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London 2012

PAÍSES

from July 27 to August 12

Swimming

Fotos

Missy Franklin reacts after winning the 100-meter backstroke semifinal. Foto: AP

foto: Missy Franklin inches closer to first individual medal

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About the sport

Next to synchronized swimming, aquatic polo and ornamental jumps are the aquatic events of the Olympic Games. The sport began in the XIX century in the United Kingdom when the National Swimming Society was created as the first regulatory organism. Years later, it came to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the United States when they began having competitions in 1870. It was one of the founding specialties in the Greece Olympic Games in 1896.

Olympic swimming is practiced in pools 50m wide and 2.35 meters deep with a limit of 8 centimeters between the exterior and the level of the pool. Also, there are eight lanes, with space for each of the competitors. London will hand out 34 gold medals in the four different specialties—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle (the medley is a combination of all four), in distances varying from 50 m to 1,500 m.

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Infographic

Star athletes

Athletes to Watch

They will be protagonists at the Olympic Games

Hall of Fame

Stars that made history in the Olympic Games

Cesar CieloCountry:Brazil

World champion in 50 m and 100 m, the world's fastest man in the two distances goes to London to maintain its hegemony in the waters.

Michael PhelpsCountry: USA

In Beijing 2008 the athlete won all the matches he competed. He has warned that London will be his last Olympic presentation, and promised to close it the best way.