# Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics

The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
Swimming featured 34 events (17 male, 17 female), including two 10 km open-water marathons. The remaining 32 were contested in a 50 m long course pool within the Olympic Park.
The United States claimed a total of 31 medals (12 golds, 9 silver, and 10 bronze) in the leaderboard to maintain its standings as the most successful nation in swimming. A stellar performance in the pool also made an Olympic history for Michael Phelps, who captured eight gold medals to break Mark Spitz's 1972 record, a total of seven, at a single Games. Despite the male swimmers failing to attain a single gold in swimming, Australia managed to repeat a second-place effort on its third consecutive Olympics with 20 medals (six golds, six silver, and eight bronze). Meanwhile, Great Britain finished third with a total of six medals by the benefit of a sterling long-distance freestyle double from Rebecca Adlington.
A total of 25 world records and 65 Olympic records were set during the competition.

## Venue

All the swimming, synchronized swimming, and diving events of the 2008 Olympics were held at the Beijing National Aquatics Center (better known as the "Water Cube"), which was claimed to be built to increase the speed of the swimmers. The main pool is about 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, 3 feet (0.91 m) deeper than any other Olympic pool. The lane lines, nicknamed "wave eaters", buffer the waves produced by swimmers while they stroke. The technological advances of the pool were enhanced by several advantages inherent to an indoor swimming venue, namely: temperature, humidity and lighting control. Even the wide decks were built to help give the swimmers a sense of space.

## Events

The swimming program for 2008 was 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). The following events were contested (all pool events were long course, and distances are in metres unless stated):
* Freestyle: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 (women), and 1,500 (men);
* Backstroke: 100 and 200;
* Breaststroke: 100 and 200;
* Butterfly: 100 and 200;
* Individual medley: 200 and 400;
* Relays: 4 × 100 free, 4 × 200 free; 4 × 100 medley
* Open water: 10 kilometres

### Schedule

Unlike the previous Olympics, swimming program schedule occurred in two segments. For the pool events, prelims were held in the evening, with semifinals and final in the following morning session, spanning a day between semifinals and finals in those events with semifinals. The shift of the normal morning prelims and evening finals (to evening prelims and morning finals) occurred for these Games because of the prior request made by US broadcaster NBC (due to the substantial fees NBC has paid for rights to the Olympics, the IOC has allowed NBC to have influence on event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible; NBC agreed to a $7.75 billion contract extension on May 7, 2014, to air the Olympics through the 2032 games and is also one of the major sources of revenue for the IOC), so that the finals from the event could be shown live in the United States.
Men :
| Date → | Aug 9 | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 13 | Aug 14 | Aug 14 | Aug 15 | Aug 15 | Aug 16 | Aug 16 | Aug 17 | Aug 17 | Aug 21 | Aug 21 |
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
| 50 m freestyle | | | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | |
| 100 m freestyle | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m freestyle | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 400 m freestyle | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1500 m freestyle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | H | | | F | | | |
| 100 m backstroke | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m backstroke | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | |
| 100 m breaststroke | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m breaststroke | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | |
| 100 m butterfly | | | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | |
| 200 m butterfly | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m individual medley | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | |
| 400 m individual medley | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | | | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | | | | | | | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | | | | | | | | | | | | | | H | | | F | | | |
| 10 km open water | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | F | |
Women :
| Date → | Aug 9 | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 13 | Aug 14 | Aug 14 | Aug 15 | Aug 15 | Aug 16 | Aug 16 | Aug 17 | Aug 17 | Aug 20 | Aug 20 |
| Event ↓ | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E | M | E |
| 50 m freestyle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | |
| 100 m freestyle | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | |
| 200 m freestyle | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 400 m freestyle | | | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 800 m freestyle | | | | | | | | | | | | H | | | F | | | | | |
| 100 m backstroke | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m backstroke | | | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | |
| 100 m breaststroke | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m breaststroke | | | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | |
| 100 m butterfly | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m butterfly | | | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | |
| 200 m individual medley | | | | | | H | ½ | | F | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 400 m individual medley | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | | H | F | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | | | | | | | | | | H | F | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay | | | | | | | | | | | | | | H | | | F | | | |
| 10 km open water | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | F | |

## Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (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.

