# Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics

The swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. The women's open-water marathon was held on August 15, and the men's open water race on August 16 in Fort Copacabana.

## Open water quality

The location for open-water events was a source of concern for athletes since scientists have found microbes in the waters off of Fort Copacabana and drug-resistant super bacteria off the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and 2016 studies due to the daily dumping of hospital waste and household raw sewage into the rivers and ocean. Ten percent of the Copacabana water test samples contained drug-resistant super bacteria. However, during the races the water quality was good.

## Events

Similar to the program's format in 2012, swimming features a total of 34 events (17 each for men and women), including two 10 km open-water marathons. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in metres unless stated):
* Freestyle: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 (women), and 1500 (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
* Marathon: 10 kilometres

### Schedule

Similar to previous Olympics since 2000, with the exception of 2008, the swimming program schedule occurred in two segments. For the pool events, prelims are held in the afternoon, followed by the semifinals and final in the evening and the night session (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). The dates in the table are for August.
Men :
| Date → | Aug 6 | Aug 6 | Aug 7 | Aug 7 | Aug 8 | Aug 8 | Aug 9 | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 13 | Aug 16 | Aug 16 |
| Event ↓ | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N |
| 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 6 | Aug 6 | Aug 7 | Aug 7 | Aug 8 | Aug 8 | Aug 9 | Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 | Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 13 | Aug 15 | Aug 15 |
| Event ↓ | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N | A | N |
| 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

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FINA By-Law BL 9.3.6.4 (swimming) and BL 9.3.7.5.3 (open water) laid out the qualification procedures for the "Swimming" competition at the Olympics. Each country is allowed to enter up to two swimmers per individual event (provided they qualify), and one entry per relay; and a country may not have more than 26 males and 26 females (52 total) on its team.

### Swimming – individual events

On January 15, 2015, FINA posted the qualifying times for individual events for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The time standards consisted of two types: an "Olympic Qualifying Time" (OQT) and an "Olympic Selection time" (OST). Each country was able to enter up to two swimmers per event, provided both swimmers met the (faster) qualifying time. A country was able to enter one swimmer per event that met the invitation standard. Any swimmer who met the "qualifying" time was entered in the event for the Games; a swimmer meeting the "invitation" standard was eligible for entry, and their entry was allotted/filled in by ranking.
If a country had had no swimmers who meet either qualifying standard, it may have entered one male and one female. A country that did not receive an allocation spot but had at least one swimmer who met a qualifying standard might have enter the swimmer with the highest ranking.

### Swimming – relay events

Each relay event features 16 teams, composed of:
* 12: the top-12 finishers at the 2015 World Championships in each relay event.
* 4: the 4 fastest non-qualified teams, based on times in the 15-months preceding the Olympics.

### Open-water swimming

The men's and women's 10 km races at the 2016 Summer Olympics featured 25 swimmers:
* 10: the top-10 finishers in the 10 km races at the 2015 World Championships
* 9: the top-9 finishers at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier (June 11–12, 2016 in Setúbal, Portugal)
* 5: one representative from each FINA continent (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania). (These have been selected based on the finishes at the qualifying race in Setúbal.)
* 1: from the host nation (Brazil) if not qualified by other means. If Brazil already contained a qualifier in the race, this spot had been allocated back into the general pool from the 2016 Olympic qualifier race.

