Pang Jiaying Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1:57.37OR3
Women's 200 m freestyle August 11Heat 5 Sara Isaković Civil Ensign of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 1:55.86OR3
Women's 200 m freestyle August 11Heat 6 Federica Pellegrini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:55.45WR3
Women's 100 m backstroke August 11Semifinal 2 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 58.77WR3
Women's 100 m breaststroke August 12Final Leisel Jones Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:05.17OR4
Women's 200 m individual medley August 12Semifinal 1 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:09.53OR4
Women's 200 m freestyle August 13Final Federica Pellegrini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:54.82WR5
Women's 200 m breaststroke August 13Heat 5 Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:22.17OR5
Women's 200 m individual medley August 13Final Stephanie Rice Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.45OR5
Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 13Heat 1 Alena Popchanka (1:58.27)
Céline Couderc (1:58.92)
Camille Muffat (1:57.32)
Coralie Balmy (1:55.86)
Flag of France.svg  France 7:50.37OR5
Women's 800 m freestyle August 14Heat 4 Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 8:18.06OR6
Women's 200 m backstroke August 14Heat 4 Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:06.76OR6
Women's 200 m butterfly August 14Final Liu Zige Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:04.18WR6
Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 14Final Stephanie Rice (1:56.60)
Bronte Barratt (1:56.58)
Kylie Palmer (1:55.22)
Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91)
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 7:44.31WR6
Women's 100 m freestyle August 15Final Britta Steffen Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 53.12OR7
Women's 200 m breaststroke August 15Final Rebecca Soni Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:20.22WR7
Women's 800 m freestyle August 16Final Rebecca Adlington Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 8:14.10WR8
Women's 200 m backstroke August 16Final Kirsty Coventry Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:05.24WR8
Women's 50 m freestyle August 17Final Britta Steffen Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 24.06OR9
Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay August 17Final Emily Seebohm (59.33)
Leisel Jones (1:04.58)
Jessicah Schipper (56.25)
Lisbeth Trickett (52.53)
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 3:52.69WR9

LZR Racer suits

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%. [18] 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; [19] 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. [18] In response to these complaints, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) scheduled a meeting with Speedo to discuss the suits. [19] After the meeting, FINA dismissed the claims of cheating, and endorsed the suits for future swimming meets. [19] By August 14, 2008, 62 world records had been broken by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer. [20] [17]

See also

References

  1. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  2. "BBC 2008 Olympic Coverage: Swimming". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 Staff (18 August 2008). "Recap: Phelps eight golds more than any other country". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  4. "Phelps claims Olympic-record eighth gold medal with relay win". Sports Illustrated . CNN. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Phelps wins historic eighth gold". BBC Sport. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "China's Olympic Swimming Pool: Redefining Fast". National Public Radio. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  7. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". FINA. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  8. "Olympics on NBC through 2032". USA Today . Gannett Company. May 7, 2014. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  9. "Fewer Russians Could Be a Windfall for U.S. Olympic Business". The New York Times . 7 December 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  10. Longman, Jeré (12 February 2018). "For Olympic Figure Skaters, a New Meaning to Morning Routine". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 "Swimming: Results and Schedule". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  12. "FINA – Swimming" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  13. "Swimming: 200 Medal Standings by Nation". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  14. "Swimming records broken by record type". Beijing 2008 Official Site. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  15. "Engineering the world's fastest swimsuit". Physorg. 28 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  16. "Japanese search for new swimsuits". BBC News. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  17. 1 2 Roberts, Jacob (2017). "Winning Skin". Distillations. 2 (4): 8–15. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  18. 1 2 "Celebrity Rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal". The Japan Times. 10 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  19. 1 2 3 "Speedo LZR Racer Swimsuit Spawns Copycats and Controversy". Gizmodo. 14 April 2008. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  20. Thurow, Roger (14 August 2008). "Fast Times". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 30 August 2008.