The Maldives received a universality invitation from FINA to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics. Competitor Ibrahim Nishwan made his debut while Aminath Shajan made her second appearance, with the first being in the women's 50 metre freestyle event of the London Olympics, in which she did not qualify for the semifinals. Nishwan participated in the men's 200 metre individual medley event of the 2014 Asian Games, but was disqualified following an illegal turn. Shajan has previously won bronze at the women's 800m freestyle event of the 2016 South Asian Games with a time of 10:41.41. The duo did not train in the conditions other athletes did. In an interview, Shajan said they "train in the sea" and that "sometimes jellyfish bite [them]." Nishwan started in the fourth lane. He came third in his heat and ranked 71st total, being 55 positions shy of qualification with a time of 26.72 seconds. Shajan started in the first lane and finished last (excluding Federica Pellegrini and Michelle Coleman who did not start) with a time of 1:05.71 minutes.