Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metre Butterfly

The Women's 100m Butterfly event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 15, 2003 (Day 15 of the Games).

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

The women's 200 metre breaststroke swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 3 October at the .

The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 5 October at the .

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 m backstroke

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 200 metre backstroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 17 and 18. After missing out the semifinals in Sydney four years earlier, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima blasted one of the longest Olympic swimming records in the book, when he clocked at 2:09.44 to erase a 0.77-second mark by American swimmer Mike Barrowman in 1992, and to strike a breaststroke double for the second straight time. 15-year-old Dániel Gyurta of Hungary made a surprise packet with a silver medal in 2:10.80, edging out U.S. swimmer Brendan Hansen in a close race by 0.07 of a second. Hansen, who broke Kitajima's world record at the U.S. Olympic trials one month ago, finished third in 2:10.87.

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 50 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Olympics

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 x 100 metre Freestyle Relay

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The event took place on 15 and 16 August.

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 400 metre Freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics — Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 South Pacific Games took place in Agana, the capital of Guam, at the Southern High School Pool between 30 May and 5 June 1999. It was the eleventh edition of the South Pacific Games. Men's and women's open water events of 5 kilometres were introduced in 1999, with swimmers from American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia, Northern Marianas, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tahiti competing.

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 400 metre individual medley

The Women's 100m Freestyle event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam on 24–25 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary and semifinal heats were swum on July 24; the Final swam in the evening session on July 25. Prior to the event, the World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 53.77 swum by Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands) on September 20, 2000 in Sydney, Australia
* CR: 54.01 swum by Jingyi Le (China) on September 5, 1994 in Rome, Italy

The Women's 400m Individual Medley event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam 27 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats swam in the morning session, with the top-8 finishers advancing to swim again in the Final that evening. At the start of the event, the World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 4:33.59 swum by Yana Klochkova (Ukraine) on September 16, 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
* CR: 4:36.10 swum by Petra Schneider (East Germany) on August 1, 1982 in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 m butterfly

The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. At only 16 years of age, U.S. swimmer Megan Quann fulfilled her merciless prediction by knocking off South Africa's defending Olympic champion Penny Heyns in the event. Coming from third at the final turn, she surged powerfully past the champion over the last 25 metres to snatch the gold medal in a new American record of 1:07.05, just a small fraction closer to an Olympic standard. Australia's overwhelming favorite Leisel Jones, who just turned 15, roared back from fifth place on the final stretch to take home the silver in 1:07.49. Heyns, who was struggling with her form in the prelims and semifinals, seized off a strong lead under a world-record pace (31.10), but ended up only with a bronze in a time of 1:07.55. Meanwhile, Sarah Poewe, the fastest qualifier for the final, trailed behind her teammate by three-tenths of a second in 1:07.85. Outside the 1:08-club, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács finished fifth in 1:08.09, and was followed in sixth by Japan's Masami Tanaka with a time of 1:08.37. Aussie favorite Tarnee White (1:09.09) and 31-year-old Sylvia Gerasch (1:09.86), a product of the old East German system, closed out the field. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Quann's teammate Staciana Stitts, who had a poor start on the morning prelims with an eighteenth-place effort; and Angola's Nádia Cruz, the first for her nation to compete in all four editions of the Games since 1988.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 100 meter backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 14. Australia's Ian Thorpe edged out his teammate Grant Hackett to defend his Olympic title in 3:43.10, despite having been disqualified for a false start from the national trials in Sydney. Hackett earned a silver in 3:43.36, just 0.01 of a second under his winning time at the trials without the presence of Thorpe. U.S. swimmer Klete Keller set a new American record of 3:44.11 to take his second Olympic bronze medal in the event. Meanwhile, another American Larsen Jensen finished outside the medals in fourth place, but came home in a lifetime best of 3:46.08, holding off Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino by 0.17 seconds.

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle

The women's 800 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 5 August (preliminaries) and 6 (finals) at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Trina Jackson of US. This race consisted of sixteen lengths of the pool, all in freestyle.

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre individual medley

The men's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 24 July. The heats took place 23 July, and the final was held on 24 July.

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre Individual Medley

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre backstroke S1

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place 1 August. The heats and the final were held on 1 August.

