Swimming at Tokyo Olympics: Preview, Guide, Schedule, Indian Players

When Prakash swam the men's 200m butterfly event in 1:56.38 at the Sette Colli Trophy in Italy, he became the first Indian swimmer to ever achieve an Olympic 'A' cut. This time, the Tokyo Olympics will be extra special for Indian fans as two of the Indian swimmers qualified with the 'A' cut.

Preview

Swimmers compete to finish the distance in the shortest amount of time using a specific stroke (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly). Although there is no mandated stroke for freestyle competitions, all swimmers currently use the crawl, which is the fastest stroke.

Swimming has a long Olympic history. It all started at the 1896 Summer Olympics when only four swimming events were held, and they were all for men. Women's events were added to the Olympic swimming programme for the first time in 1912.

When discussing swimming, it is impossible not to mention Michael Phelps. Michael won a record of 28 Olympic medals, including 23 golds, 13 of which were in individual events. He retired from competitive swimming in 2019 as the most successful Olympic swimmer of all time.

We may see some Olympic records being broken in Tokyo. Swimming is leading to higher levels of performance due to the constant evolution of techniques. As seven world records were set during the finals in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.

Recently, Swimmers have been participating in many events in recent years. Katinka Hossz (Hungary) excels at the individual medley. Simultaneously, single-event specialists like Adam Peaty are dominating single events. This growing segmentation of the sport into multi-event swimmers and specialists promises to drive even more innovation in the coming years.

Guide

At Rio in 2016. The pool had 32 men's and women's events, including individual and relay races. Now in Tokyo 2020,There will be 35 events, with three new competitions: 800m freestyle (men), 1,500m freestyle (women), and 4×100m medley relay (mixed).

The following are the events that will take place:

1. 50m Freestyle (Men/Women)

2. 100m Freestyle (Men/Women)

3. 200m Freestyle (Men/Women)

4. 400m Freestyle (Men/Women)

5. 800m Freestyle (Men/Women)

6. 1500m Freestyle (Men/Women)

7. 100m Backstroke (Men/Women)

8. 200m Backstroke (Men/Women)

9. 100m Breaststroke (Men/Women)

10. 200m Breaststroke (Men/Women)

11. 100m Butterfly (Men/Women)

12. 200m Butterfly (Men/Women)

13. 200m Individual Medley (Men/Women)

14. 400m Individual Medley (Men/Women)

15. 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay (Men/Women)

16. 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay (Men/Women)

17. 4 x 100m Medley Relay (Men/Women)

18. 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Relay

Schedule

The Matches will take place from 24th July to 01 August at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The timings are in IST (Indian Standard time)

Day 1, Saturday 24 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Men's 400m Individual Medley - Heats
• Women's 100m Butterfly - Heats
• Men's 400m Freestyle - Heats
• Women's 400m Individual Medley - Heats
• Men's 100m Breaststroke - Heats
• Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay - Heats

Day 2, Sunday 25 July 07:00 - 08:50

• Men's 400m Individual Medley Final
• Women's 100m Butterfly Semifinals
• Men's 400m Freestyle Final
• Men's 400m Individual Medley Victory Ceremony
• Women's 400m Individual Medley Final
• Men's 400m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals
• Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final
• Women's 400m Individual Medley Victory Ceremony
• Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Victory Ceremony

Day 2, Sunday, 25 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Women's 100m Backstroke - Heats
• Men's 200m Freestyle - Heats
• Women's 100m Breaststroke - Heats
• Men's 100m Backstroke - Heats
• Women's 400m Freestyle - Heats
• Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay - Heats

Day 3, Monday 26 July 07:00 - 09:10

• Women's 100m Butterfly Final
  
• Men's 200m Freestyle Semifinals
• Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals
• Women's 100m Butterfly Victory Ceremony
• Men's 100m Breaststroke Final
• Women's 400m Freestyle Final
• Men's 100m Backstroke Semifinals
• Men's 100m Breaststroke Victory Ceremony
• Women's 100m Backstroke Semifinals
• Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final
• Women's 400m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Victory Ceremony

Day 3, Monday 26 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Women's 200m Freestyle - Heats
  
• Men's 200m Butterfly - Heats
• Women's 200m Individual Medley - Heats
• Women's 1500m Freestyle - Heats

