The 1964 Tokyo Olympic swimming competition introduced electronic touchpads for timing and set world records in ten of eighteen events.
Key Facts
- Total events contested
- 18 (10 men, 8 women)
- Participating countries
- 42
- Total athletes
- 405
- World records broken
- 10
- Olympic records broken
- All 18 events
- Sharon Stouder medals
- 4 medals (3 gold), age 15
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1964 Summer Olympics, held in Tokyo, brought together 405 swimmers from 42 nations, with organizers expanding the program to include new events such as the 4×100 metres freestyle relay for men and the 400 metres individual medley for both men and women.
Eighteen swimming events were contested across ten days of competition. Electronic touchpads were used for the first time to record finishing times. Olympic records were broken in every event, and world records fell in ten of the eighteen contests, with 15-year-old Sharon Stouder earning four medals, three of them gold.
The introduction of electronic touchpads established a new standard for precision timing in competitive swimming that would be adopted globally. The record-breaking performances underscored a rapid rise in the sport's technical and athletic development during the early 1960s.
Result
at Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool, Tokyo