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2003 South Pacific Games took place from 30 June to 7 July in Suva, the capital of Fiji. The pool events were held on the first 6 days in the 50m (long-course) pool at Fiji's National Aquatics Centre, and a 3 kilometre ("3K") open water race was held at Pacific Harbour on Monday, July 7, 2003. Originally, a 5K open water race was to be contested – 5K being a more widely internationally accepted race distance than a 3K. However, rough conditions on-course pushed the turn markers/buoys out of position and the length of the race needed to be changed to accommodate the conditions. Overall, Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini (male) and New Caledonia's Diane Bui Duyet (female) were named "Swimmers of the Meet" for their overall performances: Pini won 7 events, 4 in record time and earned 12 medals overall; Bui-Duyet won 10 events with 5 games records, and 11 medals in total.

The finals and the qualifying heats of the women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Wednesday 14 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on August 2 at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was the United States. This race consisted of sixteen lengths of the pool. Each of the four swimmers completed four lengths of the pool. The first swimmer had to touch the wall before the second could leave the starting block.

The Men's 400 Freestyle event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam on 20 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Prior to the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 3:40.08 swum by Ian Thorpe (Australia) on 30 July 2002 in Manchester, UK
* CR: 3:40.17 swum by Ian Thorpe (Australia) on 22 July 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S7

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB12

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20. United States' Gary Hall Jr. defended his Olympic title in the event in 21.93, just two hundredths of a second off the record set by Alexander Popov in 1992. The silver medal was awarded to Croatia's Duje Draganja, who placed behind Hall in 21.94. South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman completed his full set of medals by adding a bronze in 22.02.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 400 metre individual medley

The Swimming competition at the 1999 Pan American Games took place in the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from August 2–7, 1999. In 32 events, the USA team won 10 golds, 7 by the women: the last time either the U.S. men's or women's team won fewer than ten golds was 1963, when there were only eight events for each. But the U.S. didn't send its very best to Winnipeg. That honor went to the team that headed for Sydney, Australia at the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. Two swimmers won the first medals of their countries in swimming at Pan American Games at all times: Eileen Coparropa for Panama, and Janelle Atkinson for Jamaica.

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre Breaststroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 200 meter freestyle

The finals and the qualifying heats of the men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Thursday 15 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

The women's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 4 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Brooke Bennett of US. This race consisted of eight lengths of the pool, with all eight being in the freestyle stroke.

The men's 200 metre freestyle swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 3 October at the .

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 400 metre freestyle S10

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB14

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place in Marine Messe in Fukuoka, Japan in July 2001. Prior to this meet, the United States have never lost this race since the inception of the World Championships in 1973. The final of the relay was notable for Ian Thorpe's swimming the closing leg for Australia with his fastest-ever relay split of 47.87 s, for the 47.02 seconds final leg, the fastest relay leg in history by Pieter van den Hoogenband and for the disqualification after the race of the American team.

The Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 14, 2003 (Day 13 of the Games).

The finals and the qualifying heats of the men's 100 metres backstroke event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Thursday 1998-01-15 in Perth, Australia.

The Swimming competition at the 1999 Pan American Games took place in the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from August 2–7, 1999. In 32 events, the USA team won 10 golds, 7 by the women: the last time either the U.S. men's or women's team won fewer than ten golds was 1963, when there were only eight events for each. But the U.S. didn't send its very best to Winnipeg. That honor went to the team that headed for Sydney, Australia at the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's 200 metre freestyle

The men's 50 metre freestyle swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 5 October at the .

The Women's 200m Butterfly event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam 23–24 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats swam in the morning session of 20 July, with the top-16 finishers advancing to semifinal heats that evening. The top-8 finishers from the Semifinals then advanced to swim again in the Final the next evening. At the start of the event, the World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 2:05.78 swum by Otylia Jędrzejczak (Poland) on August 4, 2002 in Berlin, Germany.
* CR: 2:06.73 swum by Petria Thomas (Australia) on July 23, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 2001 Mediterranean Games

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM13

The men's 50 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships took place May 26 and 27. The heats and semifinals took place on May 26, the final on May 27.

