AQUATICS: History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

OSC REFERENCE COLLECTION

AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

19.10.2017 AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

SWIMMING

Berlin 1936 Mexico 1968 Seoul 1988 Atlanta 1996 400m freestyle (M) 1500m freestyle (M) 200m breaststroke (W) 100m backstroke (W)

INTRODUCTION Swimming has featured on the programme of all the Summer Olympic Games. In the first half of the 20th century, only the “freestyle”, “breaststroke” and “backstroke” styles were present. It was only in 1956 that “butterfly” was introduced. Women’s swimming made its debut in 1912 and has been on the programme ever since. The women’s programme now has the same number of events as the men’s. For the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo in 2020, three new events, including a 4x100 medley relay mixed event, will be added.

KEY STAGES

Entry 1894: At the Paris Congress held in June, the desire was expressed for water sports (rowing, sailing and swimming) to be on the Olympic programme.

1912: At the 15th IOC Session held in July in Stockholm, it was decided to divide the sports on the programme into three categories: indispensable, desirable and eligible. Swimming was among the first category.

Women’s 1910: In the minutes of the 13th IOC Session (Luxembourg), published in the inclusion Olympic Review (June 1910), it was announced that women would undoubtedly be accepted for swimming at the Games of the V Olympiad in Stockholm in 1912.

1911: At the 14th IOC Session held in May in Budapest, a request was made to add a 300m and 400m (team) race for women on the programme of the Games of the V Olympiad in Stockholm in 1912. The Organising Committee promised to do its utmost to fulfil this request.

1934: At the 33rd IOC Session held in May in Athens, women’s participation in some sports was called into question. A vote was held, and women’s participation in swimming was accepted unanimously.

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AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

Butterfly 1954: At the 50th IOC Session held in Athens in May, it was decided to add men’s and women’s butterfly for the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne in 1956. This would later gave birth to the medley events.

10km 2005: At the IOC Executive Board meeting in October in Lausanne, it was open water agreed to add the men’s and women’s 10km open water event for the programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008.

4x100m medley 2017: A decision was taken during the IOC Executive Board meeting held in relay mixed Lausanne in June to introduce a 4x100m medley relay mixed event at Tokyo in 2020.

EVOLUTION IN THE NUMBER OF EVENTS 1896: 4 events (men's) 1900: 7 events (men's) 1904: 10 events (men's) 1908: 6 events (men's) 1912: 9 events (7 men's, 2 women's) 1920: 10 events (7 men's, 3 women's) 1924-1952: 11 events (6 men's, 5 women's) 1956: 13 events (7 men's, 6 women's) 1960: 15 events (8 men's. 7 women's) 1964: 18 events (10 men's, 8 women's) 1968-1972: 29 events (15 men's, 14 women's) 1976-1980: 26 events (13 men's, 13 women's) 1984: 29 events (15 men's, 14 women's) 1988-1992: 31 events (16 men's, 15 women's) 1996-2004: 32 events (16 men's, 16 women's) 2008-2016: 34 events (17 men’s, 17 women’s) 2020: 37 events (18 men’s,18 women’s, 1 mixed)

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AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

EVENTS PER GAMES EDITION

SWIMMING MEN 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 TOTAL 50y freestyle 1 50m freestyle 9 100m freestyle (1) 28 200m freestyle (2) 16 400m freestyle (3) 28 800m freestyle 1 880y freestyle 1 1500m freestyle (4) 29 4000m freestyle 1 100m freestyle for 1 sailors Underwater swimming 1 200m obstacle event 1 200m team swimming 1 100m backstroke (5) 26 200m backstroke 16 Plunge for distance 1 440y breaststroke 1 100m breaststroke 14 200m breaststroke 26 400m breaststroke 2

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AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

100m butterfly 14 200m butterfly 17 200m medley 12 400m medley 15 4x50y freestyle relay 1 4x100m freestyle relay 13 4x200m freestyle relay 26 4x100m medley relay 16 Marathon 10km (6) 4 Number of events 4 7 10 6 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 8 10 15 15 13 13 15 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 29 (1) The distance of the 100m freestyle event was 100 yards (91.44m) in 1904 (2) The distance of the 200m freestyle event was 220 yards (201.17m) in 1904 (3) The distance of the 400m freestyle event was 500m in 1896 and 440 yards (402.34m) in 1904 (4) The distance of the 1500m freestyle event was 1200m in 1896, 1000m in 1900 and 1 mile (1609.34m) in 1904 (5) The distance of the 100m backstroke was 100 yards (91.44m) in 1904 (6) The marathon 10km is considered as a discipline

SWIMMING WOMEN 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 TOTAL 50m freestyle 9 100m freestyle 25 200m freestyle 14 400m freestyle (1) 24 800m freestyle 14 1500m freestyle 1 100m backstroke 23 200m backstroke 14 100m breaststroke 14 200m breaststroke 23 100m butterfly 17

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AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

200m butterfly 14 200m medley 12 400m medley 15 4x100m freestyle relay 25 4x200m freestyle relay 7 4x100m medley relay 16 Marathon 10km (2) 4 Number of events 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 7 8 14 14 13 13 14 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 25 (1) The distance of the 400m freestyle event was 300m in 1920 (2) The marathon 10km is considered as a discipline

SWIMMING MIXED 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 TOTAL 4x100 m medley relay 1 Number of events 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

TOTAL 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 TOTAL Number of events 4 7 10 6 9 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 13 15 18 29 29 26 26 29 31 31 32 32 32 34 34 34 37 29 Column “Total” on the right = number of times on the programme

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AQUATICS History of Swimming at the Olympic Games

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