In almost all sports, including swimming, world records are set. Each time it becomes more difficult to improve the previous result, but nevertheless all of them are established at various competitions. The world swimming record is the highest result that an athlete showed in official competitions under repeatable conditions stipulated by the rules.
Established rules
All records are ratified by FINA - International Swimming Federation. They can be installed on “long” or “short water” in swimming pools. The rules for ratification of records are set in SW12. The main points include:
- During the competition electronic timekeeping should be used.
- The length of the pool must be certified and meet established standards.
- The swimmer must wear a swimming suit, which also complies with the established FINA standards.
- After the end of the competition, the athlete must immediately pass a doping test.
These and other points are taken into account when registering a world record.
World Swimming Records
Over the years, swimmers have been improving their performance over distance. Note that the competitions are held in pools 25 and 50 meters long. In many well-known competitions, swimmers perform the discipline in a pool 50 meters long. Such a length allows you to set a better result, since at the same distance less time is spent on a coup.
An important point is the fact that several years ago world swimming records were set at almost every competition thanks to high-tech suits. That is why expensive developments were carried out in the field of their production. Even a few fractions of a second can separate one athlete from a record or victory in a competition. In order to exclude the possibility of affecting the result of the quality of the equipment used, such overalls have been banned in recent years.
After their cancellation, records began to be set much less frequently. The oldest current record is about 12 years old. It was installed in 2001 in short water in a freestyle at a distance of 1,500 meters. On long water, oddly enough, the record has been re-registered several times already.
Recently, more and more world records on long water among men are established by immigrants from the United States. Quite a lot of intrigue goes around one of the most famous athletes of our time, Michael Phelps. During his career, he was able to set more than 39 records in long water, as well as 2 records in short. For this he was given the nickname "Flying Fish."
100 meter swimming record
What was the world record for swimming at 100 meters and who set it? One of the most famous swimmers is Michael Phelps, who represented the USA in swimming competitions. On his account there are a lot of records, most of which are related to butterfly stroke and the complex. During his career, Phelps was able to break world records 39 times. The most famous was the indicator at a distance of 100 meters in swimming butterfly stroke at the competitions in Rome in 2009. Then, a real fight broke out between Phelps and Chavich, which led to the establishment of several world records. The Serb was in excellent physical shape and set a new record in the semi-final, but in the final he also wanted to win with a new result. However, the US representative in the final showed simply phenomenal speed, which led to his victory and the establishment of a current record of 49.82 at a distance of 100 meters.
Freestyle
Swimming has always attracted quite a lot of attention due to the large number of distances, as well as because of the high speed that athletes can reach. In 2009, 5 current freestyle records were set right away. Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo set records at a distance of 50 (20.91) and 100 meters (46.91). Note that he surpassed the previous result at a distance of 50 meters by only 00.03 seconds - 20.91 current record. At the French Championship, Frederic Busque (freestyle , swimming at a distance of 50 meters) showed a result of 20.94 seconds.
Records were also set by Paul Biederman at a distance of 200 (1.42.00) and 400 meters (3.40.07), as well as Zhang Lin at a distance of 800 meters (7.32.12). Note that 2009 was the richest world record in swimming.
50 meter swimming record
Who set the world record in swimming at 50 meters? Adam Petey is a young British swimmer who has become European champion 8 times. Among his achievements (the athlete was born in 1994 and debuted only in 2013) world records at a distance of 50 (26.42) and 100 meters (57.13). It is worth noting that previous records were also set by this swimmer. In 2016, he again proved his superiority. After he broke the previous record at a distance of 100 meters, the audience reacted violently to the result, but Petey did not immediately understand why such a reaction to his victory.
In the future, quite a lot of hopes are pinned on this swimmer, since, according to the sports community, he has not yet reached his best physical form. This was confirmed by a performance in Rio in 2016, which brought him gold and a new world record.
1500 meter swimming record
What is the world record for swimming at 1,500 meters? Athletes overcome a long distance, more than 1000 meters, only in freestyle. In 2012, a record was set at a distance of 1,500 meters by Chinese swimmer Sun Yang - the current record was 14.31.02. An important point is that the previous best result also belonged to him. The new result is better than the previous by more than 3 seconds.
Crawl Records
It's time to talk about what are the world records for crawl swimming. It always attracts quite a lot of attention, since there are quite a lot of distances in this discipline, and on some the best results are established. An important point is that most of the current records in this style were set in 2009 (for example, 20.48 per 50 m). Only at a distance of 1,500 meters was a new record set in 2012 (10/14/10). This is due to the fact that recently athletes have improved previous results by only a few fractions of a second - this moment suggests that it will take quite a long time to wait for new world records.
Current swimming records
If you pay attention to the current world records for swimming among men, it can be noted that most of them belong to the representatives of the USA, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany and China. At the same time, Americans are the owners of 9 current records from 20 disciplines. This can be called an impressive result. In swimming among men, immigrants from Russia do not have active world records.
As regards women's performances, there is no obvious superiority. The current record holders were women from the USA, Lithuania, Hungary, Sweden, Germany and Australia. Their results are close to those shown by record holders among men. However, many records were set between 2009 and 2016. Therefore, the upcoming competition can also give a surprise.
Competitions in Rio in 2016
Even before the start of the competition in Rio de Janeiro, there were many scandals related to the control of doping among swimmers. After the start of the Olympics in Rio, in just two days, 6 world records were broken in swimming, which brought quite a lot of impressions to all lovers of this sport. Most of the records were set by women, among men stood out a new achievement British Adam Petey at a distance of 100 meters breaststroke. In the comments, the champions indicated that the Olympics is a long-awaited event in their life, which they have been preparing for over the course of all 4 years. That is why the opening of the competition in Rio has brought so many records. The athlete from Hungary Katinke Hossu not only marked the world record (400 meters complex 4.26.36), but also the first Olympic gold in her career. Previously, she was able to win the World Cup 11 times, but the Olympics did not obey her. She improved the previous result by more than 2 seconds.