A Brief History of Women’s Participation In Olympic Swimming

By Daniel Takata on SwimSwam

In August 2023, World Aquatics announced the Olympic qualifying procedures for the Paris 2024 Games. Among swimmers who will achieve the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT, “A” cut), the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT, “B” cut), the relay-only swimmers and universality places, it is expected that World Aquatics will fulfill the total quota of 852 athletes in pool swimming.

This means that we will see the lowest number of swimmers in the Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta, when 762 athletes competed at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The overall athlete quota for Paris has been reduced from 11,000 to 10,500, which also means we will have the lowest number of athletes since 1996 (10,339).

It is also interesting to analyze the participation of female swimmers over the years. One of the recommendations of the 2020 Olympic Agenda proposed the IOC “work with the International Federations to achieve 50 percent female participation in the Olympic Games and to stimulate women’s participation and involvement in sport by creating more participation opportunities at the Olympic Games.”

Women’s participation in Olympic swimming since 1912

Year
Women
Men
Total
% Women

1912
27
93
120
22.5%

1920
24
92
116
20.7%

1924
51
118
169
30.2%

1928
72
110
182
39.6%

1932
44
84
128
34.4%

1936
94
154
248
37.9%

1948
88
161
249
35.3%

1952
118
201
319
37.0%

1956
99
136
235
42.1%

1960
144
236
380
37.9%

1964
162
243
405
40.0%

1968
204
264
468
43.6%

1972
245
287
532
46.1%

1976
208
263
471
44.2%

1980
143
190
333
42.9%

1984
186
308
494
37.7%

1988
252
381
633
39.8%

1992
256
385
641
39.9%

1996
345
417
762
45.3%

2000
396
558
954
41.5%

2004
393
544
937
41.9%

2008
433
547
980
44.2%

2012
429
458
887
48.4%

2016
414
483
897
46.2%

2021
398
477
875
45.5%

Women’s participation at the Olympic Games has been steadily increasing, and it is no different in swimming. The first time swimming events were included in the Olympics was in 1912, in Stockholm.

While women had competed at the Olympics from 1900 to 1908, this was the first time that women were admitted to the Olympic Program in one of the “major” sports on the program. In Stockholm, there were two women’s events: 100 freestyle and 4×100 freestyle. Twenty-seven women competed, 22.5% of the overall swimmers.

In 1972, the percentage of women in swimming reached 46.1%, the highest until 2012. At that time, there were 15 men’s events and 14 women’s events — the 4×200 freestyle was not contested by women. It was not until 1996 that women and men could swim the same number of events.

But it was only in 2021, in Tokyo, that male and female swimmers could swim the same events, with the addition of the men’s 800 freestyle and the women’s 1500 freestyle. It was expected that the percentage of men and women in Tokyo was equal, but it didn’t happen. There were 398 women (45.5%) and 477 men (54.5%).

This happened because, in some events, there were very few women competing. For example, 200 butterfly (16) and 400 IM (17). The lowest number among men was in the 1500 freestyle (28). This fact raised questions if the OQT in some women’s events were way too fast.

Let’s hope that, in Paris, the percentage of men and women in swimming will be equal, thus achieving the much-desired 50% equity stake.

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