Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics The swimming competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place from 9 to 17 August 2008 at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The newly introduced open water marathon events (10 km) were held on 20 and 21 August 2008 at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Swimming featured 34 events (17 male, 17 female), including two 10 km open-water marathons. The remaining 32 were contested in a 50 m long course pool within the Olympic Park. United States claimed a total of 31 medals (12 golds, 9 silver, and 10 bronze) in the leaderboard to maintain
Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics ceremonies; Karen Cockburn bore the flag at the closing. The COC had set a goal of finishing in the top 16 in total medals; at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Canada finished 19th. Despite failing to win a single medal in the first week of the Games, Canada would rebound, winning a combined 18 medals in the next 9 days. This 9-day medal haul exceeded the 12 medals Canada won in Athens four years earlier. The country would wind up finishing 19th in gold medals and 14th in total medals in Beijing. Equestrian show jumper Ian Millar competed at his ninth