Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics will be held over a sixteen day period from August 9 to August 21, with the conventional events ending on August 16 and the new marathon 10 km events being held on August 20 and 21. All swimming events ((except the two marathon 10 km events) will take place at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre.
Contents |
[edit] Events
The swimming program for 2008 has been 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).
- Freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m (women), 1500 m (men), 4×100 m relay, 4×200 m relay, 10 km marathon
- Backstroke: 100 m, 200 m
- Breaststroke: 100 m, 200 m
- Butterfly: 100 m, 200 m
- Medley: 200 m individual, 400 m individual, 4×100 m relay
[edit] Qualifying Criteria
An 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. The qualifying time standards must be obtained in Continental Championships, National Olympic Trials or International Competitions approved by FINA in the period March 15, 2007 to July 15, 2008.
FINA Qualifying Standards are as follows:[1]
| Events | Men's A | Men's B | Women's A | Women's B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m Freestyle | 00:22.35 | 00:23.13 | 00:25.43 | 00:26.32 |
| 100 m Freestyle | 00:49.23 | 00:50.95 | 00:55.24 | 00:57.17 |
| 200 m Freestyle | 01:48.72 | 01:52.53 | 01:59.29 | 02:03.47 |
| 400 m Freestyle | 03:49.96 | 03:58.01 | 04:11.26 | 04:20.05 |
| 800 m Freestyle | - | - | 08:35.98 | 08:54.04 |
| 1500 m Freestyle | 15:13.16 | 15:45.12 | - | - |
| 100 m Backstroke | 00:55.14 | 00:57.07 | 01:01.70 | 01:03.86 |
| 200 m Backstroke | 01:59.72 | 02:03.91 | 02:12.73 | 02:17.38 |
| 100 m Breaststroke | 01:01.57 | 01:03.72 | 01:09.01 | 01:11.43 |
| 200 m Breaststroke | 02:13.69 | 02:18.37 | 02:28.21 | 02:33.40 |
| 100 m Butterfly | 00:52.86 | 00:54.71 | 00:59.35 | 01:01.43 |
| 200 m Butterfly | 01:57.67 | 02:01.79 | 02:10.84 | 02:15.42 |
| 200 m Individual Medley | 02:01.40 | 02:05.65 | 02:15.27 | 02:19.97 |
| 400 m Individual Medley | 04:18.40 | 04:27.44 | 04:45.08 | 04:55.06 |
In relay competitions, the top 12 finishers per event at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships shall be qualified. The 4 other teams will be selected by FINA based on the results in the qualifying period.
[edit] Marathon Swimming
A nation may qualify up to two marathon swimmers per event.
[edit] Men's 10km
| Event | Location | Date | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships | Seville,Image:Flag of Spain.svg Spain Spain | Apr. 29 - May 4, 2008 | Top 10 finishers |
| Continental Championships | TBD | TBD | Top finisher from each of the 5 continental championships |
| Host Nation | Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China* | ||
| FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier | Beijing, China | May 31 - June 1, 2008 | 9 or 10 top finishers |
| Total | 25 athletes |
* If China qualifies two athletes at the world championship, or one athlete from the Asian Continental championship, the automatic entry will be added to the pool to be allocated at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier.
[edit] Women's 10km
| Event | Location | Date | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships | Seville, Spain | Apr. 29 - May 4, 2008 | Top 10 finishers |
| Continental Championships | TBD | TBD | Top finisher from each of the 5 continental championships |
| Host Nation | Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China* | ||
| FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier | Beijing, China | May 31 - June 1, 2008 | 9 or 10 top finishers |
| Total | 25 athletes |
* If China qualifies two athletes at the world championship, or one athlete from the Asian Continental championship, the automatic entry will be added to the pool to be allocated at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier.
[edit] Morning Finals
| The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. This section has been tagged since December 2007. |
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on October 26th, 2006 that the swimming finals for the 2008 games will be held in the morning. This is in response to a direct request by NBC, who has paid $3.55 billion for the exclusive American media rights for the Olympic Games since 2000, in order to allow American audiences to view the finals in prime-time.
This is unprecedented in swimming, as finals are always swum at night and any change would mean a drastic change of habits for athletes who have been racing at night their whole lives. Response to the announcement from athletes has so far been mixed. While racing in the morning would mean a new strategy, the decision allows athletes almost two years to adapt to the new schedule, and all swimmers would be affected equally. Australia, home to many of the world's best swimmers, is unhappy with the decision by the IOC, as it would have a negative effect on viewing figures both in Europe and Australia, and claims that sporting schedules shouldn't be the decision of a broadcasting network.
[edit] US Olympic Trials
The US Olympic Trials can be confusing to someone trying to figure out where it fits on the competition levels. It is held only once every 4 years. Since this meet offers such a coveted prize (a spot on the US Olympic Team) it never fails to attract the absolute fastest in the sport of swimming in the United States. Because of this, the entry time standards are even faster than the National Championships. However, even though this is a faster meet and would actually offer a truer indication of who is the fastest swimmer in the United States, the winner of each event in this meet is not officially considered a National Champion and this meet is NOT held in place of the National Championships every 4 years. This means that the National Championships meet held shortly after the Olympic Trials are very much slower than normal. Unlike all other US Swimming meets, United States citizenship is required to attend this meet.
