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)
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- Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
- Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
From a macro perspective, medals are the be-all and end-all in quantifying success at the Olympic Games, but we all know an athlete or nation can flourish even if it means they don’t ultimately make it onto the podium.
Thanks to Michael White, the head coach and CEO of Storm Aquatics in Wisconsin, we’re able to see how the standings in the 2024 Olympic pool swimming competition would look if we used the same scoring format we see at several domestic meets, including the NCAA Championships.
Scoring Format
- 16-place scoring system: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
- Relays are worth double points
- 9th through 16th-place finishers come from semi-finals
- If semi-finalist who missed final was faster than someone in the final, that was corrected
WOMEN’S RANKINGS
Rank | Country | Points |
1 | United States | 167.5 |
2 | Australia | 148 |
3 | China | 105 |
4 | Canada | 102 |
5 | Great Britain | 65 |
6 | Italy | 46.5 |
7 | Japan | 45 |
8 | Sweden | 43 |
9 | France | 37 |
10 | Germany | 32 |
11 | Ireland | 29 |
11 | Brazil | 29 |
13 | South Africa | 28 |
14 | Netherlands | 27 |
14 | New Zealand | 27 |
16 | Hungary | 24 |
17 | Hong Kong | 20 |
18 | Czech Republic | 19 |
19 | Belgium | 16 |
20 | Denmark | 12 |
MEN’S RANKINGS
Rank | Country | Points |
1 | United States | 136.5 |
2 | Great Britain | 112.5 |
3 | Germany | 111.5 |
4 | Italy | 102 |
5 | Australia | 99 |
6 | China | 83 |
7 | France | 46 |
8 | Hungary | 44 |
9 | Japan | 40 |
10 | Spain | 31 |
11 | South Korea | 30 |
12 | Canada | 28 |
12 | Greece | 28 |
12 | Brazil | 28 |
15 | Netherlands | 24 |
16 | Lithuania | 20.5 |
17 | Romania | 20 |
18 | South Africa | 14 |
19 | New Zealand | 13 |
20 | Poland | 12.5 |
COMBINED RANKINGS
Rank | Country | Points |
1 | United States | 304 |
2 | Australia | 247 |
3 | China | 188 |
4 | Great Britain | 177.5 |
5 | Italy | 148.5 |
6 | Germany | 143.5 |
7 | Canada | 130 |
8 | Japan | 85 |
9 | France | 83 |
10 | Hungary | 68 |
11 | Brazil | 57 |
12 | Netherlands | 51 |
13 | Sweden | 47 |
14 | South Africa | 42 |
15 | New Zealand | 40 |
16 | Spain | 36 |
17 | South Korea | 30 |
18 | Ireland | 29 |
19 | Greece | 28 |
20 | Lithuania | 27.5 |
Observations
- Despite Australia holding the slight edge atop the medal table thus far with three gold medals, the U.S. has 11 total podium appearances and that depth is on display with the Americans leading the points standings for women, men and combined.
- The U.S. has notably won a medal in five of six men’s events, while the women have had two events with double medalists in the 100 fly (Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh) and the 400 IM (Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant).
- Australia is a clear 2nd on the women’s side thanks to the relay victory, the 1-2 from Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus in the 200 free, and Titmus’ win in the 400 free.
- The British men hold down the 2nd spot for the men despite only two silver medals, with 4th-place finishes from Max Litchfield (400 IM), Duncan Scott (200 free) and a 5th in the 400 free relay boosting their tally.
- Germany is a somewhat surprise to sit 3rd for the men, thanks in large part to Lukas Märtens winning the 400 free, placing 5th in the 200 free, and the 400 free relay also taking 5th. Melvin Imoudu and Lucas Matzerath were also surprises to finish 4-5 in the 100 breast.
- China and Canada are jockeying for 3rd on the women’s side, which is no surprise, while the Italians sit 4th for the men, ahead of Australia, which not many would’ve predicted coming in.
- In the combined standings, the U.S. is well clear of Australia, Australia is 59 points ahead of China, and then there’s a massive drop-off after Canada in 7th. Among the top seven countries (USA, AUS, CHN, GBR, ITA, GER, CAN), Germany would have to be considered the biggest surprise. In addition the performances from their men, Angelina Köhler (4th in 100 fly) and Isabel Gose (5th in 400 free) have top-five finishes.
Still nothing to hang our hats on. Team USA has floundered. Very disappointing…
I prefer either this or total golds as a way to measure who’s winning. Counting total medals with each of them weighted equally is silly.
Interesting perspective on this meet of meets. Thanks for the number crunching, Michael!
Wait till you add in the Chinese diving scores…
Indiana Diving and swimming
Very fun way to look at the meet.
This is the best way to measure depth, but the medal table is the most traditional way to measure who’s “winning” a meet.
Cool. Although, I doubt the swimming federations of China and Great Britain are very happy with their 3rd and 4th place respective standings.
Do you think they expect to be better than that in any scoring format?
This is the sort of content that gives americans the sore losers rep
Majority of the athletes that are competing in the Olympics have some connection to NCAA.
This is a fun way to look at team scoring.
Ehh no. Argument can be made for US & Canada. But not the Aussies, Chinese, Japanese, Brits, Koreans, Italians, French, Germans…
First of all, meet ain’t over
Second,“Teams” aren’t solely defined by their best handful of members. Teams are defined by the whole of team and a scoring format like this that emphasizes getting gold is weighted heavily compared to other scores is very reasonable
I don’t think anyone would argue that the top tier of Australian women is superior to that of the US, especially in sprint and mid distance freestyle. There is literally no question.
Of course the US as a team is lifted by having a far greater population to draw from, but also is a culture where swimming might be the 7th or 8th most desirable sport for kids to choose from.
In the… Read more »
Way to take a fun article and make it about something uglier. Nobody is suggesting this replace the medal table.