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 200 metres backstroke

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB9

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metre Individual Medley

The Men's 1500 metre Freestyle event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam on July 26–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats swam in the morning session on July 26, with the top-8 finishers advancing to swim again in the Final during the evening session on July 27. Prior to the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were both:
* WR & CR: 14:34.56 swum by Grant Hackett (Australia) on July 29, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

The finals and the qualifying heats of the women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Thursday 15 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 2002 South American Games

The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 16 and 17. Camelia Potec became the second Romanian swimmer to claim a gold medal in swimming (the first being done by Diana Mocanu in Sydney), outside the record time of 1:58.03. The silver medal was awarded to 15-year-old Federica Pellegrini of Italy, who finished behind Potec by 0.19 of a second, clocking at 1:58.22. France's Solenne Figuès, on the other hand, took home the bronze in 1:58.45. World record holder Franziska van Almsick, however, finished outside of medals in fifth place, with a time of 1:58.88.

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 100 metre butterfly swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 3 October at the .

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Women's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre breaststroke SB3

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 1500 metre freestyle swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 4 October at the . This was a timed-final event, meaning that each swimmer only swam once, with the fastest eight (8) entrants swimming in the finals.

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S2

The Women's 50m Breaststroke event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam on 26–27 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats swam during the morning session on July 26, with the top-16 finishers advancing to Semifinals that evening. The top-8 finishers then advanced to swim again in the Final the next evening. At the start of the event, the World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 30.57 swum by Zoë Baker (Great Britain) on July 30, 2002 in Manchester, UK.
* CR: 30.84 swum by Xuejuan Luo (China) on July 27, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 4x100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre Butterfly

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The event took place on 15 and 16 August. In the lead-up to the final, the event was billed as The Race of the Century or the "greatest swimming race of all-time", due to its significance and high-class field. It featured four of the fastest swimmers in Olympic history: Ian Thorpe (Australia, world record holder in the event at the time), Pieter van den Hoogenband (Netherlands, defending Olympic champion), Grant Hackett (Australia, former world record holder in the event), and Michael Phelps (United States, later became the most decorated all-time Olympian, with a total of 28 medals). Thorpe edged out Pieter van den Hoogenband in the final 50 metres to claim his second gold at the Games and fifth career medal, following his triumph in the 400 m freestyle two days earlier. With only 50 metres to go, he powered past his arch-rival to touch the wall first in an Olympic record of 1:44.71, matching the third fastest swim over the distance. Van den Hoogenband, who led the field through the first three laps under a world record pace, settled only for the silver in 1:45.23. Meanwhile, Phelps finished the race with a bronze in an American record of 1:45.32, ending his hopes of emulating Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven gold medals.

The Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam 20 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats swam in the morning session, with the top-8 finishers advancing to swim again in the Final that evening. At the start of the event, the World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 3:36.00 swum by Germany on July 29, 2002 in Berlin, Germany.
* CR: 3:37.91 swum by China on September 7, 1994 in Rome, Italy

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 200 meter individual medley

The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place 30 July. The heats and the semi were held on 30 July.

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S5

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Australia's Grant Hackett denied his teammate and overwhelming favorite Kieren Perkins a third straight title in the event. Having suffered badly over the first six days of the Games, Hackett maintained a strong lead from start to finish, and touched the wall first to claim a gold in 14:48.33. Perkins fought off a challenge against his newest rival in the middle of the program's longest race, but ended up only with a silver in 14:53.59, handing the entire medal haul for the host nation with a 1–2 finish. U.S. swimmer Chris Thompson came up with a spectacular swim to take the bronze in an American record of 14:56.81, holding off a fast-closing Alexei Filipets of Russia (14:56.88) by seven hundredths of a second (0.07). For the first time in Olympic history, all three medalists finished the race under a 15-minute barrier. South Africa's dark horse Ryk Neethling powered home with a fifth-place effort in a new national record of 15:00.48, while American Erik Vendt, who previously set a continental mark from the trials, faded shortly to sixth in a time of 15:08.61. Ukraine's Igor Chervynskiy (15:08.80) and Germany's Heiko Hell (15:19.87) rounded out the finale.

