The number of ways in which three swimmers can advance is 56.
The combination is the selection of items without taking the order of arrangement into consideration.
The formula used in calculating the combination is:
[tex]\mathbf{C(n,r) = \dfrac{n!}{r!(n-r)!}}[/tex]
[tex]\mathbf{C(n,r) = \dfrac{8!}{3!(8-3)!}}[/tex]
[tex]\mathbf{C(n,r) = \dfrac{8\times 7\times 6 \times 5!}{3!(5)!}}[/tex]
[tex]\mathbf{C(n,r) = 8\times 7}[/tex]
C(n, r) = 56
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