Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle S5

The men's 1500 metre freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships was held on the morning of 31 March (heats) and the evening of 1 April (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 50 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 47 swam. The existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 14:34.56, Grant Hackett (Australia), 29 July 2001, Fukuoka, Japan
* Championship record (CR): same

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Reigning world champion Park Tae-Hwan made an Olympic milestone to become South Korea's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He powered past the field to an unexpected triumph in an Asian record of 3:41.86. Coming from sixth place in the final lap, China's Zhang Lin delighted the home crowd with a silver-medal effort in 3:42.44. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer Larsen Jensen set a new American record of 3:42.78 to take the bronze.

The men's 100m freestyle S8 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 8 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. For the first time since the event's inception in 1996, the Aussies smashed a new world record to overhaul the undefeated Americans for an Olympic title with a benefit of a sterling opening leg from Stephanie Rice. Starting the program's longest relay race with a remarkable Oceanian-record split of 1:56.60, Rice and her teammates Bronte Barratt (1:56.58), Kylie Palmer (1:55.22), and Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) registered a gold-medal time of 7:44.31 to shave nearly six seconds off the previous world record set by their greatest rivals in 2007.

The men's 4×200 metre freestyle relay at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 30 March 2007 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The top-12 finishers from this race qualified for the event at the 2008 Olympics. 27 teams entered and swam the event. The existing records when the event started were:
* World record (WR): 7:04.66, Australia (Hackett, Klim, Kirby, Thorpe), 27 July 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan.
* Championship record (CR): 7:04.66, Australia (Hackett, Klim, Kirby, Thorpe), Fukuoka 2001 (27 July 2001)

The Men's 200m Individual Medley (IM) event at the 2007 Pan American Games occurred at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 20. At this race, Bradley Ally won the first medal of his country in swimming at Pan American Games at all times.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 150 metre individual medley SM4

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 50 m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 100m Butterfly

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S2

Swimming at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games – Women's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

The Swimming competition at the 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships was held in Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, from 25 March to 1 April 2007. This portion of the 2007 Worlds featured 40 events (20 for males, 20 for females), all swum in a long course (50 m) pool:
* freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m;
* backstroke: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* breaststroke: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* butterfly: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* individual medley (I.M.): 200 m and 400 m; and
* relays: 4x100 m free, 4x200 m free, and 4x100 m medley.

The men's 200 metre backstroke at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 29 March (heats and semifinals) and 30 March (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 57 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 55 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 1:54.44, Aaron Peirsol (USA), August 19, 2006 in Victoria, Canada.
* Championship record (CR): 1:54.66, Aaron Peirsol (USA), Montreal 2005 (July 29, 2005)

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50m freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Women's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 4 x 50 metre medley relay 20pts

The Men's 200m Butterfly event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 21.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metre individual medley

The men's 100m backstroke S12 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 13 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 100 metres breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200m Freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 m butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle

The men's 100m freestyle S9 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 8 September. There were three heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 800m freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200 metres individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100 m backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400 m freestyle

The men's 100m butterfly S10 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 8 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's marathon 10 kilometres

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre butterfly

The men's 100m breaststroke SB4 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 12 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

The men's 200m freestyle S3 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 9 September. There were no heats in this event.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 50m butterfly

The women's 400 metre freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 25 March (preliminaries and finals) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 4:02.13, Laure Manaudou (France), 6 August 2006 in Budapest, Hungary
* Championship record (CR): 4:06.28, Tracey Wickham (Australia), at West Berlin 1978 (24 August 1978)

The men's 100m backstroke S13 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 14 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 100 metres backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 m backstroke

The men's 100 metre breaststroke at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 25 March (heats and semifinals) and on the evening of 26 March (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 123 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 117 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 59.13, Brendan Hansen (USA), 1 August 2006 in Irvine, USA.
* Championship record (CR): 59.37, Brendan Hansen (USA), Montreal 2005 (25 July 2005)

The Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay event at the 2007 Pan American Games occurred at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 18.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly S10

The Women's 4x100m Medley Relay at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 31 March 2007 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The top-12 finishers from this race qualified for the event at the 2008 Olympics. 29 teams were entered in the event; all swam. The existing records when the event started were:
* World Record (WR): 3:56.30, Australia (Edington, Jones, Schipper, Lenton), 21 March 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.
* Championship Record (CR): 3:57.47, Australia (Edington, Jones, Schipper, Lenton), Montreal 2005 (Jul.30.2005)

The schedule of swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics occurred in two segments:
* pools events: evening of August 9 through the morning of August 17, at the "Water Cube"
* open water events: August 20 and 21 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (held between rowing events on the Olympic Rowing course).