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM9

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre Backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM6

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 m freestyle

The Men's 100 Butterfly event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam 25–26 July 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary and Semifinal heats swam July 25, with the prelims during the morning session and the semifinals in the evening session. The Final was held on July 26. At the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were both:
* WR: 51.81 swum by Michael Klim (Australia) on December 12, 1999 in Canberra, Australia.
* CR: 52.10 swum by Lars Frölander (Sweden) on July 26, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 m butterfly

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 200 meter individual medley

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S10

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The men's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Since the event's inception in 1960, the U.S. team dominated the race from the start to demolish a four-year-old world record and most importantly, to defend their Olympic title. Lenny Krayzelburg (53.87), Ed Moses (59.84), Ian Crocker (52.10), and Gary Hall, Jr. (47.92, an American) put together a blazing fast finish of 3:33.73 to cut off their own standard by 1.11 seconds. Moses also produced a mighty effort in the breaststroke leg as he became the first ever swimmer to record a sub one-minute barrier split. After accepting their golds in front of the Aussie home crowd, the U.S. men unfurled a banner reading: "Sydney 2000. In
Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100 metre breaststroke

The finals and the qualifying heats of the women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Wednesday 14 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle

The Men's 200 Breaststroke event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam July 23–24, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary and Semifinal heats swam on 23 July, while the Final swam on 24 July. At the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were:
* WR: 2:09.52 swum by Dmitri Komornikov (Russia) on June 14, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain
* CR: 2:10.69 swum by Brendan Hansen (USA) on July 26, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle

The Women's 400m Freestyle event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 14, 2003 (Day 13 of the Games).

The Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 12, 2003 (Day 11 of the Games). There were only six entries and therefore no preliminary heats for this event.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay

The women's 200 metre breaststroke competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 3 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Lisa Flood of Canada. This race consisted of four lengths of the pool, all in breaststroke.

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The women's 50 metre freestyle swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 4 October at the .

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Women's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Women's 100 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 4 x 50 metre medley relay 20 pts

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Women's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB7

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB14

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 m breaststroke

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S6

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 400 metre freestyle S9

The Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 17, 2003 (Day 16 of the Games).

The final and the qualifying heats of the women's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Friday 16 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S7

The Swimming competition at the 2001 Mediterranean Games occurred September 3–7 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni cleared a 2:20-barrier in a remarkable world record to defend her Olympic title for the first time in the event's history. Dominating the race from the start, she threw down a stunning time of 2:19.59 to open up a full-body length gap over the rest of the field on the final stretch. Meanwhile, Japan's Satomi Suzuki powered home with silver in a scorching time of 2:20.72 to match an Asian record previously held by Rie Kaneto in 2009. Russia's Yuliya Yefimova, who trained with Soni at the Trojan Swim Club, snatched the bronze medal with an astonishing European record in 2:20.92.

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre butterfly S11

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre freestyle S2

The finals and the qualifying heats of the women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Thursday 15 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S4

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre Individual Medley

The Men's 800 Freestyle event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam on July 24–25, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary heats of the event were swum during the morning session on July 24, with the Final being held during the evening session on July 25. Prior to the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were both:
* WR & CR: 7:39.16 swum by Ian Thorpe (Australia) on July 24, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM7

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Women's 200 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S13

The Men's 50 Butterfly event at the 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships swam July 20–21, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. Preliminary and Semifinal heats swam on 20 July, with the Final swum on 21 July. At the start of the event, the existing World (WR) and Championship (CR) records were both:
* WR & CR: 23.44 swum by Geoff Huegill (Australia) on July 27, 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan

The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps broke an Olympic record of 51.25 to claim his fifth gold medal, edging out his teammate and world record holder Ian Crocker by four hundredths of a second (0.04). Meanwhile, Ukraine's Andriy Serdinov earned a bronze in a European record of 51.36. Earlier in the semifinals, Serdinov blasted a new Olympic record, previously set by Australia's Geoff Huegill in Sydney four years ago, with a time of 51.74. One heat later, Phelps stopped the clock at 51.61 to lower the record by 0.13 of a second.

