Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics
The swimming competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were due to take place from 25 July to 6 August 2020 at the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed to 2021. However, their official name remained 2020 Summer Olympics with swimming events set for 24 July–1 August 2021 and marathon swimming set for 4–5 August 2021. Swimming featured a record total of 37 events (18 for each gender and 1 mixed), with the addition of the men's 800 m freestyle, women's 1500 m freestyle , and the mixed medley relay. Events. Swimming at the 2020 Olympics featured a total of 37 events (18 each for men and women and 1 mixed event), including two 10 km open-water marathons. This was a slight increase from the 34 events contested in the previous Olympic Games. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in meters unless stated): 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 due to 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, 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. Qualification. Swimming – individual events. FINA establishes qualifying times for individual events. 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 has no swimmers who meet either of the qualifying standards, 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 entered the swimmer with the highest ranking. Swimming – relay events. Each relay event features 16 teams, composed of: Open-water swimming. The men's and women's 10 km races featured 25 swimmers: Participating nations. As the host nation , Japan receives guaranteed quota place in case it would not qualify any qualification places. Medal summary. Men's events. Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals. Women's events. Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals. Mixed events. Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals. History of Olympic Swimming. The first Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, with competitive swimming being at the center of the competition. Competitive Swimming in the Olympic Games is one of only four sports that have been retained in every Olympic games, dating  back to the very first in 1896. Swimming at the 1896 Olympics was an experimental event that include events that are no longer included today. Swimming at the first Olympics was also an all men sport and no women were allowed to swim. Some of these events included: It was not until the 1912 Stockholm Olympics that women were allowed to compete in competitive swimming at the Olympic games. However they were only allowed to compete in the 100 m Freestyle and 400 m free relay. By 1924, new swimming events at the Olympics were constantly being added to the  Summer Olympic games. Backstroke and breaststroke were becoming common events among competitive men and women swimming. The 1924 Olympic Games consisted of 11 competitive swimming events, 6 for men and 5 for women. Post World War II After World War II, Olympic sports saw an increase in innovation and technological advancements. This translated to the swimming world; formation of lane lines, advanced training techniques, increase in indoor swimming pools, hydrodynamic swimsuits, and better drainage systems contributed to many reasons as to why competitive swimming popularity increased, thus creating more events at the Olympic games for both men and women. The  1956 Olympics was the first Olympic games to included the Butterfly event, both 200 m for men and 100 m for women. The 1956 Summer Olympics included 13 events for swimming, making it a record high at the time. Today The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics included 37 total events, 18 for each gender, and also included a co-ed event. Competitive swimming at the Summer Olympics continued to change at each Summer Olympic games. Technological advances and innovation of indoor swimming pools both helped increase the popularity of the sport as well as the betterment of competitor swimmers. References. 12 . “List of Participating Countries in Tokyo OLYMPICS 2020-21.” "Tokyo 2020-21 Summer Olympics Participating Countries: 206 NOCs Nations List", www.whereig.com/olympics/summer-olympics-participating-countries.html. 13. Yu, Cindy, and Talya Minsberg. “A Look at All of the World Records That Were Broken at the Tokyo Olympics.” "The New York Times", The New York Times, 8 Aug. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/sports/olympics/world-records-tokyo-olympics.html. 14. 2019, Kaylie Williams, 04 February, and Kaylie Williams. “From Past to Present: The Evolution and History of Olympic Swimming.” "Swimming World News", 4 Feb. 2019, www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/from-past-to-present-the-evolution-and-history-of-olympic-swimming/. 15. “Swimming: Olympic Sport.” "Tokyo 2020", olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/sports/swimming/. 16. Olympic Medal Count.” "Tokyo 2020 Olympics (Jul 23-Aug 8, 2021 )", olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm. 17.“Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics.” "Wikipedia", Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Sept. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_1896_Summer_Olympics. 18. 2019, Kaylie Williams, 04 February, and Kaylie Williams. “From Past to Present: The Evolution and History of Olympic Swimming.” "Swimming World News", 4 Feb. 2019, <nowiki>https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/from-past-to-present-the-evolution-and-history-of-olympic-swimming/</nowiki>.