SwimSwam has obtained the swimming schedule for the 2019 Pan American Games, and while mixed relays have been added, the two other new Olympic events, the men’s 800 free and women’s 1500 free, still won’t be raced at this year’s event.
The Pan American Games are an every-four-years multi-sport event that effectively encompasses all countries in the western hemisphere. The 2019 event will be held in Lima, Peru from July 26th – August 11th, with the swimming portion being held from August 6th-10th.
The meet has typically used an Olympic event lineup (no stroke 50s, no 200 medleys, no “off-distance” events, etc.), but will deviate from that slightly in 2019: while they’ve added the mixed 400 medley relay, which will be a new Olympic race in 2020 in Tokyo, and the mixed 400 free relay, they haven’t added the Olympics’ two new distance events. While organizers haven’t said exactly why, it’s likely to do with the short 5-day time span in which swimming at the Pan American Games are currently running. The Olympics, by comparison, have run over 8 days in recent history, and are weighing expanding to 9 days in Tokyo to fit in the new events.
Some countries, including the likes of Brazil, treat the Pan American Games as a primary meet. The United States, who just announced their selection procedures for the 2019 meet, treat it as their 3rd-priority meet behind the World Championships and the World University Games.