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S12

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM8

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre Freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 100 meter backstroke

Swimming at the 1997 European Aquatics Championships – Women's 4x100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre backstroke S11

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S4

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 50 meter freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S4

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband edged out Australia's top favorite Ian Thorpe on the final lap to claim a gold medal in the event. Stunning a massive home crowd, he touched the wall first in 1:45.35 to match his own world record from the semifinals. As a result of starting harder than usual, Thorpe ended up only with a silver in 1:45.83, while Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino added a bronze to his hardware from the 400 m freestyle in a time 1:46.65. U.S. swimmer Josh Davis missed the podium by six hundredths of a second (0.06), finishing with a new American record of 1:46.73. Davis was followed in fifth and sixth by British duo Paul Palmer (1:47.95) and James Salter (1:48.74). Canada's Rick Say (1:48.76) and another Aussie Grant Hackett (1:49.46) closed out the field. Earlier in the semifinals, Van den Hoogenband blasted a new world record of 1:45.35, slashing 0.16 seconds off the mark set by Thorpe from the Australian trials. One heat later, Thorpe powered home with a second-fastest time of 1:45.37, but missed taking the record back by two hundredths of a second (0.02). He also erased Yevgeny Sadovyi's 1992 Olympic record by 0.14 seconds to pick up a top seed from the prelims (1:46.56).

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB5

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay 49pts

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 200 meter backstroke

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM12

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 1500 m freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 200 meter backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre Medley Relay

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 19 and 20. United States' Gary Hall Jr. defended his Olympic title in the event in 21.93, just two hundredths of a second off the record set by Alexander Popov in 1992. The silver medal was awarded to Croatia's Duje Draganja, who placed behind Hall in 21.94. South Africa's Roland Mark Schoeman completed his full set of medals by adding a bronze in 22.02. Defending bronze medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands (22.56), and dual Olympic champion Alexander Popov of Russia (22.58) missed the semifinals. By the following year, Popov announced his retirement from swimming, and became a full-time member of the International Olympic Committee. Eleven first round heats were raced, comprising a total of 86 swimmers. The fastest 16 swimmers from this group qualified to move on to the semifinals stage. After the heats had been raced, the cut-off time was 22.53 seconds. 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. The cut-off time to proceed into the final was 22.19 seconds.

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 800 metre freestyle

The men's 200 metre backstroke competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 4 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Brad Bridgewater of US. This race consisted of four lengths of the pool, all in backstroke.

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB13

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre backstroke S3

The Men's 400m Individual Medley event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 13, 2003 (Day 12 of the Games).

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S8

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S6

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - Women's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB4

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 200 metre freestyle S5

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Men's 200 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke S14

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 150 metre individual medley SM3

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre butterfly S5

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2003 South Pacific Games took place from 30 June to 7 July in Suva, the capital of Fiji. The pool events were held on the first 6 days in the 50m (long-course) pool at Fiji's National Aquatics Centre, and a 3 kilometre ("3K") open water race was held at Pacific Harbour on Monday, July 7, 2003. Originally, a 5K open water race was to be contested – 5K being a more widely internationally accepted race distance than a 3K. However, rough conditions on-course pushed the turn markers/buoys out of position and the length of the race needed to be changed to accommodate the conditions.

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre butterfly S11

Swimming at the 2003 South Pacific Games

The final and the qualifying heats of the men's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Sunday 18 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Men's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 50 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Lenny Krayzelburg, a Ukrainian-born American whose swimming career began in the old Soviet system, shattered a new Olympic record to claim a gold medal in the event, slashing 0.14 seconds off an eight-year-old standard set by Jeff Rouse in Barcelona. He seized the lead on the first length, and held off a challenge from Australia's overwhelming favorite Matt Welsh down the final lap to touch the wall first in 53.72. Delighted by the frenzied home crowd, Welsh took home with a silver medal in an Oceanian record of 54.07. Meanwhile, Germany's Stev Theloke stormed home from behind to wrest a bronze in 54.82, edging out another Aussie Jo

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband edged out Australia's top favorite Ian Thorpe on the final lap to claim a gold medal in the event. Stunning a massive home crowd, he touched the wall first in 1:45.35 to match his own world record from the semifinals. As a result of starting harder than usual, Thorpe ended up only with a silver in 1:45.83, while Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino added a bronze to his hardware from the 400 m freestyle in a time 1:46.65.

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

The women's 4×100 metre medley relay took place on 20–21 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The Australians reinforced their claim to become the strongest women's team in the world with a convincing triumph over their American rivals in the event. Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas, and Jodie Henry broke almost a full second off the world record set by Team USA in 2000, stopping the clock at 3:57.32. At the start of the race, the U.S. team got off to a flying start in the backstroke, until the Australians reeled them in on the butterfly leg. Thomas blasted a remarkable split of 56.67, the fastest of all-time in Olympic history, to overhaul Jenny Thompson of the U.S. team, and eventually move the Aussies in front of the race.