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S9

The men's 50 metre backstroke at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 31 March (prelims and semifinals ) and on the evening of 1 April (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 107 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 98 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 24.80, Thomas Rupprath (Germany), 27 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain.
* Championship record (CR): same

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon 10 kilometre

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4x100m medley relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle S7

The Men's 200m Breaststroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 21.

The Women's 200m Freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 27 March (prelims & semifinals) and 28 March (finals) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The World Record in the event was lowered twice during the competition, first by Italy's Federica Pellegrini in semifinals, and then by France's Laure Manaudou in finals. The existing records at the start of the competition were:
* World Record (WR): 1:56.64, Franziska van Almsick (Germany), 3 August 2002 in Berlin, Germany.
* Championship Record (CR): 1:56.78, Franziska van Almsick (Germany), Rome 1994 (Sep.6.1994).

The 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay was at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on 16 March. There was only one heat.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre individual medley (IM) at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 1 April (heats and final) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. As the event was over 400 meters in length, no semifinals were held in it and the top 8 swimmers from the preliminary heats advance directly to the single final heat. 50 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 49 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 200 metres individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 200 metres breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle S11

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 200 metre backstroke

The Women's 800m Freestyle event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first two heats were held on 2007-07-19, while the fastest heat based on entry times was staged a day later.

The men's 200 metre individual medley (IM) at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 28 March (heats and semifinals) and on the evening of 29 March (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 79 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 74 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 1:55.84, Michael Phelps (USA), 20 August 2006 in Victoria, Canada.
* Championship record (CR): 1:56.04, Michael Phelps (USA), Barcelona 2003 (25 July 2003)

The men's 200m individual medley SM5 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 11 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final (although apparently there were only eight entrants so no-one was eliminated).

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 m freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Reigning world champion Park Tae-Hwan made an Olympic milestone to become South Korea's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He powered past the field to an unexpected triumph in an Asian record of 3:41.86. Coming from sixth place in the final lap, China's Zhang Lin delighted the home crowd with a silver-medal effort in 3:42.44. Meanwhile, U.S. swimmer Larsen Jensen set a new American record of 3:42.78 to take the bronze. American Peter Vanderkaay delivered a strong swim with a fourth-place effort in 3:43.11, just 0.35 of a second ahead of Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli, who established a new African record of 3:43.45. Leading the field in the first 100 metres, Australia's Grant Hackett, the silver medalist in the event from Athens, could not keep the pace over the final laps, and settled only for sixth place with a time of 3:43.84. Russian duo Yuri Prilukov (3:43.97) and Nikita Lobintsev (3:48.29) rounded out the final.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre butterfly S12

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre backstroke S8

The men's 100m breaststroke SB12 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 8 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay 34pts

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB9

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke S7

The men's 200 metre breaststroke at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 29 March (heats and semifinals) and on the evening of 30 March (final) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 85 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 79 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 2:08.50, Brendan Hansen (USA), 20 August 2006 in Victoria, Canada.
* Championship record (CR): 2:09.42, Kosuke Kitajima (Japan), Barcelona 2003 (24 July 2003)

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 100m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre individual medley

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Competing at his third Games, Oussama Mellouli made an Olympic milestone to become Tunisia's first ever gold medalist in 48 years. He denied Australia's Grant Hackett a third straight title in the event, touching the wall first in an African record of 14:40.84. Hanging with the leaders through the first two-thirds of the race, Mellouli moved into the lead at the 1,100-metre mark, and held off Hackett's sprinted finish on the final lap. This was also a retribution for Mellouli, who served an 18-month doping ban from FINA for using the banned stimulant Adderall.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400m individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50m freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 10 kilometre