## Participation
### Participating nations

Brazil, as the host country, receives guaranteed quota place in case it would not qualify any qualification places.
* Albania (2)
* Algeria (1)
* Andorra (2)
* Angola (2)
* Antigua and Barbuda (2)
* Argentina (5)
* Armenia (2)
* Aruba (2)
* Australia (39)
* Austria (6)
* Azerbaijan (2)
* Bahamas (3)
* Bahrain (1)
* Bangladesh (2)
* Barbados (2)
* Belgium (10)
* Benin (2)
* Belarus (8)
* Bermuda (2)
* Bolivia (2)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina (2)
* Botswana (2)
* Brazil (36)
* British Virgin Islands (1)
* Bulgaria (3)
* Burkina Faso (2)
* Burundi (2)
* Cambodia (2)
* Canada (30)
* Cayman Islands (2)
* Central African Republic (2)
* Chile (2)
* China (45)
* Colombia (4)
* Comoros (2)
* Republic of the Congo (2)
* Cook Islands (2)
* Costa Rica (1)
* Croatia (2)
* Cuba (1)
* Cyprus (2)
* Czech Republic (8)
* Denmark (15)
* Djibouti (1)
* Dominican Republic (2)
* Ecuador (3)
* Egypt (7)
* El Salvador (2)
* Estonia (2)
* Ethiopia (2)
* Fiji (2)
* Finland (8)
* France (30)
* Gabon (1)
* The Gambia (1)
* Georgia (2)
* Germany (29)
* Great Britain (28)
* Ghana (2)
* Greece (15)
* Grenada (2)
* Guam (2)
* Guinea (2)
* Guatemala (2)
* Guyana (2)
* Haiti (2)
* Honduras (2)
* Hong Kong (7)
* Hungary (35)
* Iceland (3)
* India (2)
* Indonesia (2)
* Iran (1)
* Iraq (1)
* Ireland (3)
* Israel (7)
* Italy (38)
* Ivory Coast (2)
* Jamaica (2)
* Japan (36)
* Jordan (2)
* Kazakhstan (3)
* Kenya (2)
* Kosovo (2)
* Independent Olympic Athletes (2)
* Kyrgyzstan (2)
* Laos (2)
* Latvia (2)
* Lebanon (2)
* Libya (2)
* Liechtenstein (2)
* Lithuania (6)
* Luxembourg (3)
* Macedonia (2)
* Madagascar (2)
* Malaysia (3)
* Malawi (2)
* Maldives (2)
* Mali (2)
* Malta (2)
* Marshall Islands (2)
* Mauritius (2)
* Mexico (3)
* Federated States of Micronesia (2)
* Moldova (2)
* Mongolia (2)
* Montenegro (2)
* Morocco (2)
* Mozambique (2)
* Myanmar (1)
* Netherlands (17)
* Nepal (2)
* New Zealand (9)
* Nicaragua (2)
* Niger (2)
* Nigeria (2)
* Norway (2)
* Palau (2)
* Palestine (2)
* Pakistan (2)
* Panama (2)
* Papua New Guinea (1)
* Paraguay (2)
* Peru (2)
* Philippines (2)
* Poland (20)
* Portugal (5)
* Qatar (2)
* Refugee Olympic Team (2)
* Romania (6)
* Puerto Rico (2)
* Russia (36)
* Rwanda (2)
* Saint Lucia (1)
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2)
* Samoa (2)
* Senegal (2)
* Serbia (6)
* Seychelles (2)
* Sierra Leone (2)
* Singapore (3)
* Slovakia (3)
* Slovenia (10)
* South Africa (13)
* South Korea (8)
* Spain (24)
* Sri Lanka (2)
* Sweden (11)
* Switzerland (8)
* Sudan (2)
* Suriname (2)
* Syria (2)
* Chinese Taipei (2)
* Tajikistan (2)
* Tanzania (2)
* Thailand (2)
* Togo (2)
* Tonga (2)
* Trinidad and Tobago (2)
* Tunisia (2)
* Turkey (4)
* Turkmenistan (2)
* Uganda (2)
* Ukraine (7)
* United Arab Emirates (2)
* United States (47)
* Uruguay (2)
* Uzbekistan (2)
* Venezuela (6)
* Vietnam (2)
* Virgin Islands (2)
* Yemen (2)
* Zambia (2)
* Zimbabwe (2)

## Medal summary
### Medal table

* Host nation (Brazil)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 16 | 8 | 9 | 33 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Hungary | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Japan | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | China | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 9 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Denmark | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | South Africa | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Russia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 | France | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 18 | Belgium | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Greece | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Belarus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Brazil* | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (21 entries) | Totals (21 entries) | 35 | 35 | 34 | 104 |