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre individual medley

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni cleared a 2:20-barrier in a remarkable world record to defend her Olympic title for the first time in the event's history. Dominating the race from the start, she threw down a stunning time of 2:19.59 to open up a full-body length gap over the rest of the field on the final stretch. Meanwhile, Japan's Satomi Suzuki powered home with silver in a scorching time of 2:20.72 to match an Asian record previously held by Rie Kaneto in 2009. Russia's Yuliya Yefimova, who trained with Soni at the Trojan Swim Club, snatched the bronze medal with an astonishing European record in 2:20.92. Denmark's Rikke Pedersen fell short of the podium by almost a full second with a fourth-place time in 2:21.65, and was followed in fifth by Canada's Martha McCabe (2:23.16) and sixth by Soni's teammate Micah Lawrence (2:23.27). South Africa's Suzaan van Biljon got off to a flying start in the first length, but dropped back to seventh in 2:23.72, while Australia's Sally Foster rounded out the field to eighth in 2:26.00. Before the breakthrough finale, Soni scorched the field with a world-record time in 2:20.00 to pick up a top seed in the semifinals, slicing 0.12 seconds off the standard set by Canada's Annamay Pierse in a since-banned high tech bodysuit from the 2009 World Championships. Other notable swimmers missed the final roster featuring Serbia's Nađa Higl, the 2009 world champion; Norway's Sara Nordenstam, the defending bronze medalist; and Jamaica's Alia Atkinson, fourth-place finalist in the 100 m breaststroke.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

The women's 4×100 metre medley relay took place on 20–21 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. The Australians reinforced their claim to become the strongest women's team in the world with a convincing triumph over their American rivals in the event. Giaan Rooney, Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas, and Jodie Henry broke almost a full second off the world record set by Team USA in 2000, stopping the clock at 3:57.32. At the start of the race, the U.S. team got off to a flying start in the backstroke, until the Australians reeled them in on the butterfly leg. Thomas blasted a remarkable split of 56.67, the fastest of all-time in Olympic history, to overhaul Jenny Thompson of the U.S. team, and eventually move the Aussies in front of the race. The anchor freestyle leg left Henry to go up against Kara Lynn Joyce, and the Australians looked unbeatable with Henry, touching the wall first in 52.97, the second-fastest split of all-time. Meanwhile, the U.S. team of Thompson, Joyce, Natalie Coughlin, and Amanda Beard settled only for the silver in 3:59.12, almost two seconds behind the Aussies. The Germans maintained their pace to earn a bronze, and finished in a European record of 4:00.72. Competing in her fourth Olympics for Team USA, Thompson became the most decorated American athlete in history with her twelfth career medal, including 10 from the relays.

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S3

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Men's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn added a third gold to her medal tally in swimming at these Games. She powered past the field to touch the wall first in 24.32, the second-fastest of all-time. Earlier in the semifinals, she blasted her own world record of 24.13 to snatch a top seed for the final. Sweden's Therese Alshammar captured the silver in 24.51, while U.S. legend Dara Torres powered home with the bronze in a new American record of 24.63, edging out defending Olympic champion Amy Van Dyken (25.04) by 41-hundredths of a second. The podium placements also replicated the results of the 100 m freestyle (with the exception of Jenny

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S12

The women's 100 metre breaststroke swimming competition at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan was held on 1 October at the .

The swimming competition at the 2002 South American Games consisted of swimming events held August 6-9, 2002 in Belém, Brazil.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 400 meter individual medley

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre freestyle S8

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre individual medley competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 7 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Curtis Myden of Canada. This race consisted of four lengths of the pool, one each in backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle swimming.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 800 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Charging back from third at the 150-metre turn, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács edged out U.S. swimmer Kristy Kowal on the final stretch to capture the gold in 2:24.35. Kowal, who seized off a powerful lead from the start, took home the silver in a new American record of 2:24.56. Her teammate Amanda Beard, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate as she enjoyed the race to move up from eighth after the semifinals for the bronze in 2:25.35, holding off a fast-pacing Qi Hui of China (2:25.36) by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Qi was followed in fifth by Russia's Olga Bakaldina (2:25.47) and in sixth by South Africa's Sarah Poewe (2:25.72), fourth-place finalist in the 100 m breaststroke. Japan's Masami Tanaka (2:26.98) and Qi's teammate Luo Xuejuan (2:27.33) closed out the field. World record holder Penny Heyns missed a chance to defend her Olympic title in the event, after helplessly winding up a twentieth-place effort in the prelims at 2:30.17. Shortly after the Games, she made a decision to officially announce her retirement from international swimming. Earlier, Kovacs established a new Olympic standard of 2:24.92 on the morning prelims to clear a 2:25-barrier and cut off Heyns' record by almost half a second (0.50). Following by an evening session, she eventually lowered it to 2:24.03 in the semifinals.

