List of Olympic records in swimming
The International Olympic Committee recognises the fastest performances in pool-based swimming events at the Olympic Games. Men's swimming has been part of the official program of the Summer Olympics since the Games' modern inception in 1896; it was not until 1912 that women'e events were held. The swimming events at the 1896 Olympic Games were held in a bay in the Aegean Sea with swimmers being required to swim to the shore—Hungarian swimmer Alfréd Hajós won two gold medals that year, saying "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." The 1900 Summer Olympic Games in Paris had the swimming events take place in the River Seine, and the events at the 1908 Summer Olympics were held in a 100-metre pool surrounded by an athletics track in the White City Stadium in London.
Races are held in four swimming categories: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, over varying distances and in either individual or relay race events. Medley swimming races are also held, both individually and in relays, in which all four swimming categories are used. In the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, both men and women competed in sixteen events in the pool, each sex in the same events with the exceptions of the 800 m freestyle and the 1500 m freestyle. Of the 32 pool-based events, swimmers from the United States hold eighteen records, including one tied with a swimmer from Canada, Australia and China three each, Hungary two, and one each to the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Great Britain, Singapore and Sweden. Thirteen of the current Olympic records were set at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Men's records
♦ denotes a performance that is also a current world record. Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2016 Olympics and include only those events which are currently recognised by the IOC as Olympic events.| Event | Time | Name | Nation | Games | Date | Ref |
| 21.30 | 2008 Beijing | 16 August 2008 | ||||
| 47.05 | 2008 Beijing | 13 August 2008 | ||||
| 1:42.96 | 2008 Beijing | 12 August 2008 | ||||
| 3:40.14 | 2012 London | 28 July 2012 | ||||
| ♦14:31.02 | 2012 London | 4 August 2012 | ||||
| ♦51.85 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 13 August 2016 | ||||
| 1:53.41 | 2012 London | 2 August 2012 | ||||
| 57.13 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 7 August 2016 | ||||
| 2:07.22 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 9 August 2016 | ||||
| 50.39 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 12 August 2016 | ||||
| 1:52.03 | 2008 Beijing | 13 August 2008 | ||||
| 1:54.23 | 2008 Beijing | 15 August 2008 | ||||
| ♦4:03.84 | 2008 Beijing | 10 August 2008 | ||||
| ♦3:08.24 | Garrett Weber-Gale Cullen Jones Jason Lezak | 2008 Beijing | 11 August 2008 | |||
| 6:58.56 | Ryan Lochte Ricky Berens Peter Vanderkaay | 2008 Beijing | 13 August 2008 | |||
| 3:27.95 | Cody Miller Michael Phelps Nathan Adrian | 2016 Rio de Jainero | 13 August 2016 |
Women's records
♦ denotes a performance that is also a current world record. Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2016 Olympics and include only those events which are currently recognised by the IOC as Olympic events.| Event | Time | Name | Nation | Games | Date | Ref |
| 24.05 | 2012 London | 4 August 2012 | ||||
| 52.70 | Simone Manuel | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 11 August 2016 | |||
| 1:53.61 | 2012 London | 31 July 2012 | ||||
| ♦3:56.46 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 7 August 2016 | ||||
| ♦8:04.79 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 12 August 2016 | ||||
| 58.23 | 2012 London | 29 July 2012 | ||||
| 2:04.06 | 2012 London | 3 August 2012 | ||||
| 1:04.93 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 8 August 2016 | ||||
| 2:19.59 | 2012 London | 2 August 2012 | ||||
| ♦55.48 | 7 August 2016 | |||||
| 2:04.06 | 2012 London | 1 August 2012 | ||||
| 2:06.58 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 9 August 2016 | ||||
| ♦4:26.36 | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 6 August 2016 | ||||
| 3:30.65 | Brittany Elmslie Bronte Campbell Cate Campbell | 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 6 August 2016 | |||
| 7:42.92 | Dana Vollmer Shannon Vreeland Allison Schmitt | 2012 London | 1 August 2012 | |||
| 3:52.05 | Rebecca Soni Dana Vollmer Allison Schmitt | 2012 London | 4 August 2012 |