### Men's events

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle details | Anthony Ervin United States | 21.40 | Florent Manaudou France | 21.41 | Nathan Adrian United States | 21.49 |
| 100 m freestyle details | Kyle Chalmers Australia | 47.58 WJ | Pieter Timmers Belgium | 47.80 NR | Nathan Adrian United States | 47.85 |
| 200 m freestyle details | Sun Yang China | 1:44.65 | Chad le Clos South Africa | 1:45.20 AF | Conor Dwyer United States | 1:45.23 |
| 400 m freestyle details | Mack Horton Australia | 3:41.55 | Sun Yang China | 3:41.68 | Gabriele Detti Italy | 3:43.49 |
| 1500 m freestyle details | Gregorio Paltrinieri Italy | 14:34.57 | Connor Jaeger United States | 14:39.48 AM | Gabriele Detti Italy | 14:40.86 |
| 100 m backstroke details | Ryan Murphy United States | 51.97 OR | Xu Jiayu China | 52.31 | David Plummer United States | 52.40 |
| 200 m backstroke details | Ryan Murphy United States | 1:53.62 | Mitch Larkin Australia | 1:53.96 | Evgeny Rylov Russia | 1:53.97 ER |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Adam Peaty Great Britain | 57.13 WR | Cameron van der Burgh South Africa | 58.69 | Cody Miller United States | 58.87 AM |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Dmitriy Balandin Kazakhstan | 2:07.46 NR | Josh Prenot United States | 2:07.53 | Anton Chupkov Russia | 2:07.70 NR |
| 100 m butterfly details | Joseph Schooling Singapore | 50.39 OR, AS | Michael Phelps United StatesChad le Clos South AfricaLászló Cseh Hungary | 51.14 | Not awarded as there was a tie for silver. | Not awarded as there was a tie for silver. |
| 200 m butterfly details | Michael Phelps United States | 1:53.36 | Masato Sakai Japan | 1:53.40 | Tamás Kenderesi Hungary | 1:53.62 |
| 200 m individual medley details | Michael Phelps United States | 1:54.66 | Kosuke Hagino Japan | 1:56.61 | Wang Shun China | 1:57.05 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Kosuke Hagino Japan | 4:06.05 AS | Chase Kalisz United States | 4:06.75 | Daiya Seto Japan | 4:09.71 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Caeleb Dressel (48.10) Michael Phelps (47.12) Ryan Held (47.73) Nathan Adrian (46.97) Jimmy Feigen Blake Pieroni Anthony Ervin | 3:09.92 | France (FRA) Mehdy Metella (48.08) Fabien Gilot (48.20) Florent Manaudou (47.14) Jérémy Stravius (47.11) Clément Mignon William Meynard | 3:10.53 | Australia (AUS) James Roberts (48.88) Kyle Chalmers (47.38) James Magnussen (48.11) Cameron McEvoy (47.00) Matthew Abood | 3:11.37 |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Conor Dwyer (1:45.23) Townley Haas (1:44.14) Ryan Lochte (1:46.03) Michael Phelps (1:45.26) Clark Smith Jack Conger Gunnar Bentz | 7:00.66 | Great Britain (GBR) Stephen Milne (1:46.97) Duncan Scott (1:45.05) Daniel Wallace (1:46.26) James Guy (1:44.85) Robbie Renwick | 7:03.13 NR | Japan (JPN) Kosuke Hagino (1:45.34) Naito Ehara (1:46.11) Yuki Kobori (1:45.71) Takeshi Matsuda (1:46.34) | 7:03.50 |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | United States (USA) Ryan Murphy (51.85) WR Cody Miller (59.03) Michael Phelps (50.33) Nathan Adrian (46.74) David Plummer Kevin Cordes Tom Shields Caeleb Dressel | 3:27.95 OR | Great Britain (GBR) Chris Walker-Hebborn (53.68) Adam Peaty (56.59) James Guy (51.35) Duncan Scott (47.62) | 3:29.24 NR | Australia (AUS) Mitch Larkin (53.19) Jake Packard (58.84) David Morgan (51.18) Kyle Chalmers (46.72) Cameron McEvoy | 3:29.93 |
| 10 km open water details | Ferry Weertman Netherlands | 1:52:59.8 | Spyridon Gianniotis Greece | 1:53:00.5 | Marc-Antoine Olivier France | 1:53:02.0 |
| AF African Record | AM Americas Record | SA South American Record | AS Asian Record | ER European Record | OC Oceanian Record | OR Olympic Record | WJR World Junior Record | WR World Record NR National Record (any World Record is necessarily also an Olympic, area, and national record. Area records (for continental regions) are also national records) |||||| |
$^a$ Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