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200 metres backstroke

The Women's 100m Backstroke at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 26 March (prelims & semifinals) and the evening of 27 March (finals) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 87 swimmers were entered in the event, of which, 86 swam. Existing records at the start of the event started were:
* World Record (WR): 59.58, Natalie Coughlin (USA), 13 August 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, USA.
* Championship Record (CR): 1:00.00, Natalie Coughlin (USA), Montreal 2005 (30 July 2005)

The Women's 200m Breaststroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 22.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S12

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S4

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 200 metre freestyle S5

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre butterfly S6

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100m backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50 metre EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The Women's 50m Freestyle event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 18.

The men's 400m freestyle S11 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 11 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 400 metre freestyle

The Women's 100m Butterfly at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 25 March (prelims & semifinals) and the evening of 26 March (finals) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. 75 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 74 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World Record (WR): 56.61, Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands), 17 September 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
* Championship Record (CR): 57.23, Jessicah Schipper (Australia), Montreal 2005 (25 July 2005)

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metres backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200m breaststroke

The Women's 400m Freestyle event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 17.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 200 metre individual medley SM12

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S9

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50m backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 800 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The Men's 100m Breaststroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games occurred at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 16—18 July. Three first round heats were raced, comprising a total of 20 swimmers. The fastest 16 swimmers from this group qualified to move on to the semifinals stage. The 16 swimmers who advanced then raced in two semifinals of eight swimmers each, the results being pooled and the fastest eight swimmers advancing to the final. Scott Dickens won the gold medal, breaking a string of 9 U.S. titles in a row. Before him, only other non-American had won the race, the Brazilian José Fiolo, in the first edition of the Games which this race was held, in 1967.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 800 m freestyle

The Swimming competition at the 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships was held in Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, from 25 March to 1 April 2007. This portion of the 2007 Worlds featured 40 events (20 for males, 20 for females), all swum in a long course (50 m) pool:
* freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m;
* backstroke: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* breaststroke: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* butterfly: 50 m, 100 m and 200 m;
* individual medley (I.M.): 200 m and 400 m; and
* relays: 4x100 m free, 4x200 m free, and 4x100 m medley. The 2007 World Championships served in qualifying for the Swimming portion at the 2008 Olympics in two ways: 1) It was the main relay qualifier, with the top-12 finishers in each relay automatically qualifying for the 16-entry field at the 2008 Olympics (the other 4 teams were filled with the 4 fastest remaining nations).2) Those nations who did not have swimmers who meet the Olympic qualifying times, and wanted a "wildcard" entry into the Olympics, need to have their potential swimmers swim at the 2007 Worlds.

The men's 100m breaststroke SB6 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 12 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

The swimming events of the 2008 Summer Paralympics were held in the Beijing National Aquatics Center between September 7 and September 15, 2008. A total of 140 gold medals were expected to be distributed. Paralympic records were broken in 122 events, of which the records in 108 events were also world records.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM5

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 400 metre freestyle S7

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 400 metres freestyle

The men's 4x50m freestyle relay 20 points event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 11 September. There were no heats in this event.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre butterfly S10

The men's 100m backstroke S7 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 10 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 4x100 metres medley relay

