arena athlete Florent Manaudou won Bronze in the 50m Freestyle and Bronze in the 4x100m Medley Relay

Paris Olympic Games 2024 Swimming Review

With the conclusion of the swimming programme attention turns to the final week of competition at these Olympic Games. But let us consider some of the most prominent and interesting stories of the Paris Olympic Games 2024 swimming competition. This proved to be one of the closest meets in Olympic history with margins between medal winners regularly requiring a photo finish. Several swimmers showed their class and dominance. Namely, the man of the moment - Leon Marchand.

Leon Marchand was widely tipped to have a breakout games having broken Michael Phelps’ last remaining individual world record in the 400 individual medley and being the poster boy of a home Olympics for the French team. He proved to everyone that the hype was real. He won 4 individual gold medals in dominant fashion setting Olympic records in all 4. He also won a bronze medal in the French relay team. This Olympics has taken him to new heights of superstardom within the sport and at just 22 years old there is likely to be even more from him in years to come.

Another prominent question in the build-up to these Olympics was whether Adam Peaty could win his 3rd 100-metre Breaststroke Olympic title. He swam very well in the heats and semi-finals. He came agonisingly close in the final with Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy getting the touch by 0.02 seconds with Peaty and Nick Fink of Team USA taking a joint silver medal. It was a bittersweet moment for Adam as he really wanted the gold medal but watched on by his family the result did not matter. His legacy is secured as one of the greatest breaststrokers the sport has ever seen. It remains to be seen whether he will retire after these Olympics but for now, he can enjoy the moment.

There was other success for the British swimmers. The quartet of James Guy, Tom Dean, Matt Richards, and Duncan Scott successfully defended their 4x200 metre freestyle relay. They won this event in Tokyo and managed a commanding performance to retain the title. Richards won a silver medal in the individual 200 freestyle just behind David Popovici with Duncan Scott narrowly missing out on the medals in 4th place. However, Scott was able to secure a silver medal in the 200 individual medley behind Leon Marchand. There was a long-awaited medal for the ever-present and consistent Ben Proud. In his 3rd Olympics, he won a silver medal in the 50 freestyle behind Cameron McEvoy of Australia, with Florent Manaudou of France in 3rd. This completed the set of major international medals for Proud having won World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and European Championships. This was a very poignant medal ceremony with Ben Proud winning his medal with the home hero Florent Manaudou in 3rd in what is likely to be his last Olympics, again securing his legacy as one of France’s most consistent sprint swimmers winning medals at the last 4 Olympics. It still remains to be seen if he will retire after these games but if he does it will be a near-perfect ending.

Some of the stars from the women’s programme included Katie Ledecky and Summer Mcintosh. At just 17 years old McIntosh had a breakout meet winning 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal in dominant fashion. While she is at the beginning of her career with much more to come, Ledecky once again proved her greatness. She won the 800m freestyle for the 4th Olympics in a row. Michael Phelps is the only other person to win the same event at 4 straight Olympics. Ledecky also won the 1500m freestyle. Her great Australian rival Ariarne Titmus defended her 400m freestyle from Tokyo and added the 200m freestyle with relay medals as well. The sprint freestyle events were both won by the great Sarah Sjöström of Sweden again showing her dominance in the sprint freestyle events.

There had been talk of the pool being a slow pool at the start of the meet with some criticising the pool only being 2 metres deep instead of the more usual 3 metres deep. However, numerous Olympic records from Leon Marchand and relays dispelled that. There were a handful of world records as well in the men’s 1500m freestyle from American Bobby Finke, the 4x100 mixed medley relay, and in perhaps the surprise of the meet, China’s Pan Zhanle set a world record in the men’s 100m freestyle at 46.40. This 4 tenths faster than the previous world record held by David Popovici of Romania. In addition, Pan went a 45.92 in the men’s 4x100 medley relay on the freestyle anchor leg to secure Gold for China. This is incredibly fast and at just 20 years old there could be even more to come from this young man.

This Olympics has proved to be a perfect swansong for some of its longest-serving stewards. With Legacies secured, these swimmers can enjoy the rest of these Olympics and see what the next chapter will look like for them. But for the younger swimmers in their first Olympics who have shot to superstardom this is just the beginning. It will be exciting to see where they will go in the next few years and in the build-up to the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. And if you are starting your own swimming journey or are taking the next step in the upcoming season don’t forget to check out the SwimPath website for all your swimwear and equipment or feel free to contact our friendly expert team for help and support.