Swimming Races Article

The 2008 Summer Olympics: Swimming

The Swimming competition will begin on August 9, and run for a sixteen day period, until August 21. The Conventional Events will end on August 16, with the new marathon events beginning on the 20th of August and running until the 21st. Except for the two marathon 10km events, all swim events will take place in Beijing's National Aquatics Centre.

The swimming program planned for the 2008 Summer Olympics has been expanded slightly from the normal program, which was last seen during the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Olympics, marathon 10 kilometer open water swimming events have been added, bringing the total swimming events to 34, which is comprised of 17 men’s events, and 17 women’s events.

The current list of swimming events for the 2008 Summer Olympics is as follows:

* Freestyle- 50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter (women), 1500 meter (men), 4x100 meter relay, 4x200 meter relay and 10 kilometer marathon.

* Backstroke- 100 meter and 200 meter.

* Breaststroke- 100 meter and 200 meter.

* Butterfly Stroke- 100 meter and 200 meter.

* Medley- 200 meter individual, 400 meter individual and 4x100 meter relay.

On October 26th of 2006, the International Olympic Committee, also known as IOC, announced that swimming finals for Summer 2008 games will all be held during the morning. It has been speculated that this is a response to NBC’s request, based on paying $3.55 billion for exclusive North American rights for the Games, because NBC wants North American audiences to be able to view the finals during prime-time. Finals are usually always swum at night, so this is an unprecedented event. A drastic change in routine for athletes is called for, forcing swimmers who have swum at night for their entire lives to suddenly change everything about the way they operate. Luckily, the decision has allowed for athletes to adapt to this new schedule over a span of two years, and luckily, all athletes are affected by this change so it should not affect the games too greatly in 2008.

The United States Olympic Trials is held once every four years, and offers a coveted prize which is a spot on the United States Olympic Team. The standards are even quicker than with the National Championships, because the trials never fail to attract all of the absolute fastest athletes. Unlike other United States Swimming meets, citizenship is required to participate in the Olympic Trials. The Olympic Trials for the 2008 USA Olympic Team will be held in Omaha Nebraska, on June 30, 2008 at the Qwest Center.