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Last Updated On: Apr 19, 2025 05:25 PM , Published On: Jul 04, 2024 11:09 PM
Swimming has existed since prehistoric times but was only commonly practiced as a competitive activity in the nineteenth century. The National Swimming Society of Great Britain was founded in 1837 and hosted the first events.
Most swimmers set up the breaststroke or a variation of it at the time. Swimming events have since expanded to include a broader range of strokes, which are now featured at the Olympics Paris Games. The swimming events at the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 are scheduled to take place from July 27 to August 9, 2024.
The Paris La Defense Arena will host pool competitions from July 27 to August 4, while Pont Alexandre III will host a two-day marathon swimming race over the Seine River on August 8 and 9.
Paris Olympics Swimming Venue 2024
The largest indoor event facility in Europe, Paris La Defense Arena, will host swimming competitions during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The domed stadium, located approximately northwest of Paris in Nanterre, was launched in 2017 with a declared seating capacity of 30,680. Its primary sporting partner is the Rugby Union club Racing 92, which plays its home games there.
Paris La Defense Arena has held some of the most famous concert tours in the past seven years, such as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, P!nk, and Imagine Dragons. Taylor Swift will perform four successive nights at the arena as part of The Eras Tour in May, two months before the start of the Olympics.
For the first time at the Olympics, aquatic sports will be held at Paris La Defense Arena. The arena's floor will include an Olympic-sized swimming pool measuring 50 meters by 660,000 gallons. The gold medal water polo matches for men and women will also occur at Paris La Defense Arena.
Paris Olympics Swimming Venue Seine River
The highly anticipated 10,000 open water activities will occur along the Seine River in the heart of Paris. The race will start at Pont Alexandre III, an opulent 19th-century bridge on Paris' western edge, and end 10 kilometers east at a temporary finish chute.
All past Olympic open water races have used a lapped route, but Paris will be the first direct marathon swim in the Games' history.
How many Olympic swimming events are in Paris?
The 2024 Paris Olympics events will include 35 swimming medal events, 17 men's, 17 women's, and one mixed. Although the majority of swimming events are individual, the Olympics include three different relays. The distances range from 50 m to 1500 m.
Here's the complete list of swimming events for the upcoming Games.
- 50m freestyle for men's and women's
- 100m freestyle for men's and women's
- 200m freestyle for men's and women's
- 400m freestyle for men's and women's
- 800m freestyle for men's and women's
- 1500m freestyle for men's and women's
- 100m backstroke for men's and women's
- 200m backstroke for men's and women's
- 100m breaststroke for men's and women's
- 200m breaststroke for men's and women's
- 100m butterfly for men's and women's
- 200m butterfly for men's and women's
- 200m individual medley for men's and women's
- 400m individual medley for men's and women's
- 4x100m freestyle relay for men's and women's
- 4x200m freestyle relay for men's and women's
- 4x100m medley relay for men's, women's and mixed
Olympic Swimming Event Structures
Swimming events are divided into rounds, culminating in an eight-person final race At least three rounds are required for individual events of 50-, 100-, and 200-meter distances: preliminary heats, semifinals, and final. To advance to the semifinals, swimmers must finish in the top 16 in all of the qualifying races.
With the best eight times from the two semifinals, the swimmers proceed to the final. No semifinals for relays or solo events of 400m or more exist. Instead, the swimmers with the top eight times in the first round proceed to the final.
If two or more swimmers are deadlocked for the final space in a semifinal or final, they will engage in a "swim off," an extra head-to-head race.
Swimming Relay Rules
Swimming relays in the Olympics include four swimmers from the same country, each completing a leg of the event. The second, third, and fourth swimmers have to start their legs when the swimmer has touched the wall before them. The swimmer for their side who approaches the wall first on the fourth leg wins the race.
It is not necessary for the four swimmers who compete in the prelim to also compete in the final of a relay. Many countries will utilize change swimmers for the prelims to preserve their finest swimmers fresh for the final. Swimmers who compete in the final but not the final are still able to win medals.
Rules for swimming medleys
In a single race, medleys combine the four swimming strokes. In an individual medley, a swimmer must perform the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle for one-fourth of the distance in each stroke category.
Four swimmers compete in a medley relay, each swimming a 100-meter distance with a different stroke. The order of the medley relay is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
Each four-swimmer team in a mixed medley relay must include two men and two women. The swimmers in a team can choose who will attempt each stroke.
Must check: Paris 2024 Olympics Controversy: Issues and Debate
Frequently Ask Question
Q. When did Paris host the Olympics?
Paris hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924 in Los Angeles and London. Now, it will host the Olympics in 2024 at La Defense Arena.
Q. What are the Olympic swim events?
Swimming has been a sport in every historic Summer Olympics. Since 1912, it has been accessible to women. Swimming is the sport with the second most medal-contested events at the Olympics.
Q. Where will swimming be held in the Paris Olympics?
The swimming venues will be at the Paris La Defense Arena. Usually, the home of French team Racing 92 and a rugby stadium will be transformed into a swimming venue for the Games. Controversially, the open-water races are still scheduled in the renowned River Sein.
Q. Is it safe to swim in the Seine?
Although swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923, the organizers of the Paris Olympics promised to clean the river and raise the standards for safe swimming.