The Swimming competition at the XVI Pan American Games was October 15–22, 2011 at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center in Guadalajara, Mexico.

[15] 274 athletes from 36 countries were entered in Swimming and Open Water events at the Games (note: 13 countries were entered in Open Water, but all those countries were also entered in pool events as well):[16][17] Benjamin Hockin gave Paraguay its first medal in the history of swimming at the Pan American Games, a bronze in the men's 200m freestyle.

As part of the formatting change, the men's 1500 free and women's 800 free were also moved from the last two days of the schedule to earlier in the program to distance them from the open water swim.

* Swimmers who swam in preliminary heats and received medals.

*   Host nation (Mexico)On May 26, 2010, the qualification standards for the Swimming portion of the 2011 Pan Am Games were set.