### Women's events

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 50 m freestyle details | Pernille Blume Denmark | 24.07 NR | Simone Manuel United States | 24.09 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia Belarus | 24.11 NR |
| 100 m freestyle details | Penny Oleksiak Canada Simone Manuel United States | 52.70 OR, WJ, AM52.70 OR, AM | Not awarded as there was a tie for gold. | Not awarded as there was a tie for gold. | Sarah Sjöström Sweden | 52.99 |
| 200 m freestyle details | Katie Ledecky United States | 1:53.73 | Sarah Sjöström Sweden | 1:54.08 NR | Emma McKeon Australia | 1:54.92 |
| 400 m freestyle details | Katie Ledecky United States | 3:56.46 WR | Jazmin Carlin Great Britain | 4:01.23 | Leah Smith United States | 4:01.92 |
| 800 m freestyle details | Katie Ledecky United States | 8:04.79 WR | Jazmin Carlin Great Britain | 8:16.17 | Boglárka Kapás Hungary | 8:16.37 NR |
| 100 m backstroke details | Katinka Hosszú Hungary | 58.45 NR | Kathleen Baker United States | 58.75 | Kylie Masse CanadaFu Yuanhui China | 58.76 NR58.76 NR |
| 200 m backstroke details | Maya DiRado United States | 2:05.99 | Katinka Hosszú Hungary | 2:06.05 | Hilary Caldwell Canada | 2:07.54 |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Lilly King United States | 1:04.93 OR | Yulia Efimova Russia | 1:05.50 | Katie Meili United States | 1:05.69 |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Rie Kaneto Japan | 2:20.30 | Yulia Efimova Russia | 2:21.97 | Shi Jinglin China | 2:22.28 |
| 100 m butterfly details | Sarah Sjöström Sweden | 55.48 WR | Penny Oleksiak Canada | 56.46 WJ, NR | Dana Vollmer United States | 56.63 |
| 200 m butterfly details | Mireia Belmonte García Spain | 2.04.85 | Madeline Groves Australia | 2.04.88 | Natsumi Hoshi Japan | 2.05.20 |
| 200 m individual medley details | Katinka Hosszú Hungary | 2:06.58 OR | Siobhan-Marie O'Connor Great Britain | 2:06.88 NR | Maya DiRado United States | 2:08.79 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Katinka Hosszú Hungary | 4:26.36 WR | Maya DiRado United States | 4:31.15 | Mireia Belmonte García Spain | 4:32.39 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | Australia (AUS) Emma McKeon (53.41) Brittany Elmslie (53.12) Bronte Campbell (52.15) Cate Campbell (51.97) Madison Wilson | 3:30.65 WR | United States (USA) Simone Manuel (53.36) Abbey Weitzeil (52.56) Dana Vollmer (53.18) Katie Ledecky (52.79) Amanda Weir Lia Neal Allison Schmitt | 3:31.89 AM | Canada (CAN) Sandrine Mainville (53.86) Chantal Van Landeghem (53.12) Taylor Ruck (53.19) Penny Oleksiak (52.72) Michelle Williams | 3:32.89 NR |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Allison Schmitt (1:56.21) Leah Smith (1:56.69) Maya DiRado (1:56.39) Katie Ledecky (1:53.74) Missy Franklin Melanie Margalis Cierra Runge | 7:43.03 | Australia (AUS) Leah Neale (1:57.95) Emma McKeon (1:54.64) Bronte Barratt (1:55.81) Tamsin Cook (1:56.47) Jessica Ashwood | 7:44.87 | Canada (CAN) Katerine Savard (1:57.91) Taylor Ruck (1:56.18) Brittany MacLean (1:56.36) Penny Oleksiak (1:54.94) Kennedy Goss Emily Overholt | 7:45.39 NR |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | United States (USA) Kathleen Baker (59.00) Lilly King (1:05.70) Dana Vollmer (56.00) Simone Manuel (52.43) Olivia Smoliga Katie Meili Kelsi Worrell Abbey Weitzeil | 3:53.13 | Australia (AUS) Emily Seebohm (58.83) Taylor McKeown (1:07.05) Emma McKeon (56.95) Cate Campbell (52.17) Madison Wilson Madeline Groves Brittany Elmslie | 3:55.00 | Denmark (DEN) Mie Nielsen (58.75) Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62) Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) Pernille Blume (53.21) | 3:55.01 ER |
| 10 km open water details | Sharon van Rouwendaal Netherlands | 1:56:32.1 | Rachele Bruni Italy | 1:56:49.5 | Poliana Okimoto Brazil | 1:56:51.4 |
| AF African Record | AM Americas Record | SA South American Record | AS Asian Record | ER European Record | OC Oceanian Record | OR Olympic Record | WJR World Junior Record | WR World Record NR National Record (any World Record is necessarily also an Olympic, area, and national record. Area records (for continental regions) are also national records) |||||| |
$^b$ Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

