Swimming is one of the most watched events at the Olympic Games with the speed and stamina of the athletes, and the close racing, forming a thrilling spectacle for the audience.
There are 35 events on the Olympic swimming schedule at Paris 2024.
According to World Aquatics, 854 athletes – 463 male and 391 female – from 187 countries, the Individual Neutral Athletes and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Refugee Olympic Team, will compete in the swimming events at the games.
Each participating nation at the Summer Games will have a chance to send at least two athletes to Paris and five – Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Vanuatu – will make their Olympic swimming debuts.
The largest closed hall in Europe is transformed into an Olympic swimming pool for the Games! 🤩
In May, @taylorswift filled it 4 days in a row. 🎤✨
This summer, 16 days of competition await you!🏊 July 27 to August 4
🤽 August 5 to August 11📷 @parisladefense_arena pic.twitter.com/jRElgd9MyS
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 12, 2024
Which swimming-based events are part of Paris Olympics 2024?
- Artistic swimming
- Diving
- Marathon swimming
- Modern pentathlon
- Triathlon
- Water polo
Where will swimming events be held?
The Paris La Defense Arena, a modular multipurpose venue in Nanterre, a northern suburb of Paris, will host the swimming and water polo competitions.
The Aquatics Centre, situated in Seine Saint Denis in central Paris, will welcome the world’s greatest athletes for the artistic swimming and diving events. The Aquatics Centre, along with Le Bourget Climbing Wall, is the only permanent sports facility to be built for the Paris 2024 Games.
The 10 km marathon swimming and triathlon swim-leg events will be held in the River Seine, in central Paris, on August 8-9.
In the leadup to the Olympics, there has been ongoing controversy surrounding the staging of these two competitions in a river which, until recently, was not recommended by local authorities as a waterway suitable for human bathing. Read more
Which pool swimming competitions will be held at the Olympics?
In addition to a mixed 4x100m medley relay, the world’s top swimmers will be vying for medals in these men’s and women’s categories:
- 50m freestyle
- 100m freestyle
- 200m freestyle
- 400m freestyle
- 800m freestyle
- 1,500m freestyle
- 100m backstroke
- 200m backstroke
- 100m breaststroke
- 200m breaststroke
- 100m butterfly
- 200m butterfly
- 200m individual medley
- 400m individual medley
- 4x100m freestyle relay
- 4x200m freestyle relay
- 4x100m medley relay
Which countries are favourites to bag the most swimming medals?
The United States has been leading the swimming medal tally for the past six Olympic Games, with Australia often finishing second.
China and Great Britain have been top five finishers at recent games, while some other European nations, including France and the Netherlands, have increasingly been winning medals.
This year’s favourites will be:
- Australia
- United States
- China
- Great Britain
Leading the charge to Paris 💪#ParisOlympics | @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/UNLNNXQjmN
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) July 12, 2024
Which countries are sending the biggest swimming squads?
The US and Australia lead the way with 46 and 41 swimmers in their Olympic squads.
Italy has named 36 athletes for the pool swimming competitions, with China (31) and Great Britain (30) not far behind.
Who are the top swimmers to watch at Paris 2024 Olympics?
Here are Al Jazeera’s picks for the men’s and women’s swimmers set to rule the pool at the Games:
- Leon Marchand (France): The man named the French Michael Phelps is the favourite to bag gold in the pool in several competitions, including men’s 400m medley, 200m medley and 200m butterfly.
- David Popovici (Romania): The 19-year-old Romanian will be the one to watch in the men’s 100m freestyle competition.
- Kyle Chalmers (Australia): The powerful Australian will be another top-three contender for gold in the men’s 100m freestyle. Chalmers won gold in the 100m freestyle at the 2016 Olympics and silver at the 2020 Olympics.
- Caeleb Dressel (US): The celebrated American swimmer holds six Olympic gold medals from two Olympics and will be looking to add to his tally in the men’s butterfly and freestyle events.
- Katie Ledecky (US): The 27-year-old American, who holds seven Olympic gold medals, will once again be the favourite in the women’s freestyle events to improve her record tally.
- Summer McIntosh (Canada): The 17-year-old McIntosh is expected to be in several events, including the 800m freestyle which Ledecky has ruled for more than a decade.
- Ariarne Titmus (Australia): Titmus is the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle, having won both events at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is also the world record holder for 200m and 400m freestyle.
- Kaylee McKeown (Australia): The Australian appears poised for another big performance after sweeping the women’s backstroke events at the 2023 world championship. McKeown is part of a powerhouse Aussie women’s team which also includes Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan.
- Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden): The Swede will be competing in her fifth Olympic Games and will be among the favourites for gold in the women’s 100m freestyle.
- Adam Peaty (UK): Peaty is the greatest 100m breaststroker in history, having swum the 14 fastest times of all time and taken gold at the past two Olympics.
What’s the swimming pool schedule for the Olympics?
The pool swimming competitions will get under way on July 27 with several men’s and women’s events.
The first medals will be handed out in the evening for the men’s and women’s 400m freestyle as well as both the 4x100m freestyle relay competitions.
The last swimming finals will be held on August 4, with the women’s 50m freestyle, men’s 1,500m freestyle, as well as the men’s and women’s 4x100m medal relay finals.
‘Must watch’ swimming events at the 2024 Olympics:
Men’s 100m freestyle – One of the premier events at the Olympics, the men’s 100m freestyle promises to be an epic contest between Chinese world record holder Pan Zhanle, teenage sprint phenom and former world record holder David Popovici of Romania, and Australia’s 2016 Olympics gold medal winner Kyle Chalmers.
The men’s 100m freestyle will be held at 10:20pm local time (1920 GMT) on Wednesday July 31.
Women’s 400m freestyle – This event has been billed by the media as the ‘race of the century’ and features three superstars of the swimming world: Katie Ledecky, Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh.
The women’s 400m freestyle final will be held at 8:50pm local time (1850 GMT) on Saturday 27 July. Read more about this incredible three-way rivalry in the pool.
Keep up to date:
You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated Paris 2024 Olympics tournament page with all the news and features, as well as event build-up and live text commentary on selected football, basketball, tennis and boxing fixtures.
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