Swimming is a sport where every hundredth of a second counts and where human limits are constantly being pushed back. From impressive performances to legendary achievements and astonishing age records, here is an overview of moments that have marked the sport's history.
Who's the fastest?
Speed records are a showcase for the sport's evolution. Here are some of the the fastest swimmers ever in long course :
Men's 50 m freestyle
The Brazilian swims in 20,91 seconds in 2009, at the Brazilian Championships. He beat Frédéric Bousquet's previous record of 20.94 seconds, set a few months earlier.
Women's 50 m freestyle
The Swedish swimmer swims in 23,61 seconds at the Fukuoka World Championships in 2023.
Men's 100 m freestyle
The Chinese swimmer sets a new world record in 100 m distance in 46,40 seconds. World record achieved at the last Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Women's 100 m freestyle
She swims an amazing time of 51,71 seconds at the Budapest World Championships in 2017.
Men's 400 m IM
Not olympic gold medalist yet , he set a new benchmark with a world record in 4:02:50 during the Fukuoka World Championships in 2023.
These exceptional records are the reward after years of training, honed technique and evolving race conditions. Who will dare dethrone them?
crédit : AFP
Olympic legends: the biggest success stories
It's one thing to dominate a sport. To reign over several editions of Olympic Games is quite another! Two swimmers have written their names in gold letters in Olympic history:
Michael Phelps (USA)
23 gold medals, 28 medals in total (2004-2016). He is quite simply the most successful athlete in the history of the Games.
Katie Ledecky (USA)
9 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze, a total of 14 Olympic medals. And she is still competing!
These athletes marked their era by crushing the competition and are redefining what is possible in an Olympic pool.
crédit : SportsIllustrated
How talked about age?
Swimming is not about being young or experienced. Some swimmers have proved that you can shine at any age:
- Youngest Olympic champion - Kyoko Iwasaki (Japan), who won gold in the 200 m breaststroke at just 14 years and 6 days old at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
- Oldest Olympic medallist in swimming - Dara Torres (USA), who won silver in the 50 m freestyle at the age of 41 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Sometimes age is just a number!
Olympic beginnings of swimming
Back to the roots: the first swimming medalist in swimming at the Olympic Games dates back to... 1896! Back then, the races were held at sea, in the port of Piraeus. The very first Olympic champion was Alfréd Hajos (Hungary), winner of the 100 m freestyle.
And what about women? It wasn't until 1912 that women were finally allowed to take part in the Olympic Games. The pioneer was Australian Fanny Durack, who won the 100 m freestyle in Sweden.
Since then, swimming has changed a lot, but one thing remains certain: records are made to be broken. So, who will break the next one?