Olympic swimmers compete against one another in a 50-metre pool that is divided into eight lanes. They use four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, and they can swim anywhere from 50 to 1500 metres. After swimming the predetermined distance, the winner is the first person to touch the pool wall. There are 35 swimming events in the Olympic pool, comprising the mixed medley relay, three relay events per gender, and 14 individual events for each gender.
Starts
- Swimmers leap into the water from an elevated starting platform to begin a swimming race. “Take your mark,” the starter orders, and each swimmer takes a starting position.
- When the electronic tone goes off, contestants jump into the water. The head of a swimmer needs to break the surface in the first fifteen metres.
- Swimmers start facing the pool wall for backstroke events and medley relays. They grab a bar beneath the starting platform and plant both feet on a ‘backstroke ledge’. Swimmers propel themselves off the wall by diving backwards as the race begins.
- There are no “false start” alerts in swimming, and a swimmer will be immediately disqualified if they plunge in before the start signal.
- The swimmer is still in the race if the beginning signal sounds before disqualification is announced.
Laps and turns
- A lap in swimming is one full length of the pool; Olympic swimming uses a “long course” pool, which means that each lap is fifty metres long.
- The overall distance of the race determines how many laps are needed. The 50-metre freestyle is the shortest event, requiring one lap.
- The 100-metre race needs two loops, whereas the 1500-metre freestyle race requires 30 laps.
- In every stroke discipline, swimmers must turn quickly in between laps and make contact with the wall.
- They can somersault in freestyle and backstroke, but they have to contact the wall with both hands at the same time in butterfly and breaststroke.
- Swimmers can submerge themselves for up to 15 metres following a turn before coming to the surface.
Race strategy
- The Olympic swimming schedule includes many events, each with its style of swimming. Sprint events, like the 50- and 100-metre swims, demand maximum effort from competitors since even a small error might lose them a second.
- The 200-metre race, which calls for both controlled sprinting and a sense of tempo, is regarded as the hardest to perfect.
- Swimmers competing in distance events such as the 400-, 800-, and 1500-metre freestyles and the 400-metre individual medley (IM) must continuously assess their exhaustion and position.
- Swimming too slowly might result in a disadvantage that is too great to overcome while swimming too quickly can deplete endurance and lead to subpar results.
Relays
- Teams of four swimmers compete in swimming relays, covering 25% of the race’s distance.
- The nation whose swimmer touches the wall first in the fourth leg wins. Strong nations frequently send “relay-only” swimmers to the Olympics to rest their top four swimmers for the final.
- Relays are contested over a preliminary and final. If their nation wins a medal in the final, the relay preliminary swimmers will get one.
- There are seven relay events in all in the Paris Olympics: one medley relay per gender, the mixed medley relay, and two freestyle relays (4x100m and 4x200m) per gender.
- While each swimmer in a medley relay utilises a different stroke, all four swimmers in a freestyle relay use the freestyle stroke.
- The traditional sequence for all medley relays, regardless of gender, is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
Open Water
- The 10k open water competition, sometimes referred to as the “marathon swim,” takes place on a broad course with no lane limitations in a natural body of water.
- One should anticipate incidental touch, particularly at the mass start.
- A transponder bracelet connected to the timing and results system is required for every competitor. Pacing, slipstreaming, walking or leaping, and finishing without the transponder might result in disqualification.
- An athlete’s identity is marked with markings or temporary tattoos. Two open-water races on the Seine River, one for men and one for women, will be part of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Conclusion
Olympic swimmers participate in four-stroke events (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly) in a 50-metre pool with eight lanes. There are thirty-five total events: fourteen individual events, three gender-specific relays, and a mixed medley relay. The 50-metre freestyle is the shortest of the start sequences, which entails jumping into the water. Open water races, seven relay events, sprints, and distance races are all part of the racing plan.