The men's 400m freestyle S7 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 11 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. For the first time since the event's inception in 1996, the Aussies smashed a new world record to overhaul the undefeated Americans for an Olympic title with a benefit of a sterling opening leg from Stephanie Rice. Starting the program's longest relay race with a remarkable Oceanian-record split of 1:56.60, Rice and her teammates Bronte Barratt (1:56.58), Kylie Palmer (1:55.22), and Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) registered a gold-medal time of 7:44.31 to shave nearly six seconds off the previous world record set by their greatest rivals in 2007. China's Pang Jiaying expanded her stretch over U.S. swimmer Katie Hoff with an anchor of 1:54.39 to deliver the foursome of Yang Yu (1:56.79), Zhu Qianwei (1:56.64), and Tan Miao (1:58.11) a superb Asian record time of 7:45.93, and a silver medal for the host nation. After a disappointing Olympic campaign, the U.S. team of Allison Schmitt (1:57.71), Natalie Coughlin (1:57.19), Caroline Burckle (1:56.70), and Hoff (1:54.73) finally found the best form on the blazing anchor leg to end the race for the bronze in 7:46.33, finishing nearly four seconds under the old world record. Italy's Renata Spagnolo (1:58.31), Alessia Filippi (1:56.68), Flavia Zoccari (1:59.80), and Federica Pellegrini (1:54.97) missed out the podium by over three seconds with a fourth-place time and a European record of 7:49.76. Meanwhile, the French quartet of Coralie Balmy (1:56.57), Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (1:57.95), Aurore Mongel (1:58.62), and Camille Muffat (1:57.52) occupied the fifth spot in 7:50.66. Earlier in the prelims, Muffat (1:57.32), Balmy (1:55.86), Céline Couderc (1:58.92), and Alena Popchanka (1:58.27), previously competed for Belarus in three Games, established a new Olympic record of 7:50.37 to close the session with a final top seed. Hungary (7:55.53), Japan (7:57.56), and Sweden (7:59.83) rounded out the field. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight teams finished the race under eight minutes due to the presence of technology suits.

The swimming competition at the 2006 South Asian Games happened between August 19-23, 2006, at the Sugathadasa Stadium Swimming Pool in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22. Australia's world record holder and top favorite Leisel Jones enjoyed a strong lead in the first 100 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 2:22.05, almost two seconds behind Soni. Meanwhile, Sara Nordenstam earned Norway's second Olympic medal in swimming, as she powered home with a bronze in a European record of 2:23.02.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke S12

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50m Butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle S10

The Men's 4x100m Medley Relay event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 22.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Event Order

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S12

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50 metres butterfly

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 4x100 metres medley relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50m Freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S13

The men's 200m individual medley SM12 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 10 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 50 metres breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 800 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 200 metre butterfly

The Women's 50m Freestyle at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 31 March (prelims & semifinals) and 1 April (finals) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. A total of 143 swimmers were entered in the event; 138 swam the event. The existing records at the start of the competition were:
* World Record (WR): 24.13, Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands), 22 September 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
* Championship Record (CR): 24.45, Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands), Fukuoka 2001 (Jul.28.2001).

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

The men's 50 m freestyle was held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) on the 20th and 21 March 2006.

The men's 200m individual medley SM7 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 7 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 50m Butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB4

The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps set a new Olympic record of 50.58 to defend his title in the event, edging out Serbia's Milorad Čavić (50.59) by one hundredth of a second (0.01). He also earned his seventh Olympic gold at a single Games, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 record for the most gold medals. Australia's Andrew Lauterstein earned a bronze in 51.12, finishing in a close race against world record holder Ian Crocker by the slimmest margin. Phelps' triumph occurred after Čavić had remarked that it would be better for the sport if Phelps was defeated. Phelps' margin of triumph was so close that the Serbian team filed a protest, but after officials revi

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier. Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career. Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB6

The Women's 50m Backstroke event at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games occurred on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 at the S.U. Pedro de Heredia Aquatic Complex in Cartagena, Colombia.

The men's 100m freestyle S12 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 12 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 50m Breaststroke

The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps set a new Olympic record of 50.58 to defend his title in the event, edging out Serbia's Milorad Čavić (50.59) by one hundredth of a second (0.01). He also earned his seventh Olympic gold at a single Games, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 record for the most gold medals. Australia's Andrew Lauterstein earned a bronze in 51.12, finishing in a close race against world record holder Ian Crocker by the slimmest margin. Phelps' triumph occurred after Čavić had remarked that it would be better for the sport if Phelps was defeated. Phelps' margin of triumph was so close that the Serbian team filed a protest, but after officials reviewed the video, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that Phelps did touch the wall first and his victory would be upheld. Kenya's Jason Dunford finished fifth with a time of 51.47, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Takuro Fujii, in an Asian record of 51.50. Ukraine's Andriy Serdinov (51.59), the bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini, gold medalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, (51.86) closed out the field. Dunford and Pini also made history as the first swimmer for their respective nation to reach an Olympic final. Out of six individual events from his Olympic program, Phelps did not break the current world record in a final, finishing 0.18 of a second behind Crocker's time of 50.40, set in 2005. In the entire event, other records were established, the Olympic record, five continental records, and several national records.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre backstroke S6