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 m freestyle

The women's 100 metre breaststroke competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 5 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Lisa Flood of Canada. This race consisted of two lengths of the pool, both lengths being in breaststroke.

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - Men's 200 metres backstroke

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The Men's 1500m Freestyle event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 17, 2003 (Day 16 of the Games). Ricardo Monasterio won the gold medal, breaking a string of 12 U.S. titles in a row. Before him, only other non-American had won the race, the Brazilian Tetsuo Okamoto, in the first edition of the Games in 1951.

The final of the women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships was held on Saturday 17 January 1998 in Perth, Australia.

The men's 50 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 6 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Fernando Scherer of Brazil. This race consisted of one length of the pool in freestyle.

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle

The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. At only 16 years of age, U.S. swimmer Megan Quann fulfilled her merciless prediction by knocking off South Africa's defending Olympic champion Penny Heyns in the event. Coming from third at the final turn, she surged powerfully past the champion over the last 25 metres to snatch the gold medal in a new American record of 1:07.05, just a small fraction closer to an Olympic standard. Australia's overwhelming favorite Leisel Jones, who just turned 15, roared back from fifth place on the final stretch to take home the silver in 1:07.49. Heyns, who was struggling with her form in the prelims and semifinals, seized off a strong lead u

The women's 50 metre backstroke event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place 2–3 August. The heats and the semi were held on 2 August, the final on 3 August.

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games - Men's 100 metre breaststroke

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Charging back from third at the 150-metre turn, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács edged out U.S. swimmer Kristy Kowal on the final stretch to capture the gold in 2:24.35. Kowal, who seized off a powerful lead from the start, took home the silver in a new American record of 2:24.56. Her teammate Amanda Beard, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate as she enjoyed the race to move up from eighth after the semifinals for the bronze in 2:25.35, holding off a fast-pacing Qi Hui of China (2:25.36) by a hundredth of a second (0.01).

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre butterfly

The women's 100 metres freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place 31 July-1 August. The heats and the semi were held on 31 July, the final on 1 August.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - Men's 400 metres freestyle

The men's 100 metre breaststroke competition of the swimming events at the 1999 Pan American Games took place on 2 August at the Pan Am Pool. The last Pan American Games champion was Seth Van Neerden of US. This race consisted of two lengths of the pool, both lengths being in breaststroke.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S12

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 400 meter individual medley

The men's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Since the event's inception in 1960, the U.S. team dominated the race from the start to demolish a four-year-old world record and most importantly, to defend their Olympic title. Lenny Krayzelburg (53.87), Ed Moses (59.84), Ian Crocker (52.10), and Gary Hall, Jr. (47.92, an American) put together a blazing fast finish of 3:33.73 to cut off their own standard by 1.11 seconds. Moses also produced a mighty effort in the breaststroke leg as he became the first ever swimmer to record a sub one-minute barrier split. After accepting their golds in front of the Aussie home crowd, the U.S. men unfurled a banner reading: "Sydney 2000. In our hearts forever. Thanks Australia." The Aussie team of Matt Welsh (54.29), Regan Harrison (1:01.48), Geoff Huegill (51.33), and Michael Klim (48.17) finished behind their greatest rivals by a couple of seconds, but made a surprise packet with the silver in an Oceanian record of 3:35.27. Meanwhile, Stev Theloke (55.07), Jens Kruppa (1:00.52), Thomas Rupprath (52.14), and Torsten Spanneberg (48.15) earned their first medley relay medal for Germany since the nation's reunification in 1990, taking home the bronze in a European record of 3:35.88. Netherlands' Klaas-Erik Zwering (56.83), Marcel Wouda (1:01.20), Joris Keizer (52.26), and anchor Pieter van den Hoogenband (47.24, the fastest split of the race) missed the podium by more than a full body length over the Germans with a fourth-place time of 3:37.53. Hungary (3:39.03), Canada (3:39.88), France (3:40.02), and Great Britain (3:40.19) completed a close finish at the rear of the championship finale.

