For the swimming competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the following qualification systems were in place. As the Olympics was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, qualification ended on 27 June 2021.
Qualifying standards A National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both athletes have attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT). One athlete per event can potentially enter if they meet the Olympic Selection Time (OST) or if the quota of 878 athletes has not been targeted. NOCs may also permit swimmers regardless of time (one per gender) under a Universality place, since they have no swimmers reaching either of the standard entry times (OQT/OST).
In the relay events, a maximum of 16 qualifying teams in each relay event must be permitted to accumulate a total of 112 relay teams; each NOC may enter only one team. The first twelve teams in each relay event at the 2019 World Championships will automatically compete for the relay events at the Olympics; while the remaining four per relay event must obtain their fastest entry times based on the FINA World Rankings during the process.
Because of the exceptional circumstances related to COVID-19 crisis, the consequent Olympic delay, and the unprecedented two-year gap between the Worlds and the new date of the Games, FINA revised the universality rule that allowed a nation to enter the highest-ranked male and female swimmer, respectively, based upon the Points Table (2021 edition). Swimmers from NOCs, having achieved the OST allocated to the universality place, may be entered to a maximum of two individual events, whereas those without the OQT and OST were limited to enter in one individual event only.
Following the end of the qualification period, FINA will assess the number of athletes having achieved the OQT, the number of relay-only swimmers, and the number of Universality places, before inviting athletes with OST to fulfill the total quota of 878. Additionally, OST places will be distributed by event according to the position of the FINA World Rankings during the qualifying deadline.
The qualifying time standards must be obtained in World Championships, Continental Championships, Continental Qualification Events, National Championships and Trials, or International Competitions approved by FINA in the period between 1 March 2019 to 27 June 2021.
The initial FINA qualifying standards, still to be ratified, are as follows:
Men's eventsWomen's eventsEvent OQT OSTEvent OQT OST50 m freestyle 22.01 22.67 50 m freestyle 24.77 25.51100 m freestyle 48.57 50.03 100 m freestyle 54.38 56.01200 m freestyle 1:47.02 1:50.23 200 m freestyle 1:57.28 2:00.80400 m freestyle 3:46.78 3:53.58 400 m freestyle 4:07.90 4:15.34800 m freestyle 7:54.31 8:08.54 800 m freestyle 8:33.36 8:48.761500 m freestyle 15:00.99 15:28.02 1500 m freestyle 16:32.04 17:01.80 100 m backstroke 53.85 55.47 100 m backstroke 1:00.25 1:02.06200 m backstroke 1:57.50 2:01.03 200 m backstroke 2:10.39 2:14.30100 m breaststroke 59.93 1:01.73 100 m breaststroke 1:07.07 1:09.08200 m breaststroke 2:10.35 2:14.26 200 m breaststroke 2:25.52 2:29.89100 m butterfly 51.96 53.52 100 m butterfly 57.92 59.66200 m butterfly 1:56.48 1:59.97 200 m butterfly 2:08.43 2:12.28200 m individual medley 1:59.67 2:03.26 200 m individual medley 2:12.56 2:16.54400 m individual medley 4:15.84 4:21.46 400 m individual medley 4:38.53 4:46.89
Individual events Those who have achieved the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) or the Olympic Selection Time (OST), or have been guaranteed a Universality place are listed below for each of the following individual events.
Men's individual events
