2008 in swimming

2008 in swimming documents the highlights of competitive international swimming during 2008.

Major events

World

Regional

World records

  Current as of 1 January 2009
  Officially surpassed later in 2008

Men's long course

Date Event Time Name Nation Meet Location Ref
17 February 50 m freestyle 21.56 Eamon Sullivan  Australia NSW Championships Sydney, Australia [1]
21 March 100 m freestyle 47.60 sf Alain Bernard  France European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands [2]
22 March 100 m freestyle 47.50 Alain Bernard  France European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands [3]
23 March 50 m freestyle 21.50 sf Alain Bernard  France European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands
27 March 50 m freestyle 21.41 sf Eamon Sullivan  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
28 March 50 m freestyle 21.28 Eamon Sullivan  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia [4]
2 April 50 m backstroke 24.47 h, † Liam Tancock  Great Britain British Championships Sheffield, United Kingdom
8 June 200 m breaststroke 2:07.51 Kosuke Kitajima  Japan Japan Open Tokyo, Japan
29 June 400 m individual medley 4:05.25 Michael Phelps  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States [5]
1 July 100 m backstroke 52.89 Aaron Peirsol  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
4 July 200 m backstroke 1:54.32 = Aaron Peirsol  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
4 July 200 m individual medley 1:54.80 Michael Phelps  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
10 August 400 m individual medley 4:03.84 Michael Phelps  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China [6]
10 August 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:12.23 h Nathan Adrian (48.82)
Cullen Jones (47.61)
Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03)
Matt Grevers (47.77)		  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
11 August 100 m breaststroke 58.91 Kosuke Kitajima  Japan Olympic Games Beijing, China
11 August 100 m freestyle 47.24 r Eamon Sullivan  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China [7]
11 August 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:08.24 Michael Phelps (47.51)
Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02)
Cullen Jones (47.65)
Jason Lezak (46.06)		  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China [7]
12 August 200 m freestyle 1:42.96 Michael Phelps  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China [8]
12 August 100 m backstroke 52.54 Aaron Peirsol  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
13 August 100 m freestyle 47.20 sf Alain Bernard  France Olympic Games Beijing, China [9]
13 August 100 m freestyle 47.05 sf Eamon Sullivan  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China [9]
13 August 200 m butterfly 1:52.03 Michael Phelps  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
13 August 4 × 200 m freestyle relay 6:58.56 Michael Phelps (1:43.31)
Ryan Lochte (1:44.28)
Ricky Berens (1:46.29)
Peter Vanderkaay (1:44.68)		  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
15 August 200 m backstroke 1:53.94 Ryan Lochte  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
15 August 200 m individual medley 1:54.23 Michael Phelps  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
17 August 4 × 100 m medley relay 3:29.34 Aaron Peirsol (53.16)
Brendan Hansen (59.27)
Michael Phelps (50.15)
Jason Lezak (46.76)		  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China [10]
5 December 50 m backstroke 24.33 Randall Bal  United States Eindhoven Cup Eindhoven, Netherlands
Legend:
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; so – swim-off; tt – time trial

Women's long course

Date Event Time Name Nation Meet Location Ref
16 February 200 m backstroke 2:06.39 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe US Grand Prix Columbia, United States [11]
17 February 100 m backstroke 59.21 Natalie Coughlin  United States US Grand Prix Columbia, United States
7 March 50 m backstroke 28.00 r Hayley McGregory  United States Texas Senior Circuit Championships Austin, United States
18 March 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:33.62 Inge Dekker (53.77)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.61)
Femke Heemskerk (53.62)
Marleen Veldhuis (52.62)		  Netherlands European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands
22 March 400 m individual medley 4:31.46 Stephanie Rice  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia [12]
22 March 50 m backstroke 27.95 sf Emily Seebohm  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
23 March 50 m backstroke 27.67 Sophie Edington  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
24 March 50 m freestyle 24.09 Marleen Veldhuis  Netherlands European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands
24 March 400 m freestyle 4:01.53 Federica Pellegrini  Italy European Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands
25 March 200 m individual medley 2:08.92 Stephanie Rice  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
27 March 100 m freestyle 52.88 Libby Trickett  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
29 March 50 m freestyle 23.97 Libby Trickett  Australia Australian Championships Sydney, Australia
29 June 400 m individual medley 4:31.12 Katie Hoff  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States [13]
30 June 100 m backstroke 59.15 h Hayley McGregory  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
30 June 100 m backstroke 59.03 h Natalie Coughlin  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
1 July 100 m backstroke 58.97 Natalie Coughlin  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States
5 July 200 m backstroke 2:06.09 Margaret Hoelzer  United States US Olympic Trials Omaha, United States [14]
10 August 400 m individual medley 4:29.45 Stephanie Rice  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China [15]
11 August 100 m backstroke 58.77 sf Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe Olympic Games Beijing, China
11 August 200 m freestyle 1:55.45 h Federica Pellegrini  Italy Olympic Games Beijing, China
13 August 200 m freestyle 1:54.82 Federica Pellegrini  Italy Olympic Games Beijing, China
13 August 200 m individual medley 2:08.45 Stephanie Rice  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China
14 August 200 m butterfly 2:04.18 Liu Zige  China Olympic Games Beijing, China [16]
14 August 4 × 200 m freestyle relay 7:44.31 Stephanie Rice (1:56.60)
Bronte Barratt (1:56.58)
Kylie Palmer (1:55.22)
Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91)		  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China
15 August 200 m breaststroke 2:20.22 Rebecca Soni  United States Olympic Games Beijing, China
16 August 200 m backstroke 2:05.24 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe Olympic Games Beijing, China [17]
16 August 800 m freestyle 8:14.10 Rebecca Adlington  Great Britain Olympic Games Beijing, China [18]
17 August 4 × 100 m medley relay 3:52.69 Emily Seebohm (59.33)
Leisel Jones (1:04.58)
Jessicah Schipper (56.25)
Libby Trickett (52.53)		  Australia Olympic Games Beijing, China
Legend:
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; so – swim-off; tt – time trial