## Participating nations

A total of 1,026 swimmers (571 men and 455 women) from 162 nations would compete in swimming events at these Olympic Games. American Samoa, Botswana, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, and Tanzania made their official debut in swimming. Meanwhile, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Kuwait, Netherlands Antilles, and Tajikistan returned to the sport after an eight-year absence. Nations with swimmers at the Games are (team size in parentheses):
* Albania (2)
* Algeria (5)
* American Samoa (2)
* Andorra (1)
* Angola (2)
* Antigua and Barbuda (1)
* Argentina (11)
* Armenia (1)
* Aruba (1)
* Australia (43)
* Austria (12)
* Azerbaijan (2)
* Bahamas (4)
* Bahrain (2)
* Bangladesh (2)
* Barbados (4)
* Belarus (8)
* Belgium (7)
* Benin (2)
* Bermuda (2)
* Bolivia (2)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina (1)
* Botswana (2)
* Brazil (25)
* Bulgaria (4)
* Burkina Faso (2)
* Burundi (1)
* Cambodia (2)
* Cameroon (2)
* Canada (27)
* Cayman Islands (2)
* Chile (2)
* China (42)
* Colombia (5)
* Comoros (1)
* Republic of the Congo (1)
* Cook Islands (1)
* Costa Rica (2)
* Ivory Coast (1)
* Croatia (13)
* Cuba (2)
* Cyprus (2)
* Czech Republic (10)
* Democratic Republic of the Congo (1)
* Denmark (9)
* Dominican Republic (1)
* Ecuador (2)
* Egypt (3)
* El Salvador (1)
* Estonia (9)
* Fiji (1)
* Finland (5)
* France (35)
* Georgia (2)
* Germany (25)
* Great Britain (37)
* Greece (18)
* Guam (1)
* Guatemala (1)
* Guinea (2)
* Guyana (1)
* Honduras (2)
* Hong Kong (4)
* Hungary (28)
* Iceland (8)
* India (4)
* Indonesia (2)
* Iran (1)
* Ireland (3)
* Israel (7)
* Italy (34)
* Jamaica (3)
* Japan (31)
* Jordan (2)
* Kazakhstan (12)
* Kenya (2)
* South Korea (16)
* Kuwait (1)
* Kyrgyzstan (3)
* Laos (2)
* Latvia (2)
* Lebanon (2)
* Libya (2)
* Lithuania (9)
* Luxembourg (4)
* Macedonia (2)
* Madagascar (2)
* Malawi (2)
* Malaysia (5)
* Maldives (2)
* Mali (2)
* Malta (2)
* Marshall Islands (2)
* Mauritius (2)
* Mexico (6)
* Federated States of Micronesia (2)
* Moldova (3)
* Mongolia (2)
* Montenegro (1)
* Morocco (1)
* Mozambique (2)
* Myanmar (1)
* Nepal (2)
* Netherlands (18)
* Netherlands Antilles (1)
* New Zealand (15)
* Nicaragua (2)
* Niger (2)
* Nigeria (2)
* Norway (4)
* Oman (4)
* Pakistan (2)
* Palau (1)
* Palestine (2)
* Panama (2)
* Papua New Guinea (2)
* Paraguay (2)
* Peru (2)
* Philippines (5)
* Poland (15)
* Portugal (10)
* Puerto Rico (4)
* Qatar (1)
* Romania (6)
* Russia (35)
* Rwanda (2)
* Saint Lucia (1)
* San Marino (2)
* Saudi Arabia (1)
* Senegal (2)
* Serbia (9)
* Seychelles (2)
* Singapore (5)
* Slovakia (3)
* Slovenia (10)
* South Africa (24)
* Spain (23)
* Sri Lanka (2)
* Sudan (1)
* Suriname (2)
* Swaziland (1)
* Sweden (18)
* Switzerland (7)
* Syria (3)
* Chinese Taipei (5)
* Tajikistan (2)
* Tanzania (2)
* Thailand (2)
* Trinidad and Tobago (3)
* Tunisia (2)
* Turkey (11)
* Turkmenistan (2)
* Uganda (2)
* Ukraine (23)
* United Arab Emirates (1)
* United States (43)
* Uruguay (3)
* Uzbekistan (7)
* Venezuela (13)
* Vietnam (1)
* Virgin Islands (1)
* Yemen (2)
* Zambia (2)
* Zimbabwe (2)