Swimming at the 2006 South Asian Games

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Women's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Women's 4x100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 50 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle S9

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 50 metres EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games – Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 1500m freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4x100m medley relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 100 m backstroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S5

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 400 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre freestyle S5

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle S8

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 4 × 100 metres medley relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 200 metre individual medley SM10

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Event order

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 400m freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 4 x 50 metre freestyle relay – 20 points

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB12

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100 metre backstroke

The men's 100m backstroke S11 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 13 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

The Men's 100m Breaststroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games occurred at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 16—18 July. Three first round heats were raced, comprising a total of 20 swimmers. The fastest 16 swimmers from this group qualified to move on to the semifinals stage. The 16 swimmers who advanced then raced in two semifinals of eight swimmers each, the results being pooled and the fastest eight swimmers advancing to the final.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 200 metre individual medley SM5

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 50 metres freestyle

The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Australia's Stephanie Rice became the third swimmer in Olympic history to strike a medley double, since Michelle Smith did so in 1996 and Yana Klochkova in 2000 and 2004. She established a sterling time of 2:08.45 to lower her world record from the Olympic trials by almost half a second (0.50). Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry added a third silver to her collection, finishing with an African record of 2:08.59. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who held the lead on the backstroke leg, picked up a bronze medal in 2:10.34.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. César Cielo made an Olympic milestone to become Brazil's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He rocketed to an unexpected triumph in a new Olympic record of 21.30, then the second-fastest in history, powering past the field by 0.15 of a second, a sizable chunk in Olympic swimming's shortest race. The French tandem of Amaury Leveaux and Alain Bernard took home the silver and bronze with respective times of 21.45 and 21.49. Australia's Ashley Callus finished fourth in 21.62, while his teammate and world record holder Eamon Sullivan was a fraction behind the leading pack in sixth at 21.65. For the first time in Olympic history, no American swimmer had reached the podium in the event, as the reigning world champion Ben Wildman-Tobriner, swimming on the outside in lane eight, pulled off a fifth-place effort in 21.64. Competing at their third Olympics, South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman (21.67) and Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (21.72) rounded out the finale in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Earlier in the prelims, Cielo posted a time of 21.47 to erase Alexander Popov's 1992 Olympic record by 0.44 of a second. One heat later, Leveaux established the same record by winning the twelfth heat in 21.46. The following morning, in the semifinals, Cielo lowered again an Olympic record to 21.34 that had been set by Leveaux in the preliminaries under 0.12 seconds.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 50 metres EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB12

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4x200m freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100m freestyle

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Japan's Kosuke Kitajima blasted a new Olympic record of 2:07.64 to strike another breaststroke double, and to defend his title in the event. He registered a straightforward triumph over Brenton Rickard, who earned a silver medal in an Australian record of 2:08.88. France's Hugues Duboscq added a second bronze and third overall to his collection in 2:08.94, finishing just ahead of Canada's Mike Brown by almost a tenth of a second (0.10) with a time of 2:09.03.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200m freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 50 metre backstroke S3

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier. Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career. Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13. Russia's top favorite Anastasia Zuyeva finished fourth with a time of 2:07.88, and was followed in the fifth spot by American teenager Elizabeth Beisel, aged 16, in 2:08.23. Elizabeth Simmonds set a new British record of 2:08.51 to earn a sixth spot, while Aussies Meagan Nay (2:08.84) and Belinda Hocking (2:10.12) closed out the field. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Russia's Stanislava Komarova, silver medalist in Athens, and British top favorite Gemma Spofforth. Before her breakthrough final, Coventry broke one of the oldest Olympic records earlier in the prelims. She posted a top-seeded time of 2:06.76 to lead 34 other swimmers in the race, slashing four-tenths of a second (0.40) off the record set by Hungary's three-time Olympic champion Krisztina Egerszegi from Barcelona in 1992.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB8

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 100 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle S3

