SwimSwam Pulse: Omaha Nips Indy As Voters Preferred 2024 Trials Host

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers to pick their favorite host city for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials:

RESULTS

Question: Which city would you like to see host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials?

  • Omaha, NE – 37.1%
  • Indianapolis, IN – 34.7%
  • San Antonio, TX – 18.0%
  • Minneapolis, MN – 10.2%

37.1% of voters would like to see the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials return to Omaha, Nebraska in 2024, while 34.7% favor Indianapolis, Indiana.

Unsurprisingly, those two locations are the most familiar to fans as hosts of major meets. Omaha has hosted U.S. Olympic Trials for the last four Olympic cycles: 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021 (postponed from 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic). Indianapolis has been a regular host city for U.S. Nationals as well as the 2017 World Junior Championships.

For many fans, though, naming those cities brings up images of their well-known aquatics facilities: IUPUI in Indy, the Northside Swim Center in San Antonio, and the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center in Minneapolis. However, 2024 Olympic Trials wouldn’t take place in any of those pools. As in Omaha, where meet organizers build a temporary pool into the CHI Health Center, each of these cities would build a racing course into an established professional sports stadium.

Indianapolis would put its pool in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and the NFL combine.

Minneapolis would build a pool into U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and host of Super Bowl LII.

San Antonio would build its pool into the Alamodome, former home of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and host of college football’s Alamo Bowl.

 

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Pollwhich asks voters to choose the best first-round rookie draft pick of the ISL Draft:

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Anonymous
2 years ago

I liked Omaha. Quiet except for trials. no humidity. A nice break from a busy, humid city. I loved seeing the USDA’s solution to the dust bowl. Not to mention the interesting pool build and selling them off. I would vote for Omaha and I’m from near Indy. From what I heard, trials outgrew Indy years ago?

Jethro
Reply to  Anonymous
2 years ago

It was 105 and humid 1 day. It cooled off to 94 the day after.

Speculating
Reply to  Jethro
2 years ago

Humidity in the 40s is low for the Summer in most parts of the country. I came from Virginia and loved the week-long break from the 50s and 60s relative humidity we have all Summer.

DP Spellman
2 years ago

Indy, Minneapolis, and Omaha all seem like great options!

Xman
2 years ago

Visually I think US Bank will be the best area. It has the glass roof and will provide an outdoor feel. Will look on TV and I hope good for the swimmers.

Also hopefully the ceiling grid will help backstrokers.

Secretly I wish they would have trials in my unamed hometown and one of the 2 outdoor stadiums, or basketball arena. But I don’t think they will take a weather risk of a rain delay.

Last edited 2 years ago by Xman
Justanopinion
2 years ago

Once Fort Worth Texas and the new Dickies arena gets put on the table, it will be over.
All these other sites have some things. Fort Worth has everything including big hotels now walking distance. And DFW airport just down the road.
When people start looking into this venue it will go to the top of the list.
Think Omaha but on a bigger hosting ability scale (and no CWS to worry about). Food, entertainment, ease of travel/transportation from literally everywhere in the country.
And at that time of year there are no major events occurring in the city, so swimming would be absolutely center stage.
USA Gymnastics just held the USA Gymnastics Championships there,… Read more »

Admin
Reply to  Justanopinion
2 years ago

13,550 seats at the Dickies Arena? Down to under 13,000 once the first few rows are covered by the pool?

Way too small, given that the 18,000 seat arena in Omaha has sold out every session. I don’t see any good reason to reduce the capacity of the facility by a third at this point if football stadiums are becoming viable competitors.

Justanopinion
Reply to  Braden Keith
2 years ago

I’ve never seen a posted attendance in Omaha over 13,700. Definitely not anywhere close to 18,000.
Football stadiums just aren’t going to work for swimming. It’s pulls the fans too far from the action. Has to be in an indoor arena atmosphere.
I was at the RCA dome in Indy for the women’s NCAA championship Bball game some years back. It was awful. Great if you wanted to be part of the crowd. Awful if you actually were wanting to watch the game.
Swimming will be the same.

Admin
Reply to  Justanopinion
2 years ago

Do you have a link to where you’re seeing “posted attendance” for CHI for Olympic Trials? I’ve never seen such a thing, but after the pool is built up and some seating is blocked off for media/production, the capacity is still somewhere north of 14,000, and every ticket was sold in 2016.

And remember: any amount that CHI Health is reduced from its maximum capacity, a similarly-constructed stadium, like the one in Fort Worth, would have to be reduced by the same amount. So if CHI is reduced by 4000 from its maximum capacity, the arena in Fort Worth will be reduced to, which puts it under 10,000.

I get that lots of people have a favorite city that they’d… Read more »

Bevo
2 years ago

San Antonio is central, affordable, great hotels within walking distance to the Alamodome, and the River Walk for Mexican food and margaritas. Not to mention massive LSC support from 4 major cities within hours. Let’s get it done!

austinpoolboy
2 years ago

looked at another way, almost 63% of voters preferred a different city than Omaha. They did “ok” but time to move it.

NC Fan
2 years ago

Indy would be great for all the reasons others have mentioned, but downtown Minneapolis in mid-June with cooler (relatively of course) weather and 17 hours of daylight and the vibrancy with which the locals embrace summer would be fun.

Jethro
Reply to  NC Fan
2 years ago

Minneapolis is a sheet hole

Admin
Reply to  Jethro
2 years ago

Lol have you been to Minneapolis? It’s an absolutely lovely city.

Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Maybe it’s finally time for USA to have its own permanent swimming and diving center with 20.000 seats? It could serve as national training center all year and serve as place to host national championships, grand prix meets, olympic trials, world championships…. Put it in Florida or California. They should have taken the opportunity of LA 2028 to build it there.
It’s amazing for that country to have waited until 2021 to finally have on its soil in Eugene a big track stadium able to host major international competitions. And it still can host only around 30.000 seats.
Looks like we talk about a third world country when we see those temporary pools. And yes USA is a… Read more »

He said what?
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

It’s so wonderful that you know so much about the USA. I remember when you knew about our political system better than anyone else. And acted like it.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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