About

   "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win."

   That was the reaction of 19-year-old Hungarian Alfred Hajos after he won the 1200 metres freestyle at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. He won by being the first swimmer to reach shore after a boat had left everyone in the icy waters of the Mediterranean.

   Olympic swimming has come a long way, to temperature-controlled 50-metre pools, wave-killing gutters, lane markers designed to reduce turbulence, and status as one of the Games' glamour events. It is far removed from those early days.

   There were the venues, from the Bay of Zea in 1896, to Paris's River Seine in 1900, to a 100-metre pool constructed inside the athletics track in 1908. Then there were the events, from a 100-metre race for Greek sailors in 1896, to underwater and obstacle races in 1900, to a "plunge for distance" in 1908. That event involved a standing dive, with contestants then remaining motionless for 60 seconds, or until their heads broke the surface - whichever came first.

    Competition

   Women's swimming events became a regular part of the Olympic Games in 1912, and men and women now compete in 16 events each. The programme involves four different strokes across a range of distances.

   Freestyle races cover 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metres. The 800m is for women only, the 1500m for men only. The butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke races each cover 100 and 200 metres. All four strokes are used in the 200m and 400m individual medley events.

   The 4 x 100m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle and 4 x 100m medley relays complete the programme.

   Each race has a maximum of eight swimmers. Preliminary heats in the 50m, 100m and 200m lead to semi-finals and finals based on the fastest times. In relays and individual events of 400 metres or more, the eight fastest finishers in the preliminaries advance directly to the finals.

   List of events

   -- 100m backstroke Men

   -- 100m breaststroke Men

   -- 100m butterfly Men

   -- 100m freestyle Men

   -- 1500m freestyle Men

   -- 200m backstroke Men

   -- 200m breaststroke Men

   -- 200m butterfly Men

   -- 200m freestyle Men

   -- 200m individual medley Men

   -- 400m freestyle Men

   -- 400m individual medley Men

   -- 4x100m freestyle relay Men

   -- 4x100m medley relay Men

   -- 4x200m freestyle relay Men

   -- 50m freestyle Men

   -- marathon 10km Men

   -- 100m backstroke Women

   -- 100m breaststroke Women

   -- 100m butterfly Women

   -- 100m freestyle Women

   -- 200m backstroke Women

   -- 200m breaststroke Women

   -- 200m butterfly Women

   -- 200m freestyle Women

   -- 200m individual medley Women

   -- 400m freestyle Women

   -- 400m individual medley Women

   -- 4x100m freestyle relay Women

   -- 4x100m medley relay Women

   -- 4x200m freestyle relay Women

   -- 50m freestyle Women

   -- 800m freestyle Women

   -- marathon 10km Women

Credit: IOC

For further info., please visit http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/disciplines_uk.asp?DiscCode=SW.