Paris Olympic Finals: A Swimfo Showcase

After 19 Olympic records, Greece’s first pool medalist since 1896, and the first time we’ve seen any swimmer go as fast as Jason Lezak in a relay, another Olympic Games has come and gone. The Paris Games did not disappoint, so let’s take a look at some of the data behind the world’s fastest swimmers.

GEOGRAPHY

Looking at 28 individual events with eight swimmers in each final heat, 224 lanes were up for grabs across all finals sessions. The map below features the federations that sent at least one swimmer to finals, with each of the six inhabited continents sending at least 3 individual swimmers. South America produced 3 (all from Brazil), Africa qualified 4, Oceania had 24, Asia sent 25, North America boasted 35, and Europe rounded out the 164-swimmer total with 71 swimmers. (NOTE: Alina Zmushka and Anastasia Shkurdai competed as neutrals)

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United States

The 10 countries that occupied the most lanes in finals (out of 224):

1. United States: 37 (16.52%)
2. Australia: 30 (13.39%)
3. China: 17 (7.59%)
4. France: 16 (7.14%)
5. Canada: 15 (6.70%)
6. Germany/Great Britain: 14 (TIE, 6.25%)
8. Italy: 12 (5.36%)
9. Japan: 10 (4.46%)
10. Netherlands: 6 (2.68%)

The 10 countries sending the most swimmers to finals (out of 164):

1. United States: 25 (15.43%)
2. Australia: 22 (13.58%)
3. China: 14 (8.64%)
4. Great Britain: 12 (7.41%)
5. Germany/France: 10 (TIE, 6.17%)
7. Japan/Canada: 9 (TIE, 5.56%)
9. Italy: 8 (4.94%)
10. Netherlands: 5 (3.09%)

AGE

Something seen year after year, swimmers both young and experienced find success in the pool. Teenagers like Katie Grimes, Ilya Kharun, and Summer McIntosh all brought home medals for their countries, and veterans of the sport like Florent Manaudou and Sarah Sjostrom continued to show their long-standing legacies of dominance. 21 teenagers (under the age of 20) made at least one final this year.

Youngest Finalists:

• Kuzey Tuncelli, Turkey (16 years, 11 months, 12 days)
• Mizuki Hirai, Japan (17 years, 5 months, 4 days)
• Claire Weinstein, United States (17 years, 5 months, 10 days)
• Eneli Jefimova, Estonia (17 years, 7 months, 15 days)
• Mio Narita, Japan (17 years, 7 months, 24 days)

Oldest Finalists:

• Florent Manaudou, France (33 years, 8 months, 30 days)
• Satomi Suzuki, Japan (33 years, 6 months, 13 days)
• Damien Joly: France (32 years, 2 months, 7 days)
• Katarzyna Wasick, Poland (32 years, 4 months, 20 days)
• Nic Fink, United States (31 years, 1 month, 8 days)

Oldest Individual Medalists:

• Florent Manaudou, France (33 years, 8 months, 30 days)
• Nic Fink, United States (31 years, 1 month, 8 days)
• Cam McEvoy, Australia (30 years, 2 months, 29 days)
• Wang Shun, China (30 years, 6 months)
• Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (30 years, 11 months, 25 days)

Youngest Individual Medalists:

• Summer McIntosh, Canada (17 years, 11 months, 24 days)
• Katie Grimes, United States (18 years, 7 months, 3 days)
• Tomoyuki Matsushita, Japan (19 years, 10 days)
• Ilya Kharun, Canada (19 years, 6 months, 4 days)
• Pan Zhanle, China (20 years, 7 days)

Seen below are the average ages of each final, broken down by gender. Just like in Fukuoka, the women’s 400 IM was by far the youngest event, supplemented by the youth of Grimes, McIntosh, and Mio Narita, all under the age of 19. The men’s 50 freestyle was the oldest event, with two swimmers over the age of 30 (McEvoy and Manaudou) not only making an appearance in the final, but on top of the podium.

BIRTHDAYS

Below is a calendar featuring each finalist’s birthday. The most common birthdays seen amongst finalists are January 28 (with Katharine Berkoff, Benedetta Pilato, Yu Hanaguruma, Wu Qingfeng) and June 25 (Kyle Chalmers, Katie Shanahan, Luke Hobson, Chris Guiliano). Both days feature multiple medalists, with the January date having Berkoff and Wu and the June date having Chalmers, Hobson, and Guiliano. Other multiple-medalist birthdays include January 19 (Jack Alexy, Jamie Perkins), July 3 (Nic Fink, Maximillian Giuliani), August 1 (Nicolo Martinenghi, Tomoyuki Matsushita), and November 6 (Bobby Finke, Shayna Jack). There is a special span of six days in August (16-21) with six medalists having back-to-back birthdays– Caeleb Dressel on the 16th, Sarah Sjostrom on the 17th, Summer McIntosh on the 18th, Xu Jiayu on the 19th, Josh Liendo on the 20th, and Mona McSharry on the 21st.