The event was held over four days with heats, semifinals and a final for the 50 m and 100 m events and heats and a final for all other events with the exception of the women's 800 m and men's 1500 m freestyle which are heat declared winners. Heats were held in the morning, with semifinals, finals and the fastest heat of the distance freestyle events in the evening.
Each nation was permitted to enter four swimmers into each individual event, however only the fastest two were able to progress to the semifinal and/or final.