2008 USA Olympic Team Trials – Swimming Location: Omaha, Nebraska Date / Time: 6/30/2008 Qwest Center Omaha 08 Trials
Information from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Swimming" and "http://www.usaswimming.org"
[edit] Australian Olympic Trials
From 22nd March 2008 to 29th March 2008, the 2008 Telstra Olympic Team Swimming Trials will take place at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Likewise at all other Australian Swimming Trials; the eight day Olympic Trials program will mirror the 2008 Olympic Swimming program. The Olympic Trials will also act as the 2008 National Championships; including non-Olympic events - 50 m backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly; 800 m freestyle (men) and 1500 m freestyle (women). Friday 7th December 2007 10 km Open Water Qualifying in Sydney
[edit] Defending Olympic Champions - Athens 2004
| Events | Men | Women | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m Freestyle | Gary Hall JrImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 21.93 | Inge de BruijnImage:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 24.58 | |
| 100 m Freestyle | Pieter van den HoogenbandImage:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 48.17 | Jodie HenryImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 53.84 | Jodie Henry won the 2005 World Aquatics Championships title in same event. |
| 200 m Freestyle | Ian ThorpeImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 1:44.71 | Camelia PotecImage:Flag of Romania.svg Romania 1:58.03 | |
| 400 m Freestyle | Ian ThorpeImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 3:43.10 | Laure ManaudouImage:Flag of France.svg France 4:05.34 | Laure Manaudou won 2005 and 2007 World Aquatics Championships titles. Manaudou broke Janet Evans' long standing world record in the event in 2006. She went on to lower her own mark at the 2006 European Championships. |
| 800 m Freestyle | Non-Olympic event | Ai ShibataImage:Flag of Japan.svg Japan 8:24.54 | |
| 1500 m Freestyle | Grant HackettImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 14:43.40 | Non-Olympic event | Grant Hackett won his 4th straight world title in the event at the 2005 World Championships. |
| 100 m Backstroke | Aaron Peirsol Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States 54.06 | Natalie CoughlinImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 1:00.37 | Aaron Peirsol won gold at both the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. At the 2007 World Championships, Peirsol became the first man ever to go sub 53 sec. Natalie Coughlin took home the 2007 World Championship title in world record time. time time time time time time time time time time time time |
| 200 m Backstroke | Aaron PeirsolImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 1:54.95 | Kirsty CoventryImage:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Zimbabwe 2:09.19 | Aaron Peirsol won the 2005 World Championship title, but missed out to teammate Ryan Lochte at the 2007 World Championships.Kirsty Coventry won the Olympic backstroke double at the 2005 World Championships (100 m and 200 m). In mid 2007, Coventry became the second person ever, behind the great Krisztina Egerszegi to go sub 2:07. |
| 100 m Breaststroke | Kosuke KitajimaImage:Flag of Japan.svg Japan 1:00.08 | Luo XuejuanImage:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China 1:06.64 | |
| 200 m Breaststroke | Kosuke KitajimaImage:Flag of Japan.svg Japan 2:09.44 | Amanda BeardImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 2:23.37 | Kosuke Kitajima won the 2007 World Championship title. |
| 100 m Butterfly | Michael PhelpsImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 51.25 | Petria ThomasImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 57.72 | Michael Phelps won the 2007 World title. |
| 200 m Butterfly | Michael PhelpsImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 1:54.04 | Otylia JedrzejczakImage:Flag of Poland.svg Poland 2:06.05 | Michael Phelps won the 2007 World title in world record time.Otylia Jedrzejczak won 2005 world title in world record time in somewhat controversial circumstances. |
| 200 m Individual Medley | Michael PhelpsImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 1:57.14 | Yana KlochkovaImage:Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 2:11.14 | Michael Phelps won both the 2005 and 2007 world titles. At the 2007 world championships he won in world record time. |
| 400 m Individual Medley | Michael PhelpsImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 4:08.26 | Yana KlochkovaImage:Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 4:34.83 | Michael Phelps won the 2007 world title in world record time. |
| 4x100 m Freestyle Relay | Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend & Ryk NeethlingImage:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa 3:13.17 | Alice Mills, Libby Lenton, Petria Thomas & Jodie HenryImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 3:35.94 | The Australian girls won both the 2005 and 2007 world title. |
| 4x200 m Freestyle Relay | Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay & Klete KellerImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 7:07.33 | Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer & Kaitlin SandenoImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 7:53.42 | Both American male and female teams won the 2005 and 2007 world titles. At the 2007 world titles, both teams broke the world record in collecting gold. |
| 4x100 m Medley Relay | Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker & Jason LezakImage:Flag of the United States.svg United States 3:30.68 Michael Phelps and his other prelim teammates also received medals | Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas & Jodie HenryImage:Flag of Australia.svg Australia 3:57.32 | The American men took home the 2005 world title. The Australian women continued their dominance in the event, taking home both the 2005 and 2007 world titles. Since Athens 2004, they have lowered their world record by 1.6 seconds. |
[edit] References
- ^ Olympic Qualifying Procedures for Swimming. FINA. Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
Events at the 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing) |
|---|
| Archery • Athletics • Badminton • Baseball • Basketball • Boxing • Canoeing • Cycling • Diving • Equestrian • Fencing • Football • Gymnastics • Handball • Hockey • Judo • Modern pentathlon • Rowing • Sailing • Shooting • Softball • Swimming • Synchronized swimming • Table tennis • Taekwondo • Tennis • Triathlon • Volleyball • Water polo • Weightlifting • Wrestling |
Swimming at the Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
| 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 | Image:Olympic pictogram Swimming.png |
| List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men) • List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women) | |
fr:Natation aux jeux Olympiques de 2008 nl:Zwemmen op de Olympische Zomerspelen 2008 ja:北京オリンピックにおける競泳競技 zh:2008年夏季奧林匹克運動會游泳比賽
