Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualification

For the swimming competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics the following qualification systems were in place. The list has been updated to 20 August, 2011. Qualification ends on 3 July, 2012.

1 Qualifying Standards
2 Individual Events
- 2.1 Men's Individual Events
- 2.2 Women's Individual Events
3 Relay Events
4 Open Water Events
- 4.1 Men's 10km Marathon
- 4.2 Women's 10km Marathon
5 Referenced

Qualifying Standards

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter up to 2 qualified athletes in each individual event if both meet the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT). 1 athlete per event can potentially qualify should they meet the Olympic Selection Time (OST) and if the quota of 900 athletes has not been met. NOCs may enter swimmers regardless of time (1 swimmer per sex) if they have no swimmers meeting either standard entry time.

The qualifying time standards must be obtained in Continental Championships, National Olympic Trials or International Competitions approved by FINA in the period March 1, 2011 to July 3, 2012.

FINA Qualifying Standards are as follows: ^[1]

Men's Events			Women's Events
Event	Men's OQT	Men's OST	Event	Women's OQT	Women's OST
Men's 50 metre freestyle	22.11	22.88	Women's 50 metre freestyle	25.27	26.15
Men's 100 metre freestyle	48.82	50.53	Women's 100 metre freestyle	54.57	56.48
Men's 200 metre freestyle	1:47.82	1:51.59	Women's 200 metre freestyle	1:58.33	2:02.47
Men's 400 metre freestyle	3:48.92	3:54.13	Women's 400 metre freestyle	4:09.35	4:18.07
-	-	-	Women's 800 metre freestyle	8:33.84	8:51.82
Men's 1500 metre freestyle	15:11.83	15:43.74	-	-	-
Men's 100 metre backstroke	54.40	56.30	Women's 100 metre backstroke	1:00.82	1:02.95
Men's 200 metre backstroke	1:58.48	2:02.63	Women's 200 metre backstroke	2:10.84	2:15.42
Men's 100 metre breaststroke	1:00.79	1:02.92	Women's 100 metre breaststroke	1:08.49	1:10.89
Men's 200 metre breaststroke	2:11.74	2:16.35	Women's 200 metre breaststroke	2:26.89	2:32.03
Men's 100 metre butterfly	52.36	54.19	Women's 100 metre butterfly	58.70	1:00.75
Men's 200 metre butterfly	1:56.86	2:00.95	Women's 200 metre butterfly	2:08.95	2:13.46
Men's 200 metre individual medley	2:00.17	2:04.38	Women's 200 metre individual medley	2:13.36	2:18.03
Men's 400 metre individual medley	4:16.46	4:25.44	Women's 400 metre individual medley	4:41.75	4:51.75

Individual Events

Only those with the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) are listed below as on the FINA website as those with the Olympic Selection Time are not guaranteed a place in the Olympic Games.^[2] ^[3]

Men's Individual Events

Men's 50m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 22.11	2	Australia
	2	Brazil
	2	France
	2	United States
	1	Great Britain
	1	Hungary
	1	Italy
	1	Japan
	1	Poland
	1	Russia
	1	South Africa
	1	Sweden
	1	Trinidad and Tobago
	1	Ukraine
Total	18

Men's 100m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 48.82	2	Australia
	2	Brazil
	2	France
	2	Germany
	2	Italy
	2	Russia
	2	South Africa
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Cayman Islands
	1	Cuba
	1	Japan
	1	Netherlands
	1	Poland
Total	22

Men's 200m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:47.82	2	Australia
	2	Cayman Islands
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Great Britain
	2	Germany
	2	Japan
	2	Russia
	2	United States
	1	South Korea
	1	Netherlands
	1	Switzerland
Total	21

Men's 400m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 3:48.93	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Germany
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Denmark
	1	Hungary
	1	Italy
	1	South Korea
	1	Tunisia
Total	20

Men's 1500m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 15:11.83	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Italy
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Denmark
	1	France
	1	Germany
	1	Netherlands
	1	Poland
	1	South Africa
	1	Tunisia
	1	Ukraine
Total	21

Men's 100m Backstroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 54.40	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Japan
	2	Netherlands
	2	New Zealand
	2	Russia
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Germany
	1	Great Britain
	1	Greece
	1	Italy
	1	Spain
Total	22

