2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
- Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
- La Défense Arena — Paris, France
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Full Schedule
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Psych Sheets
Psych sheets for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have been published and we’re combing through for surprises and changes from what was originally thought to be the game plan for the world’s top medal contenders.
The nation of Great Britain changed things up a tad, especially on the men’s side where the 50m and 100m freestyle sprints now have new players added to the mix.
Matt Richards and Duncan Scott went 1-2 in the 100m free at the Aquatics GB Olympic Trials, with both athletes getting under the selection standard.
Richards remains among the 1free entries in the event for Paris; however, as he did with the 2023 World Championships, Scott has dropped the race. 27-year-old Scott still has the individual 200m free and 200m IM as well as multiple relays among his lineup.
The next in line after Scott at Trials was reigning 200m free Olympic gold medalist Tom Dean followed by Alexander Cohoon. Placing 5th was 19-year-old Jacob Whittle, whose time of 48.39 was outside the Aquatics GB-mandated qualification standard of 48.06, although the teen owns a lifetime best of 48.03 from last November.
With Whittle’s 48.03 beating Cohoon’s 4th place 48.20 from Trials, Whittle has now been given the nod to take on the 100m free as his sole individual event while Cohoon’s name now appears among the men’s 50m free field.
Cohoon, who placed 3rd in the race at Trials (21.90) has replaced runner-up Richards to join Trials winner Ben Proud in the 50m free for Paris.
This means that GBR’s entire 4x100m free relay swimmers have at least one individual event. With relay-only swimmers truly relegated by World Aquatics to strictly relays, the Aquatics GB coaching brain trust has some flexibility in determining the medal-contending lineup and will not be forced to include now non-existent relay-only swimmers.
Additional Notes
- At Trials, reigning 400m IM world champion Freya Colbert won the women’s 200m free in a near-lifetime best of 1:56.22 but made it known it was unlikely she would seek to add the event to her Olympic lineup. Indeed Colbert’s name is absent from the 2free field for Paris, but so is Trials runner-up Abbie Wood‘s name. As a result, GBR will be without representation in the individual women’s 200m free.
- Freestyle ace Freya Anderson battled illness at the Olympic Trials but was still selected to the Olympic squad. It’s notable that the 23-year-old remains a relay-only athlete and was not given any individual events, such as the 200m free.
SwimSwam totally missed James Guy in the 100 fly
It was first thing I noted when I saw it on Twitter. Jimmy was 5th in the 100 ‘fly at Trials! I imagine he’s been put in the event so that if he swims well he does the medley relay finals, leaving Joe Litchfield to do only the heat swims.
So did Cahoon reject the 100free nod (does he have reason to?) or did they go straight to Whittle?
I guess we won’t know for sure but giving both Cohoon and Whittle an individual event makes sense for various reasons already mentioned by others.
It was speculated after trials in the comments section that Richards would drop the 50 and Scott the 100 free given their heavy schedules with relays.
Dean’s 5 medal hopes officially dashed (wasn’t gonna happen anyway).
I wonder if he chose not to take the spot or if he wasn’t given a choice
I would bet the latter. The BS policy is written to give complete discretion to the blazers.
Jimmy Guy gets the 100 ‘fly swim despite coming 5th at Trials? So, if he swims well he gets the finals swim for the medley relays, I presume?
I don’t honk this was one of the medals he was targeting.
Originally
200 free
200 IM
4×200 free
4×100 free
4×100 medley heat swim
Missing the 200 free individual spot meant the only pathway to 5 medals is an incredibly unlikely heat swim in the MMR.
Confused, did Tom Dean also drop out? The article says he placed third ahead and then doesn’t mention him again.
The 100m freestyle heats and semis is the same day as the 4×200 relay heats and final. If Britain swim Richards and Dean in the 100 free then -assuming that they don’t roll the dice with Litchfield in the relay- the likelihood is that 1 of them would have to swim 4 races in the day and the other 3 races.
With Whittle taking the 100 free berth, the likelihood is that they’ll rest Richards in the relay heats and Dean will just have the relay heat and final swim.
They’re putting all their eggs into the relay basket.
Yep, 100 Free is on the same day as the 4×2 which is presumably why Dean dropped out.
The process isn’t the same as the US. The policy is written such that the 3rd place finisher has no right to the place if someone drops out. The team and the events are fully selected by the staff except for 1st place finishers who hit the QT (which are so fast they get about 6-7 people who do)
Whittle is the key if GB wants to upset the US in the 400 free relay.
Whether it’s Burras being the most puzzlingly inconsistent swimmer in the last half decade, untimely DQs or off swims, GB hasn’t put it together yet in the 400 free relay
They have the pieces to challenge the US and shouldn’t be written off
Dean’s split 46.9, Scott is an ace, MattyRich is a perennial 47.4 lead off but whittle is the question mark
Cohoon?
If Whittle can split 47.5 or better I think GB is a serious threat to the US in the 400 free relay, but I think that also requires someone on the US squad being off form or a Herculean effort from a GB swimmer (which, of course, Scott has done before).
Don’t be sure, USA gonna win with a huge margin..Alexy Guliano Dressel and Armstrong…All have under 47.60 season bests…so the relay is a thing to watch..even GB failed to get to the podium with the same super stars in Doha..
Doha results are fairly irrelevant. Everyone prepared differently for the meet. US are favourites for the gold, but it’s the Olympics anything can happen (look at Jason Lezaks split in 2008).
Look at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 where USA was pre-race favorite. Anything can happen at the Olympics.