World record progression 50 metres freestyle

The first World Record in the Men's 50 metres Freestyle in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1976. In the short course (25 metres) swimming events the world's governing body recognizes world records since March 3, 1991.

Men

Long Course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Location
23.86	Jonty Skinner	August 14, 1976	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
23.74	Joe Bottom	July 3, 1977	Etobicoke, Ontario
23.72	Ron Manganiello	July 29, 1978	Miami, Florida
23.70	Klaus Steinbach	July 23, 1979	Freiburg, West Germany
23.66	Chris Cavanaugh	February 2, 1980	Amersfoort, Netherlands
23.12	Chris Cavanaugh	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
22.96	Rowdy Gaines	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
22.83	Bruce Stahl	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
22.71	Joe Bottom	August 15, 1980	Honolulu, Hawaii
22.54	Robin Leamy	August 15, 1981	Brown Deer, Wisconsin
22.52	Dano Halsall	July 21, 1985	Bellinzona, Switzerland
22.40	Tom Jager	December 6, 1985	Austin, Texas
22.33	Matt Biondi	June 26, 1986	Orlando, Florida
22.32	Tom Jager	August 13, 1987	Brisbane, Queensland
22.23	Tom Jager	March 25, 1988	Orlando, Florida
22.18	Peter Williams	April 10, 1988	Indianapolis, Indiana
22.14	Matt Biondi	September 24, 1988	Seoul, South Korea
22.12	Tom Jager	August 20, 1989	Tokyo, Japan
21.98	Tom Jager	March 24, 1990	Nashville, Tennessee
21.81	Tom Jager	March 24, 1990	Nashville, Tennessee
21.64	Alexander Popov	June 16, 2000	Moscow, Russia

Short Course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Location
21.64	Steve Crocker	December 13, 1992	Sheffield, United Kingdom
21.60	Mark Foster	February 17, 1993	Sheffield, United Kingdom
21.50	Alexander Popov	March 13, 1994	Desenzano del Garda, Italy
21.48	Mark Foster	December 13, 1998	Sheffield, United Kingdom
21.31	Mark Foster	December 13, 1998	Sheffield, United Kingdom
21.21	Anthony Ervin	March 23, 2000	Minneapolis, United States
21.13	Mark Foster	January 28, 2001	Paris, France
21.10	Frédérick Bousquet	March 25, 2004	New York, United States
20.98	Roland Schoeman	August 12, 2006	Hamburg, Germany

Women

Long Course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Location
26.99	Kornelia Ender	July 26, 1975	Cali, Colombia
26.95	Johanna Malloy	August 16, 1977	St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
26.74	Anne Jardin	August 19, 1978	Etobicoke, Ontario
26.61	Cynthia Woodhead	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
26.53	Kelly Asplund	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
26.32	Jill Sterkel	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
25.96	Jill Sterkel	April 10, 1980	Austin, Texas
25.79	Jill Sterkel	April 3, 1981	Austin, Texas
25.69	Dara Torres	January 29, 1983	Amersfoort, Netherlands
25.64	Annemarie Verstappen	July 9, 1983	Amersfoort, Netherlands
25.62	Dara Torres	August 5, 1983	Clovis, California
25.61	Dara Torres	July 21, 1984	Mission Viejo, California
25.34	Tamara Costache	April 2, 1986	Arad, Romania
25.31	Tamara Costache	August 1, 1986	Sofia, Bulgaria
25.28	Tamara Costache	August 23, 1986	Madrid, Spain
24.98	Wenyi Yang	April 11, 1988	Guangzhou, China
24.79	Wenyi Yang	July 31, 1992	Barcelona, Spain
24.51	Jingyi Le	September 11, 1994	Rome, Italy
24.48	Inge de Bruijn	June 4, 2000	Drachten, Netherlands
24.39	Inge de Bruijn	June 10, 2000	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
24.13	Inge de Bruijn	September 22, 2000	Sydney, Australia

Short Course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Location
24.75	Franziska van Almsick	November 7, 1992	Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
24.62	Jingyi Le	December 3, 1993	Palma de Mallorca, Spain
24.23	Jingyi Le	December 3, 1993	Palma de Mallorca, Spain
24.09	Therese Alshammar	December 11, 1999	Lisbon, Portugal
23.59	Therese Alshammar	March 18, 2000	Athens, Greece

References

• Template:Nl icon Zwemkroniek
• Template:It icon Agenda Diana