Day 4, Tuesday 27 July 07:00 - 08:55

• Women's 200m Freestyle Semifinals
• Men's 200m Freestyle Final
• Women's 100m Backstroke Final
• Men's 100m Backstroke Final
• Men's 200m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Women's 100m Breaststroke Final
• Women's 100m Backstroke Victory Ceremony
• Men's 200m Butterfly Semifinals
• Men's 100m Backstroke Victory Ceremony
• Women's 200m Individual Medley Semifinals
• Women's 100m Breaststroke Victory Ceremony

Day 4, Tuesday 27 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Men's 100m Freestyle - Heats
• Women's 200m Butterfly - Heats
• Men's 200m Breaststroke - Heats
• Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay - Heats
• Men's 800m Freestyle - Heats

Day 5, Wednesday 28 July 07:00 - 09:35

• Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinals
• Women's 200m Freestyle Final
• Men's 200m Butterfly Final
• Women's 200m Butterfly Semifinals
• Women's 200m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 200m Breaststroke Semifinals
• Men's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony
• Women's 200m Individual Medley Final
• Women's 1500m Freestyle Final
• Women's 200m Individual Medley Victory Ceremony
• Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final
• Women's 1500m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Victory Ceremony

Day 5, Wednesday 28 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Women's 100m Freestyle - Heats
• Men's 200m Backstroke - Heats
• Women's 200m Breaststroke - Heats
• Men's 200m Individual Medley - Heats
• Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay - Heats

Day 6, Thursday 29 July 07:00 - 09:40

• Men's 800m Freestyle Final
• Men's 200m Breaststroke Final
• Women's 100m Freestyle Semifinals
• Men's 200m Backstroke Semifinals
• Men's 800m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Women's 200m Butterfly Final
• Men's 100m Freestyle Final
• Men's 200m Breaststroke Victory Ceremony
• Women's 200m Breaststroke Semifinals
• Men's 200m Individual Medley Semifinals
• Women's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony
• Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final
• Men's 100m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Women's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Victory Ceremony

Day 6, Thursday 29 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Women's 800m Freestyle - Heats
• Men's 100m Butterfly - Heats
• Women's 200m Backstroke - Heats
• Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Heats

Day 7, Friday 30 July 07:00 - 08:40

• Men's 100m Butterfly Semifinals
• Women's 200m Breaststroke Final
• Men's 200m Backstroke Final
• Women's 100m Freestyle Final
• Women's 200m Breaststroke Victory Ceremony
• Men's 200m Individual Medley Final
• Men's 200m Backstroke Victory Ceremony
• Women's 200m Backstroke Semifinals
• Women's 100m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 200m Individual Medley Victory Ceremony

Day 7, Friday 30 July 15:30 - 18:00

• Men's 50m Freestyle - Heats
• Women's 50m Freestyle - Heats
• Men's 1500m Freestyle - Heats
• Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Heats
• Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Heat

Day 8, Saturday 31 July 07:00 - 08:50

• Men's 100m Butterfly Final
• Women's 200m Backstroke Final
• Women's 800m Freestyle Final
• Men's 100m Butterfly Victory Ceremony
• Men's 50m Freestyle Semifinals
• Women's 200m Backstroke Victory Ceremony
• Women's 50m Freestyle Semifinals
• Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final
• Women's 800m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Victory Ceremony

Day 9, Sunday, 1 August 07:00 - 08:55

• Men's 50m Freestyle Final
• Women's 50m Freestyle Final
• Men's 1500m Freestyle Final
• Men's 50m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final
• Women's 50m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final
• Men's 1500m Freestyle Victory Ceremony
• Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Victory Ceremony
• Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Victory Ceremony

Indian Players

This time, three Indian swimmers will compete in the Olympics:

1. Sajan Prakash

2. Srihari Nataraj

3. Maana Patel

It's a special Olympics for Indians in swimming. Sajan Prakash became the first Indian to directly qualify for the Olympics, earning the elusive 'A' cut. He'll compete in the 200m butterfly. A day later after Sajan's qualification, Srihari Nataraj also made the 'A' cut in the 100m backstroke. Maana Patel qualified under the universality quota, ensuring that three Indian swimmers would compete for the first time at the Olympic Games.