THE 34 EVENTS
Men (17 events)
Freestyle: 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m
Backstroke: 100m, 200m
Breaststroke: 100m, 200m
Butterfly: 100m, 200m
Individual medley: 200m, 400m
Relay : 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Marathon: 10km open-water circuit
Women (17 events)
Freestyle: 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m
Backstroke: 100m, 200m
Breaststroke: 100m, 200m
Butterfly: 100m, 200m
Individual medley: 200m, 400m
Relay: 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley
Marathon: 10km open-water circuit
THE FORMAT
For the 50m, 100m and 200m races there are qualifying rounds, semi-finals and finals (8 swimmers).
For the 400m, 800m, 1500m and relay races, the 8 swimmers with the best times in qualifying advance directly to the final.
For the marathon races, 25 swimmers set off in a mass start, and the first to reach the finish line is the winner.
MILESTONES
36 BC
Swimming competitions are held in Japan.
11 February, 1869
Foundation of the Associated Metropolitan Swimming Clubs (AMSC) in London. The organisation, which will become the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) in 1886, promotes swimming as a leisure activity and outlines the first rules of competition.
1896
Swimming features at the first modern Games, with 3 events: the 100m, 500m and 1200m freestyle.
1912
Women make their Olympic swimming debut, with 2 events.
9 July, 1922
American Johnny Weissmuller, who would go on to star as Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s, becomes the first man to swim the 100m freestyle in under a minute (58.6 seconds).
28 February, 1964
Australian Dawn Fraser becomes the first woman to swim the 100m freestyle in under a minute (58.9 seconds) in Sydney. On 27 October, 1962, in Melbourne, she had completed a 110-yard (100.58m) race in 59.9sec.
1972
American Mark Spitz storms to an unprecedented 7 gold medals at the Munich Games: 4 in individual races and 3 in relay races.
2008
Michael Phelps goes one better than Spitz, winning 8 gold medals at the Beijing Games (3 in relay). With his 6 titles from the 2004 Games, the American becomes the most successful Olympic champion in history, with a total of 14 golds.
STARS
Dawn Fraser (Australia)
The Australian won the 100m freestyle gold at 3 consecutive Games, in 1956, 1960 and 1964, and also won the 4x100m freestyle relay in 1956. On top of her 8 Olympic medals, she set 28 world records and was the first woman to swim the 100m freestyle in under a minute.
Mark Spitz (United States)
The American achieved unprecedented success at the Munich Games in 1972, winning 7 gold medals and setting 7 world records in the freestyle (100m, 200m), butterfly (100m, 200m) and relays. With 9 gold medals overall (he won 2 in 1968), he held the joint record for most Olympic titles, along with Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis and Larisa Latynina, until the emergence of Michael Phelps.
Ian Thorpe (Australia)
A global media star, Ian Thorpe was just 21 when he won the "race of the century" at Athens 2004, beating Pieter van den Hoogenband and Michael Phelps in a spellbinding 200m freestyle final. He also defended his 400m crown at those Games, while golds in the 4x100m and 4x200m events at Sydney 2000 took his tally to 5 Olympic titles. A 6-time individual world champion, he retired in 2006 at the age of just 24.