Medley swimming is a combination of four different swimming strokes into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.
The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany. 29 events in swimming were contested. There were a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing.
The swimming competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City took place from 17 to 26 October at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. Swimming featured a record total of 29 events. There was a total of 468 participants from 51 countries competing. The United States dominated the competition, winning 52 of 87 possible medals. 15-year-old American phenom Debbie Meyer from Maryland won three gold medals.
At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, eighteen swimming events were contested, ten for men and eight for women. There were a total of 405 participants from 42 countries competing. For the first time, the 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay for men and the 400 metres individual medley for both men and women were contested. Olympic records were broken in all events and the world record was broken in ten events. This competition also marked the debut of electronic touchpads for timing.
Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, beating the then-current Olympic champion Michael Phelps. He also broke a world record in the short course 200-meter individual medley, and broke several South American and Brazilian records. During his career, he competed with swimming legends Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley. Formerly, she held the world record in the short course 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. She was the first Spanish woman to win a gold medal in swimming at an Olympic Games and is widely considered to be the greatest Spanish swimmer of all time.
Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all swimming competitions, with distances beginning with 50 meters and reaching 1,500 meters, also known as the mile. The term 'freestyle stroke' is sometimes used as a synonym for 'front crawl', as front crawl is the fastest surface swimming stroke. It is now the most common stroke used in freestyle competitions.
The 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) were held in Doha, Qatar on 3–7 December 2014. The Hamad Aquatic Centre in the Aspire Zone hosted the event.
The swimming portion of the 2011 FINA World Championships was held July 24–31 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. Swimming is one of five aquatic disciplines at the championships.
Ye Shiwen is a Chinese swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won gold medals in the 400 metres and 200 metres individual medley, breaking the world record in the 400 m event and the Olympic record in the 200 m event.
Ryan Fitzgerald Murphy is an American competitive swimmer specializing in backstroke. He is a five-time Olympic gold medalist and the former world-record holder in the men's 100-meter backstroke.
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.
Louise Maria Hansson is a Swedish competitive swimmer, a member of Helsingborgs SS.
Evgeny Mikhailovich Rylov is a Russian competitive swimmer and Olympic champion specializing in backstroke events. He won three gold medals at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, and a bronze medal at his senior international debut at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. He also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, both were in the 200 metre backstroke event. In 2018, at the 2018 World Short Course Championships, he won gold medals in the 200 metre backstroke and 50 metre backstroke. At the 2019 World Championships, he won a gold medal in the 200 metre backstroke, silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke, and silver medal in the 50 metre backstroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke and 200 metre backstroke at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Michael Charles Andrew is an American competitive swimmer and an Olympic gold medalist. He was the 2016 world champion in the 100 meter individual medley. At his first Olympic Games, the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal and set a world record as part of the 4x100 meter medley relay, placed fourth in the 100 meter breaststroke, fourth in the 50 meter freestyle, and fifth in the 200 meter individual medley. Andrew's swims in 2021 at the 2020 Olympics made him the first swimmer to represent the United States at an Olympic Games in an individual breaststroke event as well as another individual event other than an individual medley in the then-125-year-history of swimming at the Summer Olympics. He has won 78 medals at Swimming World Cup circuits.
Travis Mahoney is an Australian medley and backstroke swimmer. Winner of two relay medals at the 2012 World Short Course Championships, he is also part of the quartet that broke the world record in the short course mixed 4 × 50 metres freestyle relay. In 2016, he qualified for his first Olympic Games.
Corey Charles Garth Main is a New Zealand swimmer who qualified to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the men's 100 metre backstroke.
Swimming at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships was held from 23 to 30 July 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. It was held in the Danube Arena. The United States was the top winner in the overall championship with 21 gold medals and 46 points in total with China second with 12 gold medals with 30 points in total. In the swimming events also, the United States was first and gained 18 gold medals and scored 38 points.
Anastasia "Nastiya" Gorbenko is an Israeli competitive swimmer. She competes in the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and medley. She has won 8 World and European championships gold medals, competed at 2 Olympic finals, broken most of the Israeli national records for women and mixed relays, and is considered to be Israel's greatest swimmer of all time. In February 2024, Gorbenko won a silver medal at the Doha World Championships in the women's 400 meters individual medley. Gorbenko represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in swimming in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, and mixed 4x100m medley relay.
Rebecca Meder is a South African swimmer. She is the African record holder in the 100 metre individual medley and the South African record holder in the long course and short course 200 metre individual medley. At the 2022 World Short Course Championships, she placed sixth in the final of the 100 metre individual medley. In the 200 metre individual medley at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she placed fourth in the final. At the 2021 African Championships, she won 11 gold medals, six in individual events and five in relay events, swimming on the finals relay for each of the five relay events.