Men's 200m Backstroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:58.48	2	Brazil
	2	China
	2	Germany
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Colombia
	1	France
	1	Hungary
	1	Israel
	1	Italy
	1	Netherlands
	1	Poland
	1	Russia
Total	21

Men's 100m Breaststroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:00.79	2	Australia
	2	Brazil
	2	Germany
	2	Japan
	2	South Africa
	2	United States
	1	France
	1	Great Britain
	1	Hungary
	1	Ireland
	1	Italy
	1	Lithuania
	1	Netherlands
	1	New Zealand
	1	Norway
	1	Russia
Total	22

Men's 200m Breaststroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:11.74	2	Brazil
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	Russia
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Germany
	1	Hungary
	1	South Korea
	1	Lithuania
	1	Netherlands
	1	New Zealand
	1	South Africa
	1	Spain
Total	19

Men's 100m Butterfly

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 52.36	2	Australia
	2	Germany
	2	Japan
	2	Serbia
	2	United States
	1	Brazil
	1	Great Britain
	1	Hungary
	1	South Africa
	1	Kenya
	1	Netherlands
	1	Poland
	1	Russia
	1	Sweden
Total	20

Men's 200m Butterfly

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:56.85	2	Australia
	2	Brazil
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Japan
	2	Poland
	2	United States
	1	Austria
	1	Greece
	1	Russia
	1	South Africa
	1	Singapore
Total	21

Men's 200m Individual Medley

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:00.17	2	Australia
	2	Brazil
	2	Germany
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Austria
	1	Barbados
	1	China
	1	Israel
	1	Lithuania
	1	Poland
	1	Portugal
	1	Russia
	1	South Africa
	1	Tunisia
Total	24

Men's 400m Individual Medley

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 4:16.46	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Brazil
	1	Germany
	1	Greece
	1	Italy
	1	South Africa
	1	Tunisia
	1	Ukraine
Total	17

Women's Individual Events

Women's 50m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 25.27	2	Australia
	2	Belarus
	2	Canada
	2	Germany
	2	Netherlands
	2	Sweden
	2	United States
	1	Bahamas
	1	Brazil
	1	China
	1	Denmark
	1	Great Britain
	1	Greece
	1	Japan
	1	Russia
	1	South Africa
	1	Ukraine
Total	24

Women's 100m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 54.57	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	Netherlands
	2	United States
	1	Bahamas
	1	Belarus
	1	Denmark
	1	France
	1	Germany
	1	Great Britain
	1	Japan
	1	Russia
	1	Sweden
Total	17

Women's 200m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:58.33	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Hungary
	2	Sweden
	2	United States
	1	Canada
	1	Germany
	1	Great Britain
	1	Italy
	1	Japan
	1	Netherlands
	1	New Zealand
	1	Russia
	1	Slovenia
	1	Spain
Total	22

Women's 400m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 4:09.35	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Spain
	2	United States
	1	Denmark
	1	Italy
	1	New Zealand
	1	Venezuela
Total	20

Women's 800m Freestyle

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 8:33.84	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Spain
	2	United States
	1	Chile
	1	Denmark
	1	Ireland
	1	Italy
	1	New Zealand
	1	Romania
	1	Slovenia
	1	South Africa
	1	Venezuela
Total	23

Women's 100m Backstroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:00.82	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	Netherlands
	2	United States
	1	Brazil
	1	France
	1	Germany
	1	Russia
	1	Spain
	1	Ukraine
	1	Zimbabwe
Total	21

Women's 200m Backstroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:10.84	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	France
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	Netherlands
	2	United States
	1	Germany
	1	New Zealand
	1	Poland
	1	Russia
	1	Spain
	1	Ukraine
	1	Zimbabwe
Total	23

Women's 100m Breaststroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 1:08.49	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	Japan
	2	Sweden
	2	United States
	1	Czech Republic
	1	Denmark
	1	France
	1	Germany
	1	Italy
	1	Netherlands
	1	Russia
	1	Spain
Total	20