## Olympic and world records broken

Lua error in Module:Hatnote at line 138: attempt to index global 'frame' (a nil value).

### Men

| Event | Established for | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day |
| Men's 100 metre breaststroke | (same) | 6 August | Heats | Adam Peaty | Great Britain | 57.55 | WR | 1 |
| Men's 100 metre breaststroke | (same) | 7 August | Final | Adam Peaty | Great Britain | 57.13 | WR | 2 |
| Men's 100 metre backstroke | (same) | 8 August | Final | Ryan Murphy | United States | 51.97 | OR | 3 |
| Men's 200 metre breaststroke | (same) | 9 August | Semifinal | Ippei Watanabe | Japan | 2:07.22 | OR | 4 |
| Men's 100 metre butterfly | (same) | 12 August | Final | Joseph Schooling | Singapore | 50.39 | OR | 7 |
| Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay | Men's 100 metre backstroke | 13 August | Final | Ryan Murphy | United States | 51.85 r | WR | 8 |
| Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay | (same) | 13 August | Final | Ryan Murphy (51.85) Cody Miller (59.03) Michael Phelps (50.33) Nathan Adrian (46.74) | United States | 3:27.95 | OR | 8 |

### Women

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | Day |
| Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay | 6 August | Heats | Madison Wilson (54.11) Brittany Elmslie (53.22) Bronte Campbell (53.26) Cate Campbell (51.80) | Australia | 3:32.39 | OR | 1 |
| Women's 100 metre butterfly | 6 August | Semifinal | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 55.84 | OR | 1 |
| Women's 400 metre individual medley | 6 August | Final | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 4:26.36 | WR | 1 |
| Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay | 6 August | Final | Emma McKeon (53.41) Brittany Elmslie (53.12) Bronte Campbell (52.15) Cate Campbell (51.97) | Australia | 3:30.65 | WR | 1 |
| Women's 400 metre freestyle | 7 August | Heats | Katie Ledecky | United States | 3:58.71 | OR | 2 |
| Women's 100 metre butterfly | 7 August | Final | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 55.48 | WR | 2 |
| Women's 400 metre freestyle | 7 August | Final | Katie Ledecky | United States | 3:56.46 | WR | 2 |
| Women's 200 metre individual medley | 8 August | Heats | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 2:07.45 | OR | 3 |
| Women's 100 metre breaststroke | 8 August | Final | Lilly King | United States | 1:04.93 | OR | 3 |
| Women's 200 metre individual medley | 9 August | Final | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 2:06.58 | OR | 4 |
| Women's 100 metre freestyle | 10 August | Heats | Cate Campbell | Australia | 52.78 | OR | 5 |
| Women's 100 metre freestyle | 10 August | Semifinals | Cate Campbell | Australia | 52.71 | OR | 5 |
| Women's 800 metre freestyle | 11 August | Heats | Katie Ledecky | United States | 8.12.86 | OR | 6 |
| Women's 100 metre freestyle | 11 August | Final | Simone Manuel | United States | 52.70 | OR | 6 |
| Women's 100 metre freestyle | 11 August | Final | Penny Oleksiak | Canada | 52.70 | OR | 6 |
| Women's 800 metre freestyle | 12 August | Final | Katie Ledecky | United States | 8.04.79 | WR | 7 |
Legend: r – First leg of relay
* All world records (WR) are consequently Olympic records (OR).