Freestyle is one of the most common strokes in the sport of swimming. Both men and women have succeeded in this sport. The freestyle stroke has been in the Olympics for many years.

    The 50 meter freestyle was added to the Olympic Events in Seoul because of its popular appeal. Naturally enough, the first heats heats in the men's and women's events produced new Olympic records. Matt Biondi of the U.S.A. broke the record and went to the finals as the fastest qualifier with 22.39 seconds. He stormed ahead almost immediately in the final, and won the gold medal in 22.14 seconds. Tom Jager, who was Biondi's opponent, won the silver medal with the time of  22.36 seconds. The fastest women's 50m freestyle time is 25.67 seconds made by Wenyi Yang from China. However, in the final Olympic Games, Kristin Otto of East Germany won the gold medal in 25.49 seconds. Wenyi Yang could only improve her time of three seconds. She then had to settle for second place and a silver medal until the 1988 Games in Seoul. During that time the 100 meter was known as the "sprint swim". The distance was first raced at he first Modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. The competitors had to swim in the Bay of Zea, which is near Piraeus, in freezing, cold water which was fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit. The ideal temperature for this competition was seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit. Alfred Hajos emerged as the winner of the 100m race with the time of 1:22.2 minutes. The 200m was held again, 64 years later, Michael Windon had the amazing time of 1:55.2 minutes.