Swimming

Swimmers race in four strokes — freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly — over distances from 50 to 1,500 metres; the individual medley combines all four. Open-water swimming adds a 10-kilometre marathon.

History and aquatic disciplines

Swimming has been held at every modern Olympics since 1896, with women competing since 1912. World Aquatics (formerly FINA) was founded in 1908 and also governs water polo (Olympic since 1900), diving (1904), artistic swimming (1984) and open-water swimming (2008).

Major competitions

The Olympic Games, the World Aquatics Championships (since 1973), the short-course World Championships and the European Championships. Budapest hosted the World Championships in 2017 and 2022.

Swimming in the Turkic world

Hungary is one of swimming's great powers. Alfréd Hajós became the first swimming champion of the modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Krisztina Egerszegi won five Olympic golds, and the "Iron Lady" Katinka Hosszú won three at Rio 2016. Dániel Gyurta (2012), Kristóf Milák (2020), Hubert Kós and, in open water, Kristóf Rasovszky (2024) have also become Olympic champions. With nine Olympic titles, Hungary's water polo team is the most successful in the sport.

Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Balandin won Olympic gold in the 200 m breaststroke at Rio 2016. Swimmers from Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan have been winning medals at European and Asian events in recent years, with new Olympic pools developing young talent.

Famous Turkic swimmers

Alfréd Hajós, Krisztina Egerszegi, Katinka Hosszú, Dániel Gyurta, Kristóf Milák, Hubert Kós and Dmitriy Balandin.