## Medal summary
### Medal table

Retrieved from 2008 NBC Olympics website.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 12 | 9 | 10 | 31 |
| 2 | Australia (AUS) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| 3 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Japan (JPN) | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Germany (GER) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | Netherlands (NED) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | China (CHN) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | France (FRA) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Russia (RUS) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | South Korea (KOR) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Brazil (BRA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Tunisia (TUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | Serbia (SRB) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Slovenia (SLO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (21 entries) | Totals (21 entries) | 34 | 34 | 36 | 104 |

### Men's events

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle details | César Cielo Brazil | 21.30 OR, AM | Amaury Leveaux France | 21.45 | Alain Bernard France | 21.49 |
| 100 m freestyle details | Alain Bernard France | 47.21 | Eamon Sullivan Australia | 47.32 | Jason Lezak United States César Cielo Brazil | 47.6747.67 NR |
| 200 m freestyle details | Michael Phelps United States | 1:42.96 WR | Park Tae-hwan South Korea | 1:44.85 AS | Peter Vanderkaay United States | 1:45.14 |
| 400 m freestyle details | Park Tae-hwan South Korea | 3:41.86 AS | Zhang Lin China | 3:42.44 NR | Larsen Jensen United States | 3:42.78 AM |
| 1500 m freestyle details | Oussama Mellouli Tunisia | 14:40.84 AF | Grant Hackett Australia | 14:41.53 | Ryan Cochrane Canada | 14.42.69 |
| 100 m backstroke details | Aaron Peirsol United States | 52.54 WR | Matt Grevers United States | 53.11 | Arkady Vyatchanin Russia Hayden Stoeckel Australia | 53.18 |
| 200 m backstroke details | Ryan Lochte United States | 1:53.94 WR | Aaron Peirsol United States | 1:54.33 | Arkady Vyatchanin Russia | 1:54.93 ER |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Kosuke Kitajima Japan | 58.91 WR | Alexander Dale Oen Norway | 59.20 | Hugues Duboscq France | 59.37 NR |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Kosuke Kitajima Japan | 2:07.64 OR | Brenton Rickard Australia | 2:08.88 OC | Hugues Duboscq France | 2:08.94 NR |
| 100 m butterfly details | Michael Phelps United States | 50.58 OR | Milorad Čavić Serbia | 50.59 ER | Andrew Lauterstein Australia | 51.12 OC |
| 200 m butterfly details | Michael Phelps United States | 1:52.03 WR | László Cseh Hungary | 1:52.70 ER | Takeshi Matsuda Japan | 1:52.97 AS |
| 200 m individual medley details | Michael Phelps United States | 1:54.23 WR | László Cseh Hungary | 1:56.52 ER | Ryan Lochte United States | 1:56.53 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Michael Phelps United States | 4:03.84 WR | László Cseh Hungary | 4:06.16 ER | Ryan Lochte United States | 4:08.09 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | United States Michael Phelps (47.51) AM Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65) Jason Lezak (46.06) Nathan Adrian* Ben Wildman-Tobriner* Matt Grevers* | 3:08.24 WR | France Amaury Leveaux (47.91) Fabien Gilot (47.05) Frédérick Bousquet (46.63) Alain Bernard(46.73) Grégory Mallet* Boris Steimetz* | 3:08.32 ER | Australia Eamon Sullivan (47.24) WR Andrew Lauterstein (47.87) Ashley Callus (47.55) Matt Targett (47.25) Leith Brodie* Patrick Murphy* | 3:09.91 OC |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay details | United States Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) Klete Keller* Erik Vendt* David Walters* | 6:58.56 WR | Russia Nikita Lobintsev (1:46.64) NR Yevgeny Lagunov (1:46.56) Danila Izotov (1:45.85) Alexander Sukhorukov (1:44.65) Mikhail Polishchuk* | 7:03.70 ER | Australia Patrick Murphy (1:45.95) Grant Hackett (1:45.87) Grant Brits (1:47.13) Nic Ffrost (1:46.03) Leith Brodie* Kirk Palmer* | 7:04.98 |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | United States Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) Matt Grevers* Mark Gangloff* Ian Crocker* Garrett Weber-Gale* | 3:29.34 WR | Australia Hayden Stoeckel (53.80) Brenton Rickard (58.56) Andrew Lauterstein (51.03) Eamon Sullivan (46.65) Ashley Delaney* Christian Sprenger* Adam Pine* Matt Targett* | 3:30.04 OC | Japan Junichi Miyashita (53.87) Kosuke Kitajima (58.07) Takuro Fujii (50.89) Hisayoshi Sato (48.35) | 3:31.18 AS |
| 10 km open water details | Maarten van der Weijden Netherlands | 1:51:51.6 | David Davies Great Britain | 1:51:53.1 | Thomas Lurz Germany | 1:51:53.6 |
* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

