The swimming competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City took place from 17 to 26 October at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. Swimming featured a record total of 29 events. There was a total of 468 participants from 51 countries competing. The United States dominated the competition, winning 52 of 87 possible medals. 15-year-old American phenom Debbie Meyer from Maryland won three gold medals.
Events Swimming at the 1968 Olympics featured a total of 29 events (15 for men and 14 for women). This was a significant increase from the 18 events contested in the previous Olympic Games. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in meters): Freestyle: 100, 200, 400, and 1500 (men's); 100, 200, 400 and 800 (women's) Backstroke: 100 and 200; Breaststroke: 100 and 200; Butterfly: 100 and 200; Individual medley: 200 and 400; Relays: 4 × 100 free, 4 × 200 free, 4 × 100 medley (men's); 4 × 100 free, 4 × 100 medley (women's)
Participating nations 468 swimmers from 51 nations competed.
Medal table
Medal summary
Men's events 100 m freestyle 52.2 52.8 53.0 200 m freestyle 1:55.2 1:55.8 1:58.1 400 m freestyle 4:09.0 4:11.7 4:13.3 1500 m freestyle 16:38.9 16:57.3 17:04.7 100 m backstroke 58.7 1:00.2 1:00.5 200 m backstroke 2:09.6 2:10.6 2:10.9 100 m breaststroke 1:07.7 1:08.0 1:08.0 200 m breaststroke 2:28.7 2:29.2 2:29.9 100 m butterfly 55.9 56.4 57.2 200 m butterfly 2:08.7 2:09.0 2:09.3 200 m individual medley 2:12.0 2:13.0 2:13.3 400 m individual medley 4:48.4 4:48.7 4:51.4 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Zac ZornStephen RerychKen WalshMark Spitz 3:31.7 Georgi KulikovViktor MazanovSemyon Belits-GeimanLeonid Ilyichov 3:34.2 Greg RogersRobert CusackBob WindleMichael Wenden 3:34.7 4 × 200 m freestyle relay John NelsonStephen RerychMark SpitzDon Schollander 7:52.3 Greg RogersGraham WhiteBob WindleMichael Wenden 7:53.7 Vladimir BureSemyon Belits-GeimanGeorgi KulikovLeonid Ilyichov 8:01.6 4 × 100 m medley relay Charlie HickcoxDon McKenzieDoug RussellKen Walsh 3:54.9 Roland MatthesEgon HenningerHorst-Günter GregorFrank Wiegand 3:57.5 Yuri GromakVladimir NemshilovVladimir KosinskyLeonid Ilyichov 4:00.7
Women's events 100 m freestyle 1:00.0 1:00.3 1:00.3 200 m freestyle 2:10.5 2:11.0 2:11.2 400 m freestyle 4:31.8 4:35.5 4:37.0 800 m freestyle 9:24.0 9:35.7 9:38.5 100 m backstroke 1:06.2 1:06.7 1:08.1 200 m backstroke 2:24.8 2:27.4 2:28.9 100 m breaststroke 1:15.8 1:15.9 1:16.1 200 m breaststroke 2:44.4 2:46.4 2:47.0 100 m butterfly 1:05.5 1:05.8 1:06.2 200 m butterfly 2:24.7 2:24.8 2:25.9 200 m individual medley 2:24.7 2:28.8 2:31.4 400 m individual medley 5:08.5 5:22.2 5:25.3 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Jane BarkmanLinda GustavsonSusan PedersenJan Henne 4:02.5 Gabriele WetzkoRoswitha KrauseUta SchmuckMartina Grunert 4:05.7 Angela CoughlanMarilyn CorsonElaine TannerMarion Lay 4:07.2 4 × 100 m medley relay Kaye HallCatie BallEllie DanielSusan Pedersen 4:28.3 Lynne WatsonJudy PlayfairLyn McClementsJanet Steinbeck 4:30.0 Angelika KrausUta FrommaterHeike HustedeHeidemarie Reineck 4:36.4
Gallery of the medalists Some of the Olympic medalists in Mexico City:
References