A year later than expected, but fans are ready none the less: Olympic swimming is back.
It was a thrilling 2016 Rio Games, from Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak tying in the 100 meter freestyle and Katie Ledecky setting two new world records, to the outstanding Olympic debut of Ryan Murphy and the final Olympics for Michael Phelps.
This year is expected to deliver some more exciting action. Canada's Kylie Masse and Oleksiak are strong contenders for Olympic gold, while the U.S. looks to have a stout roster once again with Ledecky, Murphy and Caeleb Dressel all expected to have big performances in the pool of the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Sporting News has you covered for how to watch all the events over the week of swimming action, from the morning's heats to the evening's finals. All dates and times are according to Eastern Standard Time.
MORE: Watch the Olympics live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
How to watch Olympic swimming
- TV channels: NBC (U.S.) | USA Network (U.S.) | CBC (Canada)
- Live streams: NBCSports.com | NBCOlympics.com | Peacock | fuboTV (7-day free trial)
NBC and CBC have the exclusive rights to all Olympic content in the U.S. and Canada, respectively, and as such, each will carry all the swimming events during the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Fans hoping to stream the events can find them on NBC platforms NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com or Peacock, as well as on fuboTV, which offers a 7-day free trial.
MORE: Full results for every Olympic swimming event
Olympics swimming schedule 2021
With the exception of July 31, each day will begin with heats starting at 6 a.m. ET and will end with finals races starting up at 9:30 p.m. ET each day. The USA Network will carry the heats in the United States and NBC will have the finals, while CBC will provide coverage of both events in Canada.
Those in the United States hoping to see replays of the qualifying heats can tune into NBC every afternoon to see how swimmers performed earlier in the morning.
Saturday, July 24
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Sunday, July 25
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Monday, July 26
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Tuesday, July 27
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Wednesday, July 28
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Thursday, July 29
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Friday, July 30
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heats | 6 a.m. | USA | CBC |
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
Saturday, July 31
| Event | Time (ET) | Channel (U.S.) | Channel (Canada) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finals | 9:30 p.m. | NBC | CBC |
MORE: Full day-by-day schedule of events for the 2021 Olympics
Olympic swimming events schedule
Swimming fans are going to have days filled with their favorite sport.
From July 24-30, every day will have heats early in the morning, and semifinals and finals in the evening. On July 31, there will only be five finals races held in the evening to wrap up swimming at the Olympics. Each day, the morning events will begin at 6 a.m. ET, while the evening events begin at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Saturday, July 24
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Men's 400 Individual Medley (Heats) | Men's 400 Individual Medley (Finals) |
| Women's 100 Butterfly (Heats) | Women's 100 Butterfly (Semifinals) |
| Men's 400 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 400 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Women's 400 Individual Medley (Heats) | Women's 400 Individual Medley (Finals) |
| Men's 100 Breaststroke (Heats) | Men's 100 Breaststroke (Semifinals) |
| Women's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (Heats) | Women's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (Finals) |
Sunday, July 25
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Women's 100 Backstroke (Heats) | Women's 100 Butterfly (Finals) |
| Men's 200 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 200 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| Women's 100 Breaststroke (Heats) | Women's 100 Breaststroke (Semifinals) |
| Men's 100 Backstroke (Heats) | Men's 100 Breaststroke (Finals) |
| Women's 400 Freestyle (Heats) | Women's 400 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (Heats) | Men's 100 Backstroke (Semifinals) |
| -- | Women's 100 Backstroke (Semifinals) |
| -- | Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (Finals) |
Monday, July 26
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Women's 200 Freestyle (Heats) | Women's 200 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| Men's 200 Butterfly (Heats) | Men's 200 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Women's 200 Individual Medley (Heats) | Women's 100 Backstroke (Finals) |
| Women's 1500 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 100 Backstroke (Finals) |
| -- | Women's 100 Breaststroke (Finals) |
| -- | Men's 200 Butterfly (Semifinals) |
| -- | Women's 200 Individual Medley (Semifinals) |
Tuesday, July 27
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Men's 100 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 100 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| Women's 200 Butterfly (Heats) | Women's 200 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Men's 200 Breaststroke (Heats) | Men's 200 Butterfly (Finals) |
| Men's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (Heats) | Women's 200 Butterfly (Semifinals) |
| Men's 800 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 200 Breaststroke (Semifinals) |
| -- | Women's 200 Individual Medley (Finals) |
| -- | Women's 1500 Freestyle (Finals) |
| -- | Men's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (Finals) |
Wednesday, July 28
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Women's 100 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 800 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Men's 200 Backstroke (Heats) | Men's 200 Breaststroke (Finals) |
| Women's 200 Breaststroke (Heats) | Women's 100 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| Men's 200 Individual Medley (Heats) | Men's 200 Backstroke (Semifinals) |
| Women's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (Heats) | Women's 200 Butterfly (Finals) |
| -- | Men's 100 Freestyle (Finals) |
| -- | Women's 200 Breaststroke (Semifinals) |
| -- | Men's 200 Individual Medley (Semifinals) |
| -- | Women's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (Finals) |
Thursday, July 29
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Women's 800 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 100 Butterfly (Semifinals) |
| Men's 100 Butterfly (Heats) | Women's 200 Breaststroke (Finals) |
| Women's 200 Backstroke (Heats) | Men's 200 Backstroke (Finals) |
| Mixed 4x100 Medley Relay (Heats) | Women's 100 Freestyle (Finals) |
| -- | Men's 200 Individual Medley (Finals) |
| -- | Women's 200 Backstroke (Semifinals) |
Friday, July 30
| Morning | Evening |
|---|---|
| Men's 50 Freestyle (Heats) | Men's 100 Butterfly (Finals) |
| Women's 50 Freestyle (Heats) | Women's 200 Backstroke (Finals) |
| Men's 1500 Freestyle (Heats) | Women's 800 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Women's 4x100 Medley Relay (Heats) | Men's 50 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| Men's 4x100 Medley Relay (Heats) | Women's 50 Freestyle (Semifinals) |
| -- | Mixed 4x100 Medley Relay (Finals) |
Saturday, July 31
| Evening |
|---|
| Men's 50 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Women's 50 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Men's 1500 Freestyle (Finals) |
| Women's 4x100 Medley Relay (Finals) |
| Men's 4x100 Medley Relay (Finals) |
Olympic swimming entry times - men
Olympic swimming entry times - women