At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, a total number of eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The events were held at the Swimming Stadium. There was a total of 319 participants from 48 countries competing.
Medal table
Medal summary
Men's events
{|
|-
| 100 m freestyle<br>
| || 57.4
| || 57.4
| || 58.2
|-
| 400 m freestyle<br>
| || 4:30.7 <br> (OR)
| || 4:31.3
| || 4:35.2
|-
| 1500 m freestyle<br>
| || 18:30.3 <br> (OR)
| || 18:41.4
| || 18:51.3
|-
| 100 m backstroke<br>
| || 1:05.4 <br> (OR)
| || 1:06.2
| || 1:06.4
|-
| 200 m breaststroke<br>
| || 2:34.4 <br> (OR)
| || 2:34.7
| || 2:35.9
|-valign="top"
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay<br>
| <br />Wayne Moore<br />Bill Woolsey<br />Ford Konno<br />Jimmy McLane || 8:31.1 <br> (OR)
| <br />Hiroshi Suzuki<br />Yoshihiro Hamaguchi<br />Toru Goto<br />Teijiro Tanikawa || 8:33.5
| <br />Joseph Bernardo<br />Aldo Eminente<br />Alexandre Jany<br />Jean Boiteux || 8:45.9
|}
Women's events
{|
|-
| 100 m freestyle<br>
| || 1:06.8
| || 1:07.0
| || 1:07.1
|-
| 400 m freestyle<br>
| || 5:12.1 <br> (OR)
| || 5:13.7
| || 5:14.6
|-
| 100 m backstroke<br>
| || 1:14.3
| || 1:14.5
| || 1:15.8
|-
| 200 m breaststroke<br>
| || 2:51.7 <br> (OR)
| || 2:54.4
| || 2:57.6
|-valign="top"
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay<br>
| <br />Ilona Novák<br />Judit Temes<br />Éva Novák<br />Katalin Szöke || 4:24.4 <br> (WR)
| <br />Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen<br />Koosje van Voorn<br />Hannie Termeulen<br />Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher || 4:29.0
| <br />Jackie LaVine<br />Marilee Stepan<br />Jody Alderson<br />Evelyn Kawamoto || 4:30.1
|}
Participating nations
319 swimmers from 48 nations competed.