Olympic Men’s Swimming Records

When the athletes gathered for the Summer Olympics aren’t running or jumping, they’re likely to be taking a dip in the pool.

Swimming is one of the most popular events every four years. American Michael Phelps was the most watched man in 2004, setting four Olympic records in Athens, and he was just getting warmed up for his record-breaking eight gold medals in the 2008 Games in Beijing.

Clearly, swimming records are made to be broken, and the 2008 Olympics pretty much rewrote the book.

Here are the current Olympic record holders in major races, post Beijing:

50 meter freestyle: Cesar Cielo, Brazil (21.30 in 2008)

100 meter freestyle: Eamon Sullivan, Australia (47.05 in 2008)

200 meter freestyle: Michael Phelps, USA (1:42.96 in 2008)

400 meter freestyle: Ian Thorpe, Australia (3:40.59 in 2000)

1,500 meter freestyle: Grant Hackett, Australia (14.38.92 in 2008)

100 meter backstroke: Aaron Peirsol, USA (52.54 in 2008)

200 meter backstroke: Ryan Lochte, USA (1:53.94in 2008)

100 meter breaststroke: Kosuke Kitajima, Japan (58.91 in 2008)

200 meter breaststroke: Kosuke Kitajima, Japan (2:07.64 in 2008)

100 meter butterfly: Michael Phelps, USA (50.58 in 2008)

200 meter butterfly: Michael Phelps, USA (1:52.03 in 2008)

200 meter Individual Medley: Michael Phelps, USA (1:54.23 in 2008)

400 meter Individual Medley: Michael Phelps, USA (4:03.86 in 2008)

4×100 meter Freestyle Relay: USA, Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak (3:08.24 in 2008)

4×200 meter Freestyle Relay: USA, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens, Peter Vanderkaay (6:58.56 in 2008)

4×100 meter Medley Relay: USA, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak (3:29.34 in 2008)

Source: Beijing 2008.