Men's 50 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 22.012 Brent HaydenJoshua Liendo2 Florent ManaudouMaxime Grousset2 Alessandro MiressiLorenzo Zazzeri2 Thom de BoerJesse Puts2 Konrad CzerniakPaweł Juraszek2 Kliment KolesnikovVladimir Morozov2 Michael AndrewCaeleb Dressel1 Oussama Sahnoune1 Cameron McEvoy 1 Bruno Fratus1 Yu Hexin1 Nikola Miljenić1 Ali Khalafalla1 Ari-Pekka Liukkonen1 Ben Proud1 Kristian Golomeev1 Ian Ho1 Maxim Lobanovskij1 Meiron Cheruti1 Gabriel Castaño1 Brad Tandy1 Björn Seeliger1 Vladyslav Bukhov1 Alberto MestreOlympic Selection Time – 22.671 Santiago Grassi1 Heiko Gigler1 Emir Muratović1 Brett Fraser1 Luke Gebbie1 David Popovici1 Andrej Barna1 Hwang Sun-woo1 Renzo Tjon-A-Joe1 Enzo Martínez Universality Places1 Fahim Anwari1 Artur Barseghyan1 Mohammed Ariful Islam1 Marc Dansou1 Adama Ouedraogo1 Hem Puch1 Charly Ndjoume1 Troy Pina1 Nikolas Antoniou1 Hussein Gabor Ibrahim1 José da Silva Viegas1 Diosdado Miko Eyanga1 Ghirmai Efrem1 Simanga Dlamini1 Adam Mpali1 Ebrima Buaro0 Mamadou Bah1 Santisouk Inthavong1 Filipe Gomes1 Phillip Kinono1 Myagmaryn Delgerkhüü1 Shawn Dingilius-Wallace1 Eloi Maniraguha1 Shane Cadogan1 Joshua Wyse1 Edgar Iro1 Olimjon Ishanov1 Mawupemon Otogbe1 Shaquille Moosa Invitational Places1 Alaa Maso Total67
Men's 100 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 48.572 Kyle ChalmersCameron McEvoy2 Pedro SpajariGabriel Santos2 Yuri KisilJoshua Liendo2 Maxime GroussetMehdy Metella2 Matthew RichardsJacob Whittle2 Nándor NémethSzebasztián Szabó2 Thomas CecconAlessandro Miressi2 Kliment KolesnikovAndrey Minakov2 Zach AppleCaeleb Dressel1 Oussama Sahnoune1 He Junyi1 Damian Wierling1 Apostolos Christou1 Katsumi Nakamura1 Stan Pijnenburg1 David Popovici1 Andrej Barna1 Hwang Sun-woo1 Roman Mityukov1 Dylan Carter1 Sergii ShevtsovOlympic Selection Time – 50.031 Artur Barseghyan1 Mikel Schreuders1 Emir Muratović1 Josif Miladinov1 Nikola Miljenić1 Nikolas Antoniou1 Ari-Pekka Liukkonen1 Ian Ho1 Meiron Cheruti1 Ben Hockin1 Luke Gebbie1 Joseph Schooling1 Renzo Tjon-A-Joe1 Alberto Mestre Universality Places1 Kledi Kadiu1 Stefano Mitchell1 Sangay Tenzin1 Belly-Cresus Ganira1 Delron Felix1 Jagger Stephens1 Andrew Fowler1 Danilo Rosafio1 Olt Kondirolli1 Mubal Ibrahim1 Andrew Chetcuti1 Mathieu Marquet1 Boško Radulović1 Samy Boutouil1 Alexander Shah1 Miguel Mena1 Alassane Seydou1 Issa Al-Adawi1 Muhammad Haseeb Tariq1 Yazan Al-Bawwab1 Jean-Luc Zephir1 Edgar Iro1 Matthew Abeysinghe1 Atuhaire Ambala1 Yousuf Al-Matrooshi1 Khurshidjon Tursunov1 Mokhtar Al-Yamani1 Peter Wetzlar Total72
Men's 200 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 1:47.022 Thomas NeillElijah Winnington2 Murilo SartoriFernando Scheffer2 Ji XinjieWang Shun2Jonathan AtsuJordan Pothain2 Jacob HeidtmannLukas Märtens2 Tom DeanDuncan Scott2 Dominik KozmaNándor Németh2 Stefano BalloStefano Di Cola2 Ivan GirevMartin Malyutin2 Townley HaasKieran Smith1 Felix Auböck1Kregor Zirk1 Denis Loktev1 Katsuhiro Matsumoto1 Danas Rapšys1 Velimir Stjepanović1 Hwang Sun-woo1 Robin Hanson1 Antonio DjakovicOlympic Selection Time – 1:50.231 Mikel Schreuders1 Alex Sobers1 Wesley Roberts1 Dimitrios Markos1 Sajan Prakash1 Welson Sim1 Alexei Sancov1 Joaquín Vargas1 David Popovici1 Baturalp Ünlü1 Mokhtar Al-YamaniUniversality Places1 James Freeman1 Audai Hassouna Total44
Men's 400 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 3:46.782 Jack McLoughlinElijah Winnington2 Lukas MärtensHenning Mühlleitner2 Marco De TullioGabriele Detti2 Martin MalyutinAleksandr Yegorov2 Jake MitchellKieran Smith1 Felix Auböck1 Guilherme Costa1 Ji Xinjie1 Kieran Bird1 Gábor Zombori1 Danas Rapšys1 Antonio Djakovic1 Ahmed HafnaouiOlympic Selection Time – 3:53.581 Alex Sobers1 James Freeman1 Wesley Roberts1 Kregor Zirk1 David Aubry1 Konstantinos Englezakis1 Aflah Fadlan Prawira1 Denis Loktev1 Welson Sim1 Zac Reid1 Henrik Christiansen1 Joaquín Vargas1 Martin Bau1 Lee Ho-joon1 Alfonso Mestre Universality Places1 Eduardo Cisternas1 Irakli Revishvili1 Igor Mogne1 Filip Derkoski Total36