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S13

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre butterfly S9

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 400 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 South Pacific Games

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 m butterfly

Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 1500 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Men's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

The Women's 200m Freestyle event at the 2003 Pan American Games took place on August 13, 2003 (Day 12 of the Games).

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 200 metre individual medley SM10

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games – Men's 50 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 50 meter freestyle

Swimming at the 1999 Pan American Games

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400 m individual medley

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Australia's Grant Hackett denied his teammate and overwhelming favorite Kieren Perkins a third straight title in the event. Having suffered badly over the first six days of the Games, Hackett maintained a strong lead from start to finish, and touched the wall first to claim a gold in 14:48.33. Perkins fought off a challenge against his newest rival in the middle of the program's longest race, but ended up only with a silver in 14:53.59, handing the entire medal haul for the host nation with a 1–2 finish. U.S. swimmer Chris Thompson came up with a spectacular swim to take the bronze in an American record of 14:56.81, holding off a fa

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 100 meter backstroke

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Lenny Krayzelburg, a Ukrainian-born American whose swimming career began in the old Soviet system, shattered a new Olympic record to claim a gold medal in the event, slashing 0.14 seconds off an eight-year-old standard set by Jeff Rouse in Barcelona. He seized the lead on the first length, and held off a challenge from Australia's overwhelming favorite Matt Welsh down the final lap to touch the wall first in 53.72. Delighted by the frenzied home crowd, Welsh took home with a silver medal in an Oceanian record of 54.07. Meanwhile, Germany's Stev Theloke stormed home from behind to wrest a bronze in 54.82, edging out another Aussie Josh Watson (55.01) by almost two-tenths of a second (0.20). Poland's Bartosz Kizierowski finished fifth with a time of 55.04, and was followed in the sixth spot by U.S. swimmer Neil Walker in 55.14. Theloke's teammate Steffen Driesen (55.27) and Israel's Eithan Urbach (55.74) closed out the field.

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games – Women's 50 metre freestyle

The finals and the qualifying heats of the men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held on Friday 1998-01-16 in Perth, Australia.

Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - Women's 200 metres freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB5

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB9

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle S5

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 50 metre backstroke S5

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 800 metre Freestyle

Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle S13

Swimming at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships - Women's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships - Men's 200 m freestyle

The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn added a third gold to her medal tally in swimming at these Games. She powered past the field to touch the wall first in 24.32, the second-fastest of all-time. Earlier in the semifinals, she blasted her own world record of 24.13 to snatch a top seed for the final. Sweden's Therese Alshammar captured the silver in 24.51, while U.S. legend Dara Torres powered home with the bronze in a new American record of 24.63, edging out defending Olympic champion Amy Van Dyken (25.04) by 41-hundredths of a second. The podium placements also replicated the results of the 100 m freestyle (with the exception of Jenny Thompson), held on the sixth night of the Games. Slovakia's Martina Moravcová finished off the podium in fifth place at 25.24, and was followed in the sixth spot by Germany's Sandra Völker in 25.27. Great Britain's Alison Sheppard (25.45) and Japan's Sumika Minamoto (25.65) closed out the field. Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorite Susie O'Neill; Völker's teammate Katrin Meissner, who shared bronze medals with Jill Sterkel in the event's inception in 1988 as a member of the former East German squad; and Estonia's Jana Kolukanova, who grabbed the final spot from the prelims after winning a three-person swimoff. One of the most popular highlights in the event took place in the first heat. Dubbed as the Crawler, Paula Barila Bolopa had finally completed a unique double for Equatorial Guinea, as she swam the slowest ever race by a female in Olympic history with a time of 1:03.97.

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 200 meter freestyle

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Women's 200 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Paralympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle S9

Swimming at the 2002 Asian Games - Women's 200 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Men's 400 metre individual medley

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 100 metre backstroke

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games - Women's 100 metre butterfly

Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 2003 Pan American Games – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 4x200 m freestyle relay