Men's short course

Date Event Time Name Nation Meet Location Ref
9 April 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:08.44 Ryan Lochte (47.09)
Bryan Lundquist (46.64)
Nathan Adrian (46.57)
Doug Van Wie (48.14)		  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
11 April 200 m individual medley 1:51.56 Ryan Lochte  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
11 April 50 m freestyle 20.81 Duje Draganja  Croatia World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
12 April 100 m individual medley 51.25 sf Ryan Lochte  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 200 m backstroke 1:47.84 Markus Rogan  Austria World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 100 m individual medley 51.15 Ryan Lochte  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 4 × 100 m medley relay 3:24.29 Stanislav Donets (50.57)
Sergey Geybel (57.93)
Yevgeny Korotyshkin (49.39)
Alexander Sukhorukov (46.40)		  Russia World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
20 July 800 m freestyle 7:23.42 Grant Hackett  Australia Victorian Championships Melbourne, Australia
7 September 50 m freestyle 20.64 Roland Schoeman  South Africa South African Championships Germiston, South Africa
25 October 50 m butterfly 22.50 Matt Jaukovic  Australia World Cup Sydney, Australia
26 October 50 m backstroke 23.24 Robert Hurley  Australia World Cup Sydney, Australia [19]
12 November 100 m backstroke 49.94 Peter Marshall  United States World Cup Stockholm, Sweden
12 November 50 m backstroke 23.05 Peter Marshall  United States World Cup Stockholm, Sweden
8 November 50 m breaststroke 26.08 Cameron van der Burgh  South Africa World Cup Moscow, Russia
9 November 100 m breaststroke 56.88 Cameron van der Burgh  South Africa World Cup Moscow, Russia
11 November 100 m backstroke 49.94 Peter Marshall  United States World Cup Stockholm, Sweden
11 November 50 m breaststroke 25.94 Cameron van der Burgh  South Africa World Cup Stockholm, Sweden
15 November 100 m backstroke 49.63 Peter Marshall  United States World Cup Berlin, Germany
16 November 50 m backstroke 22.87 Randall Bal  United States World Cup Berlin, Germany
16 November 200 m freestyle 1:40.83 Paul Biedermann  Germany World Cup Berlin, Germany
6 December 50 m butterfly 22.29 Amaury Leveaux  France French Championships Angers, France
7 December 100 m freestyle 45.69 Alain Bernard  France French Championships Angers, France
11 December 50 m freestyle 20.48 sf Amaury Leveaux  France European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
12 December 100 m freestyle 45.12 sf Amaury Leveaux  France European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
13 December 200 m butterfly 1:50.60 Nikolay Skvortsov  Russia European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
13 December 100 m freestyle 44.94 Amaury Leveaux  France European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
14 December 50 m butterfly 22.18 h Amaury Leveaux  France European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
14 December 100 m backstroke 49.32 Stanislav Donets  Russia European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
20 December 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:04.98 Grégory Mallet (47.41)
Fabien Gilot (44.92)
William Meynard (47.65)
Frédérick Bousquet (45.00)		  France French Club Championships Istres, France
21 December 100 m backstroke 49.20 r Aschwin Wildeboer  Spain Spanish Championships Madrid, Spain
Legend:
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; so – swim-off; tt – time trial