Men's 800 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 7:54.312 Anton Ørskov IpsenAlexander Nørgaard2 Dimitrios MarkosKonstantinos Englezakis2 Gabriele DettiGregorio Paltrinieri2 Ilya DruzhininAleksandr Yegorov2 Serhiy FrolovMykhailo Romanchuk2 Michael BrinegarBobby Finke1 Jack McLoughlin1 Felix Auböck1 Guilherme Costa 1 Cheng Long1 Jan Micka1 Marwan El-Kamash1 David Aubry1 Florian Wellbrock1 Kieran Bird1 Daniel Wiffen1 Zac Reid1 Henrik Christiansen1 José Paulo Lopes1 Vuk Čelić1 Ahmed Hafnaoui1 Yiğit Aslan1 Alfonso Mestre1 Nguyễn Huy Hoàng Olympic Selection Time – 8:08.541 Marcelo Acosta1 Ákos Kalmár1 Martin Bau1 Victor Johansson Total34
Men's 1500 m freestyle Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 15:00.992 Jack McLoughlinThomas Neill2 Anton Ørskov IpsenAlexander Nørgaard2 Lukas MärtensFlorian Wellbrock2 Gergely GyurtaÁkos Kalmár2 Domenico AcerenzaGregorio Paltrinieri2 Kirill MartynychevAleksandr Yegorov2 Serhiy FrolovMykhailo Romanchuk2 Michael BrinegarBobby Finke1 Guilherme Costa1 Jan Micka1 Daniel Jervis1 Henrik Christiansen1 Nguyễn Huy HoàngOlympic Selection Time – 15:28.021 Felix Auböck1 Cheng Long1 Marcelo Acosta1 Aflah Fadlan Prawira1 Daniel Wiffen1 Victor Johansson Universality Places1 Theo Druenne Total29
Men's 100 m backstroke Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 53.852 Isaac CooperMitch Larkin2 Guilherme BassetoGuilherme Guido2 Cole PrattMarkus Thormeyer2 Yohann Ndoye-BrouardMewen Tomac2 Ole BraunschweigMarek Ulrich2 Luke GreenbankJoe Litchfield2 Richárd BohusÁdám Telegdy2 Michael LaitarovskyYakov Toumarkin2 Thomas CecconSimone Sabbioni2 Robert GlințăDaniel Martin2 Kliment KolesnikovEvgeny Rylov2 Hunter ArmstrongRyan Murphy1 Bernhard Reitshammer1 Mikita Tsmyh1 Xu Jiayu1 Apostolos Christou1 Srihari Nataraj1 Shane Ryan1 Ryosuke Irie1 Quah Zheng Wen1 Pieter Coetze1 Lee Ju-ho1 Hugo González Olympic Selection Time – 55.471 Kaloyan Levterov1 Jan Čejka1 Kacper Stokowski1 Francisco Santos1 Dylan Carter1 Merdan Ataýew Universality Places1 Gabriel Castillo1 Heriniavo Rasolonjatovo Total41
Men's 200 m backstroke Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 1:57.502 Yohann Ndoye-BrouardMewen Tomac2 Luke GreenbankBrodie Williams2 Ryosuke IrieKeita Sunama2 Radosław KawęckiJakub Skierka2 Evgeny RylovGrigory Tarasevich2 Bryce MeffordRyan Murphy1 Tristan Hollard1 Kaloyan Levterov1 Markus Thormeyer1 Xu Jiayu1 Jan Čejka1 Christian Diener1 Ádám Telegdy1 Matteo Restivo1 Francisco Santos1 Lee Ju-ho1 Nicolás García1 Roman Mityukov1 Berke Saka Olympic Selection Time – 2:01.031 Yakov Toumarkin1 Robert Glință1 Martin Binedell Universality Places1 Merdan Ataýew Total29
Men's 100 m breaststroke Qualification standardNo. of athletesNOC Qualified swimmersOlympic Qualifying Time – 59.93 2 Zac Stubblety-CookMatthew Wilson2 Felipe LimaCaio Pumputis2 Adam PeatyJames Wilby2 Lucas MatzerathFabian Schwingenschlögl2 Nicolò MartinenghiFederico Poggio2 Ryuya MuraShoma Sato2 Andrius ŠidlauskasGiedrius Titenis2 Caspar CorbeauArno Kamminga2 Anton ChupkovKirill Prigoda2 Berkay Ömer ÖğretirHüseyin Emre Sakçı2 Michael AndrewAndrew Wilson1 Bernhard Reitshammer1 Ilya Shymanovich1 Yan Zibei1 Tobias Bjerg1 Théo Bussière1 Darragh Greene1 Dmitriy Balandin1 Denis Petrashov1 Čaba Silađi1 Michael Houlie1 Cho Sung-jaeOlympic Selection Time – 1:01.731 Izaak Bastian1 Lyubomir Epitropov1 Gabe Mastromatteo1 Jorge Murillo1 Josué Domínguez1 Matti Mattsson1 Julio Horrego1 André Grindheim1 Erik Persson1 Jérémy Desplanches Universality Places1 Micah Masei1 Muhammad Isa Ahmad1 Amro Al-Wir1 Sebastien Kouma1 Abobakr Abass1 Amini Fonua1 Adriel Sanes Total50
Men's 200 m breaststroke