The U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials will be returning to Indianapolis in 2028, USA Swimming confirmed on Tuesday.
The confirmation comes after the Indianapolis Business Journal reported the news on Friday.
The Trials are planned to run for nine days in mid-June at Lucas Oil Stadium, mirroring the schedule of the 2024 Trials, which were held from June 15 -23.
Indianapolis is currently hosting the 2025 U.S. National Championships, which will be held at the Indiana University Natatorium.
After being held in Omaha for four straight editions from 2008 until 2021, Indianapolis successfully hosted the 2024 Olympic Trials, with a reported 285,000 people attending the 17 sessions, including a single-session high and all-time record of 22,209 during Day 5 finals.
Lucas Oil Stadium’s capacity during NFL games is 70,000, but only approximately 30,000 seats were made available during the Trials.
Lucas Oil Stadium. Photo: Jack Spitser.
“The Olympic Trials are unlike any other event in our sport – they represent the pinnacle of competition, emotion, and national pride,” said USA Swimming Interim CEO Bob Vincent.
“Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium provide the perfect venue to prepare our athletes and coaches for the scale of the LA28 Games at SoFi Stadium. We are proud to partner again with the Indiana Sports Corp and the city of Indianapolis. Securing our host location now allows us to build training plans with confidence and best prepares our athletes to dominate the next three years.”
The 2024 competition featured a pair of world records, with Gretchen Walsh setting a new all-time mark in the women’s 100 fly (55.18) on the opening night of racing before Regan Smith took down the record in the women’s 100 back (57.13) later in the meet.
“We are thrilled to welcome the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming back to Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium in 2028,” said Indiana Sports Corp President Patrick Talty.
“The 2024 Trials epitomized our mission of impacting the community through sports and showcased, once again, why Indy is the best host city in the country. We’re grateful to USA Swimming and USOPC for the continued partnership and the opportunity to host this event. We look forward to all lanes returning to Indy in 2028.”
According to USA Swimming, live primetime coverage of the 2024 Trials saw a 20% viewership increase compared to 2021, and the event generated more than $132 million in economic impact for the city of Indianapolis.
The 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, the first time the U.S. has hosted the Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996.
I loved attending the trials in Indy at Lucas Oil Stadium and the masters meet down the road.
I wonder if USMS will have another Nationals there same time?
Are you sure you want to retire, Lilly?
Grow the sport lame idea #821…reality TV series “Parents of Summer League”
First time parent of summer league right here! If this takes off let me know where I sign on!
Indiana, where swimming was invented.
Many are asking: “With no CEO in place, who actually made the decision to put the meet in Indy?”
Simple answer: “The same group of people who were behind the Autopen!”
You’re welcome!
…was there a bidding period, or did we go back to one venue only? Did Indy get an option to renew with 2024? 2028 is a fantastic opportunity to drive revenue, and I’d just like to know that someone, anyone tried to earn more revenue with a domestic Olympics on the horizon.
Don’t know, and I don’t think we’ll ever know, BUT after I wanna say…the 2016 where they did a big Olympic-style bid, the feedback they got was “don’t do this again please.”
That being said, I don’t know why that would preclude an RFP with a basic bid document.
At the end of the day, either way, it was always going back to Indy. Indy Sports Corp is really good at this sort of thing, and is probably the best option around for this kind of NGO-style partnership. Indy Sports Corp does a lot of the work, which is important as USA Swimming hasn’t shown a lot of clear capabilities lately.
…agreed, Indy Sport Corp is great, but the due diligence question matters. Domestic Olympic rates are going to be far, far higher than we will see in a generation.
Since everyone knows swimming by itself is a boring sport, the CSACLQ# has proposed the following modifications to the 2028 US Swim Olympic Trials schedule to try garnering more viewers.
— The finals sessions will be compressed all into 1 evening, less than 1 hour long. For TV.
— More 25ssss!
— A random audience member will be selected to try kicking a field goal for a cool $2,028.00.
— Prelims finishers 4th through 8th will be cut from the Championship Final. Because they won’t matter. Viewers only want to see the facial expressions of places 1 through 3 in the final.
— Halftime dance-off will take place between Gretchen Walsh and Bobby Finke, to see… Read more »
Why would we not have Outdoor Trials in Irvine since SoFi is mostly outdoors? Same time zone, same weather? Just add more temporary seating like we did for LA ’84….
Or Long Beach trials in 2004
I continue to be amazed at the difference between the attendance reported for the Trials and what I experienced having attended every session.
I’m not exactly sure what you’re trying to convey. I think I know, but could you please clear it up?