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle S12

The men's 400 metre individual medley (IM) at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships took place on 1 April (heats and final) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. As the event was over 400 meters in length, no semifinals were held in it and the top 8 swimmers from the preliminary heats advance directly to the single final heat. 50 swimmers were entered in the event, of which 49 swam. Existing records at the start of the event were:
* World record (WR): 4:08.26, Michael Phelps (USA), August 17, 2004 in Athens, Greece
* Championship record (CR): 4:09.09, Michael Phelps (USA), Barcelona, Spain (July 27, 2003)

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Women's 100 metre backstroke

The Women's 50m Freestyle event at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games occurred on Thursday, July 20, 2006 at the S.U. Pedro de Heredia Aquatic Complex in Cartagena, Colombia.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 100 metres EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4x200m freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S6

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metres butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle

The schedule of swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics occurred in two segments:
* pools events: evening of August 9 through the morning of August 17, at the "Water Cube"
* open water events: August 20 and 21 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (held between rowing events on the Olympic Rowing course). For the pool events, prelims were held in the evening, with semifinals/final in the following morning session, with a day between semifinals and finals in those events with semifinals. The shift of the normal morning preliminary heats and evening finals (to evening prelims and morning finals) occurred for the 2008 Olympics due to a request made by USA's broadcaster NBC, so that the finals from the event could be shown "live" in the USA. (Live ended up being 11:00 p.m.-midnight on the East Coast; with a tape delay to the same time for the West Coast.)

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 200 metre individual medley SM7

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni pulled away over the final lap to capture gold and set a new world record of 2:20.22. Australia's world record holder and top favorite Leisel Jones enjoyed a strong lead in the first 100 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 2:22.05, almost two seconds behind Soni. Meanwhile, Sara Nordenstam earned Norway's second Olympic medal in swimming, as she powered home with a bronze in a European record of 2:23.02. Austria's Mirna Jukić finished outside the medals in fourth place at 2:23.24, while Russia's Yuliya Yefimova set a national record of 2:23.76 to hold off Canada's Annamay Pierse (2:23.77) for a fifth spot by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Japanese duo Rie Kaneto (2:25.14) and Megumi Taneda (2:25.23) closed out the field. Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Anne Poleska, bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier. Competing at her fourth Olympics, defending champion Amanda Beard placed eighteenth in 2:27.70, but missed the semifinals by 0.42 seconds. Earlier in the prelims, Soni posted a top-seeded time of 2:22.17 to lead the heats, cutting off Beard's Olympic record by exactly two-tenths of a second (0.20).
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB4

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre butterfly S12

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50 m backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 100 metre EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The Men's 200m Backstroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 18 & 19 July. A total of 15 swimmers initially swam the race.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 1500 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke S13

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay – 34 points

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. César Cielo made an Olympic milestone to become Brazil's first ever gold medalist in swimming. He rocketed to an unexpected triumph in a new Olympic record of 21.30, then the second-fastest in history, powering past the field by 0.15 of a second, a sizable chunk in Olympic swimming's shortest race. The French tandem of Amaury Leveaux and Alain Bernard took home the silver and bronze with respective times of 21.45 and 21.49.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay – 34 points

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S13

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100m butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 100 metres butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB12

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50 m freestyle

The Women's 10K Marathon swim at the 2007 Pan American Games took place in the waters of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 14 July 2007.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 12–14 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Japan's Kosuke Kitajima blasted a new Olympic record of 2:07.64 to strike another breaststroke double, and to defend his title in the event. He registered a straightforward triumph over Brenton Rickard, who earned a silver medal in an Australian record of 2:08.88. France's Hugues Duboscq added a second bronze and third overall to his collection in 2:08.94, finishing just ahead of Canada's Mike Brown by almost a tenth of a second (0.10) with a time of 2:09.03. Hungary's Dániel Gyurta, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, finished outside the medals in fifth place at 2:09.22. Earlier in the prelims, he established an Olympic record by winning the final of seven heats in 2:08.68. U.S. swimmer Scott Spann turned in another sub-2:10 barrier to earn a sixth spot in 2:09.76. Italian tandem Loris Facci (2:10.57) and Paolo Bossini (2:11.48) closed out the field. Bossini set a new Olympic record of 2:08.98 to shave 0.46 seconds off Kitajima's mark in Athens, until Gyurta took three-tenths of a second (0.30) off the record time a few minutes later. Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring American Eric Shanteau, who entered the Games while battling testicular cancer, and Kazakhstan's Vladislav Polyakov, who finished fifth in Athens four years earlier. Norway's Alexander Dale Oen, silver medalist in the 100 m breaststroke, placed seventeenth in 2:11.30, but missed the semifinals by 0.11 seconds.