Women's short course

Date Event Time Name Nation Meet Location Ref
23 February 200 m backstroke 2:03.24 Reiko Nakamura  Japan Japan Open Tokyo, Japan
23 February 200 m butterfly 2:03.12 Yuko Nakanishi  Japan Japan Open Tokyo, Japan
9 April 400 m individual medley 4:26.52 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom [20]
9 April 4 × 200 m freestyle relay 7:38.90 Inge Dekker (1:55.36)
Femke Heemskerk (1:53.44)
Marleen Veldhuis (1:54.17)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (1:55.93)		  Netherlands World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
10 April 50 m breaststroke 29.58 Jessica Hardy  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
11 April 50 m butterfly 25.32 Felicity Galvez  Australia World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
11 April 200 m backstroke 2:00.91 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom [21]
11 April 4 × 100 m medley relay 3:51.36 Margaret Hoelzer (58.79)
Jessica Hardy (1:03.98)
Rachel Komisarz (55.93)
Kara Denby (52.66)		  United States World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
12 April 200 m individual medley 2:06.13 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
12 April 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:29.42 Hinkelien Schreuder (53.62)
Femke Heemskerk (52.61)
Inge Dekker (51.76)
Marleen Veldhuis (51.43)		  Netherlands World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 50 m backstroke 26.37 Sanja Jovanović  Croatia World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 50 m freestyle 23.25 Marleen Veldhuis  Netherlands World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
13 April 100 m butterfly 55.89 Felicity Galvez  Australia World Championships Manchester, United Kingdom
26 April 100 m butterfly 55.74 Libby Trickett  Australia Swimming Australia Grand Prix Canberra, Australia
26 April 100 m breaststroke 1:03.72 Leisel Jones  Australia Swimming Australia Grand Prix Canberra, Australia
12 November 50 m butterfly 25.31 Therese Alshammar  Sweden World Cup Stockholm, Sweden
15 November 50 m butterfly 24.99 Marieke Guehrer  Australia World Cup Berlin, Germany
28 November 400 m individual medley 4:25.87 Julia Smit  United States Canada Cup Toronto, Canada
6 December 200 m freestyle 1:53.18 Coralie Balmy  France French Championships Angers, France
12 December 800 m freestyle 8:04.53 Alessia Filippi  Italy European Championships Rijeka, Croatia [22]
13 December 50 m backstroke 26.23 Sanja Jovanović  Croatia European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
14 December 200 m freestyle 1:51.85 Federica Pellegrini  Italy European Championships Rijeka, Croatia
14 December 400 m individual medley 4:25.06 Mireia Belmonte  Spain European Championships Rijeka, Croatia [23]
19 December 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:28.22 Hinkelien Schreuder (52.88)
Inge Dekker (52.24)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.12)
Marleen Veldhuis (50.98)		  Netherlands Dutch Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands
Legend:
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; so – swim-off; tt – time trial

Other events

National championships

Long course
DatesEventCity
22–29 MarchAustralia Australian ChampionshipsSydney
31 March – 6 AprilUnited Kingdom British ChampionshipsSheffield
Short course
DatesEventCity
27–30 NovemberSweden Swedish SC ChampionshipsStockholm

References

  1. ↑ "New South Wales State Open Championships: Eamon Sullivan Sets WR On Final Day". Swimming World. 17 February 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "Bernard sets world 100m freestyle record". CNN. 21 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  3. ↑ "Official results list" (PDF). LC EC 2008.
  4. ↑ "Australian Sullivan breaks own swimming record". CBC. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "2008 US Olympic Trials - Men's 400m IM Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  6. ↑ John Lohn (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Flash Michael Phelps Smashes World Record in 400 IM". Swimming World. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Beijing olympics website". Archived from the original on 14 August 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  8. ↑ Stallman, Jason (11 August 2008). "Phelps wins third gold". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  9. 1 2 Johanson, Simon (13 August 2008). "Sullivan smashes world record - again". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  10. ↑ Crouse, Karen (2004-08-16). "Phelps's epic journey ends in perfection". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  11. ↑ "USA Swimming Grand Prix, Missouri: Flash! Kirsty Coventry Tracks Down Krisztina Egerszegi's 200 Back World Record". Swimming World. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  12. ↑ "Rice and Seebohm smash world records". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "2008 US Olympic Trials - Women's 400m IM Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "2008 US Olympic Trials - Women's 200m Backstroke Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  15. ↑ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Return to Sender…Stephanie Rice Blasts Women's 400 IM World Record". Swimming World. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  16. ↑ John Lohn (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Flash Liu Zige of China Sets World Record in Women's 200 Fly". Swimming World. Retrieved 16 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "Women's 200m Backstroke: Coventry finally wins gold". Beijing 2008. 2008-08-16. Archived from the original on 2008-08-17. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  18. ↑ "Adlington storms to second gold". BBC Sport. 2008-08-16. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  19. ↑ "Men's 50m Backstroke Final" (PDF). www.omegatiming.com. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  20. ↑ "9th FINA World Championships (25m) - Women's 400m IM Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  21. ↑ "9th FINA World Championships (25m) - Women's 200m Backstroke Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  22. ↑ "2008 European Short Course Championships - Women's 800m Freestyle Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  23. ↑ "2008 European Short Course Championships (25m) - Women's 400m IM Final Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 14 December 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
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