### Women's events

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle details | Britta Steffen Germany | 24.06 OR, ER | Dara Torres United States | 24.07 AM | Cate Campbell Australia | 24.17 |
| 100 m freestyle details | Britta Steffen Germany | 53.12 OR | Lisbeth Trickett Australia | 53.16 | Natalie Coughlin United States | 53.39 =AM |
| 200 m freestyle details | Federica Pellegrini Italy | 1:54.82 WR | Sara Isaković Slovenia | 1:54.97 NR | Pang Jiaying China | 1:55.05 AS |
| 400 m freestyle details | Rebecca Adlington Great Britain | 4:03.22 | Katie Hoff United States | 4:03.29 | Joanne Jackson Great Britain | 4:03.52 |
| 800 m freestyle details | Rebecca Adlington Great Britain | 8:14.10 WR | Alessia Filippi Italy | 8:20.23 NR | Lotte Friis Denmark | 8:23.03 |
| 100 m backstroke details | Natalie Coughlin United States | 58.96 AM | Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe | 59.19 | Margaret Hoelzer United States | 59.34 |
| 200 m backstroke details | Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe | 2:05.24 WR | Margaret Hoelzer United States | 2:06.23 | Reiko Nakamura Japan | 2:07.13 AS |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Leisel Jones Australia | 1:05.17 OR | Rebecca Soni United States | 1:06.73 | Mirna Jukić Austria | 1:07.34 |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Rebecca Soni United States | 2:20.22 WR | Leisel Jones Australia | 2:22.05 | Sara Nordenstam Norway | 2:23.02 ER |
| 100 m butterfly details | Lisbeth Trickett Australia | 56.73 OC | Christine Magnuson United States | 57.10 | Jessicah Schipper Australia | 57.25 |
| 200 m butterfly details | Liu Zige China | 2:04.18 WR | Jiao Liuyang China | 2:04.72 | Jessicah Schipper Australia | 2:06.26 |
| 200 m individual medley details | Stephanie Rice Australia | 2:08.45 WR | Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe | 2:08.59 AF | Natalie Coughlin United States | 2:10.34 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Stephanie Rice Australia | 4:29.45 WR | Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe | 4:29.89 AF | Katie Hoff United States | 4:31.71 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | Netherlands Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) Hinkelien Schreuder* Manon van Rooijen* | 3:33.76 OR | United States Natalie Coughlin (54.00) Lacey Nymeyer (53.91) Kara Lynn Joyce (53.98) Dara Torres (52.44) Emily Silver* Julia Smit* | 3:34.33 AM | Australia Cate Campbell (54.40) Alice Mills (54.43) Melanie Schlanger (53.85) Lisbeth Trickett (52.34) Shayne Reese* | 3:35.05 OC |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay details | Australia Stephanie Rice (1:56.60) =OC Bronte Barratt 1:56.58) Kylie Palmer (1:55.22) Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) Lara Davenport* Felicity Galvez* Angie Bainbridge* Melanie Schlanger* | 7:44.31 WR | China Yang Yu (1:56.79) Zhu Qianwei (1:56.64) Tan Miao (1:58.11) Pang Jiaying (1:54.39) Tang Jingzhi* | 7:45.93 AS | United States Allison Schmitt (1:57.71) Natalie Coughlin (1:57.19) Caroline Burckle (1:56.70) Katie Hoff (1:54.73) Christine Marshall* Kim Vandenberg* Julia Smit* | 7:46.33 AM |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | Australia Emily Seebohm (59.33) OC Leisel Jones (1:04.58) Jessicah Schipper (56.25) Lisbeth Trickett (52.53) Tarnee White* Felicity Galvez* Shayne Reese* | 3:52.69 WR | United States Natalie Coughlin (58.94) AM Rebecca Soni (1:05.95) Christine Magnuson (56.14) Dara Torres (52.27) Margaret Hoelzer* Megan Jendrick* Elaine Breeden* Kara Lynn Joyce* | 3:53.30 AM | China Zhao Jing (59.56) NR Sun Ye (1:06.76) Zhou Yafei (57.40) Pang Jiaying (52.40) Xu Tianlongzi* | 3:56.11 AS |
| 10 km open water details | Larisa Ilchenko Russia | 1:59:27.7 | Keri-Anne Payne Great Britain | 1:59:29.2 | Cassandra Patten Great Britain | 1:59:31.0 |
* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

