Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Swimming
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueAquatics Centre (pool)
Hyde Park (open water)
Dates28 July – 4 August 2012 (pool)
9–10 August 2012 (open water)
Competitors900 (pool), 50 (open water) from 166 nations
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The swimming competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place from 28 July to 4 August at the Aquatics Centre.[1] The open-water competition took place from 9 to 10 August in Hyde Park.[2]

Swimming featured 34 events (17 male, 17 female), including two 10 km open-water marathons in Hyde Park's Serpentine Lake. The remaining 32 were contested in a 50 m long course pool within the Olympic Park.

The United States claimed a total of 31 medals (16 golds, 9 silver, and 6 bronze) in the leaderboard to maintain its supremacy as the most successful nation in swimming.[3] Brought by an unprecedented sporting domination, Michael Phelps emerged as the most decorated Olympian of all time after winning six more medals at these Games to bring his total after the 2012 games to 22 (18 golds, 2 silver, and 2 bronze).[4] Battling against the Americans for an overall medal count, China mounted to an unexpected second-place effort on the leaderboard with a tally of 10 medals (five golds, three silver, and bronze) after striking a superb double from Sun Yang in long-distance freestyle (both 400 and 1500 m) and Ye Shiwen in the individual medley (both 200 and 400 m).[5] Meanwhile, France ended on a spectacular fashion in third spot with a total of seven medals (four golds, two silver, and one bronze), followed by the Netherlands with four, including two golds from Ranomi Kromowidjojo in sprint freestyle (both 50 and 100 m), and South Africa with three.[3]

For the first time since 1992, Australia delivered an underwhelming performance with only a single triumph in the freestyle relay, but managed to bring home a total of ten medals.[6] After not winning a gold in swimming since 2000, Japan produced the most medals in the post-war era to build a tally of eleven (three silver and eight bronze).[7]

A total of nine world records and twenty five Olympic records were set during the competition.

  1. ^ "Olympedia – Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Olympic sports: Swimming". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  3. ^ a b Adrega, Pedro; Chiarello, Sarah (4 August 2012). "Swimming day 8 – USA end on a high note, Phelps retires with 22 medals!". London 2012. FINA. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  4. ^ "2012 London Olympics: Michael Phelps Leads All Swimmers With Six Medals". Swimming World Magazine. 5 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  5. ^ Tan, Jingjing (3 July 2013). "Great breakthrough for Chinese swimming in Olympic pool". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  6. ^ Hoy, Greg (3 July 2013). "Swimmers outraged over pre-Games treatment". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  7. ^ Akutsu, Atsushi (3 July 2013). "Olympics/Swimming: Japan fails to strike gold but medal haul points to bright future". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.

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