When women’s swimming debuted at the Olympic Games in 1912, female athletes could only compete in two swimming events. Today, the event program for women has grown to include 17 total events.
Here’s a little bit about each of them:
Freestyle Events
50-Meter Freestyle: The 50-meter freestyle is the fastest women’s swimming event contested at the Olympic Games. In the sprint event, women swim one length of the pool in the freestyle stroke. Jessica Hardy is the top-ranked American female in the 50 freestyle.
100-Meter Freestyle
: The 100-meter freestyle, which is two lengths of the pool, takes about 53 seconds to complete. Seventeen-year-old Missy Franklin is the No. 1-ranked American female in the event.
200-Meter Freestyle: The 200-meter freestyle features swimmers competing over four lengths of the pool. With a time of 1:55.06, Franklin also is the top-ranked American female in the 200 freestyle.
400-Meter Freestyle
: In the 400-meter freestyle, athletes swim eight lengths of the pool in the freestyle discipline. The race takes just more than four minutes to complete, and with a time of 4:05.19, Chloe Sutton is No. 1-ranked female swimmer in the United States.
800-Meter Freestyle
: The 800-meter freestyle is the longest women’s individual event contested in a pool at the Olympic Games. In this race, which covers 16 lengths of the pool, Kate Ziegler sits in the top spot for American women.
Backstroke Events
100-Meter Backstroke
: The women’s 100-meter backstroke sees athletes swim two lengths of the pool in the backstroke discipline. The event takes about one minute to finish, and with a time of 59.12, American Natalie Coughlin is the top-ranked American female.
200-Meter Backstroke
: In the 200-meter backstroke event, swimmers cover four lengths of the pool in the backstroke discipline. With a time of 2:05.10, Franklin is the No. 1-ranked American female in the event.
Breaststroke Events
100-Meter Breaststroke
: In the 100-meter breaststroke event, Rebecca Soni is the top-ranked American woman. The event, which takes about 1:05 to finish, sees swimmers compete across two lengths of the pool in the breaststroke discipline.
200-Meter Breaststroke: The 200-meter breaststroke is four lengths long and takes about 2:20 to finish. Like the 100 breaststroke, Soni is the top American female in the 200 breaststroke.
Butterfly Events
100-Meter Butterfly: In the 100-meter butterfly, swimmers complete two lengths of the pool in the butterfly discipline. Dana Vollmer, 24, is the top female American prospect in the event.
200-Meter Butterfly: The 200-meter butterfly features swimmers competing over four lengths of the pool. Cammile Adams is the top-ranked American woman in the event.
Individual Medley Events
200-Meter Individual Medley: In the 200-meter individual medley, also called the 200 IM, swimmers complete one length of the pool in each stroke. The swimmers begin with a length of butterfly, then swim a length of backstroke and a length of breaststroke. The final length is completed in the freestyle discipline. Ariana Kukors is the No. 1-ranked American female in the event.
400-Meter Individual Medley: In the 400-meter individual medley, also called the 400 IM, athletes swim two lengths of the pool in each stroke for a total of eight lengths. They swim the strokes in the same order as those listed above, and Elizabeth Beisel is the top-ranked American female in the event.
Relay Events
4×100-Meter Freestyle Relay: The 4×100-meter freestyle relay features four athletes swimming two lengths of the pool each.
4×100-Meter Medley Relay: Four swimmers compete in the 4×100-meter medley relay, and each swimmer completes two lengths of a different stroke. First, the backstroke swimmer finishes her leg, followed by the breaststroke swimmer. Next the butterfly swimmer goes, and the freestyle swimmer brings up the anchor leg.
4×200-Meter Freestyle Relay: Four swimmers compete in the women’s 4×200-meter medley relay. Each swimmer completes four lengths of the pool in the freestyle discipline.
Open Water Events
10-Kilometer Marathon
: The 10-kilometer marathon race is swam in a freestanding body of water rather than a pool. It’s a long-distance race, and American Ashley Twichell won the race at the 2012 US National Championships. It took her 2:03:06.03 to finish the race.
**All times and rankings are valid as of 5/14/2012, which is when USA Swimming released the most recent list of Olympic Trials qualifiers.
Sandra Johnson was a competitive swimmer for more than 15 years before she began coaching. She is a longtime Olympic fan, and while working for the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colo., she had the opportunity to immerse herself in the Olympic Movement. Follow her on Twitter: @SandraJohnson46.