## Olympic and world records broken

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, new world records were set 25 times (affecting 21 distinct world records) and new Olympic records were set 65 times and one other was equalled (affecting 30 distinct Olympic records). Only Ian Thorpe's 3:40.59 in the 400 metres freestyle and Inge de Bruijn's 56.61 in the 100 metres butterfly, both set in Sydney, remained Olympic records. Michael Phelps of the United States also broke the record for the most gold medals ever won by an Olympian with a total of 14; 8 of which were won during the 2008 Summer Olympics - this was also a world record.

### Men

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day |
| Men's 100 m breaststroke | August 9 | Heat 7 | Alexander Dale Oen | Norway | 59.41 | OR | 1 |
| Men's 400 m individual medley | August 9 | Heat 4 | Michael Phelps | United States | 4:07.82 | OR | 1 |
| Men's 100 m backstroke | August 10 | Heat 4 | Matt Grevers | United States | 53.41 | OR | 2 |
| Men's 100 m breaststroke | August 10 | Semifinal 2 | Alexander Dale Oen | Norway | 59.16 | OR | 2 |
| Men's 400 m individual medley | August 10 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 4:03.84 | WR | 2 |
| Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | August 10 | Heat 1 | Nathan Adrian (48.82) Cullen Jones (47.61) Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03) Matt Grevers (47.77) | United States | 3:12.23 | WR | 2 |
| Men's 100 m freestyle | August 10 | Heat 1 leadoff* | Amaury Leveaux | France | 47.76 | OR | 2 |
| Men's 100 m backstroke | August 11 | Semifinal 1 | Arkady Vyatchanin | Russia | 53.06 | OR | 3 |
| Men's 100 m backstroke | August 11 | Semifinal 2 | Hayden Stoeckel | Australia | 52.97 | OR | 3 |
| Men's 100 m breaststroke | August 11 | Final | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 58.91 | WR | 3 |
| Men's 200 m butterfly | August 11 | Heat 6 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:53.70 | OR | 3 |
| Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | August 11 | Final | Michael Phelps (47.51) Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65) Jason Lezak (46.06) | United States | 3:08.24 | WR | 3 |
| Men's 100 m freestyle | August 11 | Final leadoff* | Eamon Sullivan | Australia | 47.24 | WR | 3 |
| Men's 200 m freestyle | August 12 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:42.96 | WR | 4 |
| Men's 100 m backstroke | August 12 | Final | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 52.54 | WR | 4 |
| Men's 200 m breaststroke | August 12 | Heat 5 | Paolo Bossini | Italy | 2:08.98 | OR | 4 |
| Men's 200 m breaststroke | August 12 | Heat 7 | Dániel Gyurta | Hungary | 2:08.68 | OR | 4 |
| Men's 200 m butterfly | August 12 | Semifinal 2 | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:53.70 | OR | 4 |
| Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | August 12 | Heat 2 | David Walters (1:46.57) Ricky Berens (1:45.47) Erik Vendt (1:47.11) Klete Keller (1:45.51) | United States | 7:04.66 | OR | 4 |
| Men's 100 m freestyle | August 13 | Semifinal 1 | Alain Bernard | France | 47.20 | WR | 5 |
| Men's 100 m freestyle | August 13 | Semifinal 2 | Eamon Sullivan | Australia | 47.05 | WR | 5 |
| Men's 200 m breaststroke | August 13 | Semifinal 1 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:08.61 | OR | 5 |
| Men's 200 m butterfly | August 13 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:52.03 | WR | 5 |
| Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | August 13 | Final | Michael Phelps (1:43.31) Ryan Lochte (1:44.28) Ricky Berens (1:46.29) Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68) | United States | 6:58.56 | WR | 5 |
| Men's 50 m freestyle | August 14 | Heat 11 | César Cielo | Brazil | 21.47 | OR | 6 |
| Men's 50 m freestyle | August 14 | Heat 12 | Amaury Leveaux | France | 21.46 | OR | 6 |
| Men's 100 m butterfly | August 14 | Heat 7 | Jason Dunford | Kenya | 51.14 | OR | 6 |
| Men's 100 m butterfly | August 14 | Heat 9 | Milorad Čavić | Serbia | 50.76 | OR | 6 |
| Men's 50 m freestyle | August 15 | Semifinal 1 | César Cielo | Brazil | 21.34 | OR | 7 |
| Men's 1500 m freestyle | August 15 | Heat 3 | Ryan Cochrane | Canada | 14:40.84 | OR | 7 |
| Men's 1500 m freestyle | August 15 | Heat 5 | Grant Hackett | Australia | 14:38.92 | OR | 7 |
| Men's 200 m backstroke | August 15 | Final | Ryan Lochte | United States | 1:53.94 | WR | 7 |
| Men's 200 m individual medley | August 15 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 1:54.23 | WR | 7 |
| Men's 50 m freestyle | August 16 | Final | César Cielo | Brazil | 21.30 | OR | 8 |
| Men's 100 m butterfly | August 16 | Final | Michael Phelps | United States | 50.58 | OR | 8 |
| Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay | August 17 | Final | Aaron Peirsol (53.16) Brendan Hansen (59.27) Michael Phelps (50.15) Jason Lezak (46.76) | United States | 3:29.34 | WR | 9 |
* World record split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Note: At the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay final, anchor Jason Lezak swam the fastest 100 m split (46.06); however, this is not considered an official FINA record, as he did not swim the first leg.