The men's 4x100m medley relay 34 points event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 10 September. There were no heats in this event.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 200m Freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle S12

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 50 metres breaststroke

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S4

The men's 50m freestyle S10 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 14 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 200 metre individual medley SM9

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S8

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metres individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 Panamerican Games

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool. Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by four-hundredths of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale. Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats. The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20).

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Competing at his third Games, Oussama Mellouli made an Olympic milestone to become Tunisia's first ever gold medalist in 48 years. He denied Australia's Grant Hackett a third straight title in the event, touching the wall first in an African record of 14:40.84. Hanging with the leaders through the first two-thirds of the race, Mellouli moved into the lead at the 1,100-metre mark, and held off Hackett's sprinted finish on the final lap. This was also a retribution for Mellouli, who served an 18-month doping ban from FINA for using the banned stimulant Adderall. Trying to become the first male swimmer to win three gold medals in the same event, Hackett collected a silver in 14:41.53. Meanwhile, Canada's Ryan Cochrane powered home with a bronze in 14:42.69, finishing ahead of Russia's Yuri Prilukov (14:43.21). U.S. swimmer Larsen Jensen, silver medalist in Athens four years earlier, placed fifth with a time 14:48.16, and was followed in the sixth spot by Great Britain's David Davies in 14:52.11. Chinese duo Zhang Lin (14:55.20) and Sun Yang (15:05.12) rounded out the finale. Earlier in the prelims, Cochrane established a new Olympic record of 14:40.84 in heat three, until Hackett cleared the 14:40 barrier, and lowered the record to 14:38.92 in the final heat of five.

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay

The men's 50m freestyle S12 event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 14 September. There were two heats; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. Australia's Stephanie Rice became the third swimmer in Olympic history to strike a medley double, since Michelle Smith did so in 1996 and Yana Klochkova in 2000 and 2004. She established a sterling time of 2:08.45 to lower her world record from the Olympic trials by almost half a second (0.50). Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry added a third silver to her collection, finishing with an African record of 2:08.59. U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who held the lead on the backstroke leg, picked up a bronze medal in 2:10.34. Completing the second half of a difficult double, American Katie Hoff produced the same result from the 200 m freestyle, as she finished again in fourth place with a time of 2:10.68. Australia's Alicia Coutts placed fifth in 2:11.43, while Japan's Asami Kitagawa swam the outside lane to finish the race in sixth place at 2:11.56. On the strength of the breaststroke leg, Kitagawa won a swimoff for the last slot in the top 8 final over Hungary's Evelyn Verrasztó. Canada's Julia Wilkinson (2:12.43) and Poland's Katarzyna Baranowska (2:13.36) closed out the field. Earlier in the semifinals, Coventry established an Olympic standard of 2:09.53 to cut off Yana Klochkova's eight-year record by a 1.15-second deficit.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 m butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 m individual medley

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200m butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB7

The Women's 400 metres individual medley final was held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on the 21 March 2006 at 19:38 AEST.

Swimming at the 2008 Olympics

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200m Individual Medley

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 4x100 metres Medley Relay

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games - Men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4x100m freestyle relay

The Women's 100m Breaststroke event at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the final being swum on July 19.

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay - 34 points

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 100m Breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S11

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 50 metres breaststroke

The men's 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 points event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on 15 September. There were two heats; the teams with the eight fastest times advanced to the final.

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200m butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Men's 50 metres EAD freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre backstroke S4

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle S3

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 50 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Men's 50 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 1500 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle S7

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke S11

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Women's 200 metre individual medley SM4

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Relay Qualification

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100m butterfly

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM9

Swimming at the 2006 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay