Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics: what you need to know when and where the heats will take place

One of the most high-profile events of the last four years will be the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The Dailysports team tells you what you need to know about one of the disciplines of the games - swimming.

Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics: what disciplines?

Compared to the last Games, the list of disciplines has not changed. A total of 37 competitions will be held (18 each for men and women, as well as one mixed competition), and their list is as follows:

• Freestyle: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1500 metres.
• Backstroke: 100 and 200 metres.
• Brass: 100 and 200 metres.
• Butterfly: 100 and 200 metres.
• Individual complex swimming: 200 and 400 m.
• Relays: 4×100 m freestyle, 4×200 m freestyle; 4×100 m medley (men's, women's and mixed).
• Open water marathon: 10 kilometres

Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics: what are the qualifying conditions?

In the individual events, things were pretty straightforward. Basically, the swimmer had to fulfil one of two standards, namely: "Olympic Qualifying Time" (OQT) and "Olympic Consideration Time" (OCT), but each country could only enter two swimmers per event.

Any swimmer who meets the "qualifying" time will be entered for the Games; swimmers who meet the "invitational" standard are eligible to compete in events allocated by ranking.

If a country does not have a swimmer meeting any of the qualifying standards, it may enter one male and one female.

A country that does not get a place, but fields at least one swimmer meeting the qualifying standard, may field the highest ranked swimmer.

In team swimming, much was decided by the 2023 FINA World Championships, but some vouchers were also distributed at the end of the next World Cup in Doha.

Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics: when and where will the heats be held?

Most of the swims will take place at the Arena Defence, but the open water marathons will take place in the River Seine, which, as we told you in the article about the opening ceremony, has been specially cleaned for the Games.

Unlike the previous Games, in Paris the swims have two clear time slots: at 10:30 and 19:00 CET. The programme, however, has been extended to nine days. But, the pool swims will take place from 27 July to 4 August, while the open water marathons will take place on 8-9 August.

History of swimming at the Olympic Games

The first swims were held at the first modern games in 1896. But then there were somewhat different distances: in addition to the familiar freestyle hundred metres, there were swims of 500 and 1200 metres.

But the latter two distances did not last long at the Games. Already in 1900 these disciplines did not exist. By the way, it was then that a rather exotic event was abandoned: one hundred metres freestyle among sailors.

The latest innovation at the Games was the return of the 800-metre freestyle discipline at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was last seen at the Games as early as 1904.

Of course, the most successful swimmer in history is Michael Phelps, as evidenced by his 23 golds, three silvers and two bronzes at the Olympics. He is also the most successful competitor in the Games.