### Women

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day |
| Women's 400 m freestyle | August 10 | Heat 5 | Katie Hoff | United States | 4:03.71 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 400 m freestyle | August 10 | Heat 6 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 4:02.19 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 m backstroke | August 10 | Heat 5 | Anastasia Zuyeva | Russia | 59.61 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 m backstroke | August 10 | Heat 6 | Reiko Nakamura | Japan | 59.36 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 m backstroke | August 10 | Heat 7 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 59.00 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 m breaststroke | August 10 | Heat 7 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 1:05.64 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 400 m individual medley | August 10 | Final | Stephanie Rice | Australia | 4:29.45 | WR | 2 |
| Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | August 10 | Final | Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) | Netherlands | 3:33.76 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 m freestyle | August 10 | Final leadoff* | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.38 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 200 m freestyle | August 11 | Heat 4 | Pang Jiaying | China | 1:57.37 | OR | 3 |
| Women's 200 m freestyle | August 11 | Heat 5 | Sara Isaković | Slovenia | 1:55.86 | OR | 3 |
| Women's 200 m freestyle | August 11 | Heat 6 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 1:55.45 | WR | 3 |
| Women's 100 m backstroke | August 11 | Semifinal 2 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 58.77 | WR | 3 |
| Women's 100 m breaststroke | August 12 | Final | Leisel Jones | Australia | 1:05.17 | OR | 4 |
| Women's 200 m individual medley | August 12 | Semifinal 1 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 2:09.53 | OR | 4 |
| Women's 200 m freestyle | August 13 | Final | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 1:54.82 | WR | 5 |
| Women's 200 m breaststroke | August 13 | Heat 5 | Rebecca Soni | United States | 2:22.17 | OR | 5 |
| Women's 200 m individual medley | August 13 | Final | Stephanie Rice | Australia | 2:08.45 | OR | 5 |
| Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | August 13 | Heat 1 | Alena Popchanka (1:58.27) Céline Couderc (1:58.92) Camille Muffat (1:57.32) Coralie Balmy (1:55.86) | France | 7:50.37 | OR | 5 |
| Women's 800 m freestyle | August 14 | Heat 4 | Rebecca Adlington | Great Britain | 8:18.06 | OR | 6 |
| Women's 200 m backstroke | August 14 | Heat 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 2:06.76 | OR | 6 |
| Women's 200 m butterfly | August 14 | Final | Liu Zige | China | 2:04.18 | WR | 6 |
| Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay | August 14 | Final | Stephanie Rice (1:56.60) Bronte Barratt (1:56.58) Kylie Palmer (1:55.22) Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) | Australia | 7:44.31 | WR | 6 |
| Women's 100 m freestyle | August 15 | Final | Britta Steffen | Germany | 53.12 | OR | 7 |
| Women's 200 m breaststroke | August 15 | Final | Rebecca Soni | United States | 2:20.22 | WR | 7 |
| Women's 800 m freestyle | August 16 | Final | Rebecca Adlington | Great Britain | 8:14.10 | WR | 8 |
| Women's 200 m backstroke | August 16 | Final | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 2:05.24 | WR | 8 |
| Women's 50 m freestyle | August 17 | Final | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.06 | OR | 9 |
| Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay | August 17 | Final | Emily Seebohm (59.33) Leisel Jones (1:04.58) Jessicah Schipper (56.25) Lisbeth Trickett (52.53) | Australia | 3:52.69 | WR | 9 |

## LZR Racer suits

Another big change to swimming occurred when Speedo launched the LZR Racer swim suits on February 13, 2008. The suits, developed by the Australian Institute of Sport, were designed to repel water, allow oxygen to flow to the muscles, and hold the body in a more hydrodynamic position. The suits had been proven to give the swimmer a lower time by 1.9 to 2.2%. Due to the advantage provided by the suits, some swimmers complained about the fairness in its use, because some people used multiple swimsuits to improve buoyancy and compressing of body; the official blog for the National Collegiate Athletic Association pondered whether they were "technology doping" and what was the difference between gaining advantage from a swimsuit and gaining advantage from performance-enhancing drugs. In response to these complaints, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) scheduled a meeting with Speedo to discuss the suits. After the meeting, FINA dismissed the claims of cheating, and endorsed the suits for future swimming meets. By August 14, 2008, 62 world records had been broken by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer.