Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics


At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, six swimming events were contested. These were the first Olympic Games in which a 100-metre pool had been especially constructed. Previous Olympic events were swum in open water. Only men participated in the swimming events. The competitions were held from Monday, July 13, 1908, to Saturday, July 25, 1908.
All six of the 1908 events became staples of the Olympic swimming programme, and have been contested at every edition of the Games since. The 50 m, 200 m, and 800 m freestyle events were dropped from the previous edition, the relay was lengthened from 4×50 yards to 4×200 m, and the 400 m breaststroke was shortened to 200 metres.
Canada and Finland made their first appearances in swimming, while Austria, Hungary, and the United States continued their streaks of appearing each time. Fourteen nations competed in all, with 100 swimmers entering the events.

Medal table

Medal summary

Participating nations

A total of 100 swimmers from 14 nations competed at the London Games: