German open water swimmers Florian Wellbrock and Leonie Beck are favorites to defend their world titles at the 2024 World Championships this month in Doha, Qatar, according to new betting odds released by Caesars Sportsbook.
Back in December, Caesars revealed that it would offer betting on swimming at Worlds for the first time ever in an attempt to build excitement for the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer. Now odds have arrived for every open water event in Doha except for the women’s 5km race.
Update: Caesars has added odds for the women’s 5km, where 18-year-old American Katie Grimes (+340) is favored slightly ahead of defending champion Leonie Beck (+375).
Wellbrock is the biggest betting favorite in the men’s 5km, which he won last year (53:58.0) just ahead of Italians Gregorio Paltrinieri (54:02.5) and Domenico Acerenza (54:04.2). His odds are currently set at +163, with Paltrinieri at +300 and Acerenza +350.
In the men’s 10km, Wellbrock is favored at +163 odds over Acerenza (+350). Paltrinieri is still listed at +700 odds despite the fact that he’s dropping the event from his Worlds lineup this year.
Wellbrock is also entered in the 800 free and 1500 free in the pool, which comes after the open water portion of the meet next week.
On the women’s side, Beck is favored at +300 odds in the 10km over 18-year-old American Katie Grimes (+550) and 30-year-old Dutchwoman Sharon van Rouwendaal (+550). Grimes is a big question mark for the event after disappearing from the pool roster in Doha last month, with her coach Ron Aitken saying it “just made more sense to stay closer to home.”
Open water swimming at Worlds will kick off on Saturday with the women’s 10km at 12:30 a.m. EST, followed by the men’s 10km on Sunday at 12:30 a.m. EST. The women’s 5km will take place on Wednesday at 12:30 a.m. EST, and the men’s 5km is slated for Wednesday at 3 a.m. EST. Open water swimming in Doha will conclude with mixed 4x1500m team relay on Thursday at 12:30 a.m. EST.
Last year, Paltrinieri helped Italy (1:10:31.2) hold off Hungary (1:10:35.3) for the team relay title. This year, Caesars is expecting the Italians to repeat at world champions, currently favored at +180 odds ahead of Germany (+210) and Hungary (+400).
Where do you see the most value? Let us know in the comments.
Sports betting is now legal in 38 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. It remains banned in Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
I looked up the water temperature. 69-70 F. Could play a role in the race. Not sure of their temp cutoff to go wetsuit. I would assume a bit colder. Probably 65ish & below. London 2012 was around 68-71. No wetsuits. I believe wetsuit rules were updated just a few years ago.
Men’s 50 free is up. As of 8:17AM CST on Feb 2:
McEvoy -275
Proud +550
Cooper +1100
Andrew +1400
Deplano +2000
Bukhov +2800
Szabo +2800
Pan +2800
King +3300
Gkolomeev +4000
Yuchan +4000
Simons +4000
Carter +5000
Bilas +6600
De Boer +6600
Roberto +8000
Zazzeri +8000
Ho +15000
Miestre +20000
Wellbrock is in racing shape, i see nobody even close to him. Women’s competetion? I dunno.
Putting 2 months of rent on Michael Brinegar
My money is on Flipper. If he enters it will be no contest!
bruh it’s still not showing up for me
Not showing for me either. Their app is trash it never seems to update with new sports
It’s only available in certain states. Colorado and Arizona, for example.
Do you have a link/full list of states where it’ll be available. I downloaded the app just to bet on worlds haha.
I live in a state where sports betting is legal but still don’t see swimming…
Not all sports are available in each state.
I’ll try and find a full list. Don’t have one yet.
Seems to only be Arizona, Colorado and Tennessee + no BYO’s. Very disappointing.
It would be fun to have it everywhere…but also I don’t blame states for being cautious about this. A sport like swimming is ripe for asymmetric information and corruption.
Yeah it’s fair, I did a deeper look though and I was actually way off.
tennessee
arizona
colorado
neveda
massachusetts
ontario
kansas
Grimes is definitely going – Aitken showed her and a male teammate at the airport a week or so ago.
If they pulled out of pool swimming “stay closer to home,” and still go to Doha, Aitken should be shamed and not put on an international staff for a while.
Big difference between going to Doha for a week for 1 open water swim versus staying there for weeks to hit both
I wonder how Caesars calculated the odds for winning.
I bet that the swimmer with the fastest time will be announced the winner pending no doping charges.
Yeah that makes sense, I would also assume the swimmer with the fastest time will win the race