Women's 200m Breaststroke

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:26.89	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Italy
	2	Japan
	2	Russia
	2	United States
	1	Belgium
	1	Denmark
	1	South Korea
	1	Morocco
	1	Serbia
	1	South Africa
	1	Spain
	1	Sweden
Total	24

Women's 100m Butterfly

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 58.70	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Japan
	2	Sweden
	2	United States
	1	Brazil
	1	Canada
	1	Denmark
	1	Greece
	1	Netherlands
	1	Russia
	1	South Africa
Total	19

Women's 200m Butterfly

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:08.95	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Spain
	2	United States
	1	France
	1	Hungary
	1	Japan
	1	South Korea
	1	Sweden
Total	17

Women's 200m Individual Medley

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 2:13.36	2	Australia
	2	Canada
	2	China
	2	Great Britain
	2	Hungary
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	France
	1	South Korea
	1	Netherlands
	1	Russia
	1	Spain
	1	Zimbabwe
Total	20

Women's 400m Individual Medley

Qualification Standard	No. of Athletes	Qualified Athletes
Olympic Qualifying Time – 4:41.75	2	Australia
	2	China
	2	Japan
	2	United States
	1	Austria
	1	Canada
	1	Czech Republic
	1	France
	1	Great Britain
	1	Hungary
	1	Italy
	1	New Zealand
	1	Slovenia
	1	South Africa
	1	Spain
	1	Zimbabwe
Total	20

Relay Events

Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	Australia France United States Italy Russia South Africa Germany Great Britain Brazil Japan Sweden Canada
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	United States Japan France Australia Italy China Great Britain Germany Austria Canada Russia South Africa
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Men's 4x100m Medley Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	United States Germany Netherlands Japan Australia Canada Poland Great Britain France South Africa Italy Russia
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	Netherlands United States Germany China Australia Canada Japan Denmark Great Britain Sweden Russia Belarus
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	United States Australia China France Hungary Great Britain Canada New Zealand Japan Russia Germany Sweden
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Women's 4x100m Medley Relay

Qualification Event	No. of Teams	Qualified Teams
2011 World Championships	12	United States Russia China Australia Great Britain Japan Canada Germany Denmark Sweden Netherlands Spain
Best Times of Non-Qualifiers	4	-
TOTAL	16

Open Water Events

Men's 10km Marathon

Qualification Event	Qualified Athletes
Host*	Great Britain
2011 World Championships^[4]^[5]	Spyridon Gianniotis (GRE) Thomas Lurz (GER) Sergey Bolshakov (RUS) Alex Meyer (USA) Ky Hurst (AUS) Francisco Jose Hervas Jodar (ESP) Brian Ryckeman (BEL) Julien Sauvage (FRA) Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS) Andreas Waschburger (GER)
2012 Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier (9-10 June 2012)	Top 9 Athletes
Continent Qualifiers	1 per Continent

Women's 10km Marathon

Qualification Event	Qualified Athletes
2011 World Championships^[4]^[6]	Keri-Anne Payne (GBR) Martina Grimaldi (ITA) Marianna Lymperta (GRE) Melissa Gorman (AUS) Cecilia Biagioli (ARG) Poliana Okimoto (BRA) Jana Pechanová (CZE) Angela Maurer (GER) Swann Oberson (SUI) Erika Villaécija García (ESP)
2012 Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier (9-10 June 2012)	Top 10 Athletes
Continent Qualifiers	1 per Continent

* If not qualified by any means. If Great Britain has already qualified quota will be added to the 2012 Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier

Referenced

^ "Qualifying Standards". FINA. http://www.fina.org/H2O/docs/events/london2012/sw/sw_qual.pdf. Retrieved 06 June 2011.
^ "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=805. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
^ "Best Performers listing". Swim News. http://www.swimnews.com/rank/index. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Open water swimming qualification". FINA. http://www.fina.org/H2O/docs/events/london2012/ow/ow_qual.pdf. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^ "10km Men". FINA. http://www.omegatiming.com/openwater/racearchives/2011/shanghai2011/10_km_Mens_Results.pdf. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
^ "10km Women". FINA. http://www.omegatiming.com/openwater/racearchives/2011/shanghai2011/10_km_Womens_Results.pdf. Retrieved 19 July 2011.