What Other Olympic Schedule Changes Could Be Made To Benefit Star Swimmers?

The news that the Olympic swimming schedule had a pair of minor changes caused quite the stir on Wednesday, particularly because superstar Leon Marchand‘s conflict with the finals of the men’s 200 fly and 200 breast had been alleviated.

Marchand will still have both finals during the same session, but rather than being back-to-back, there will now be four events and seven total heats between them, one of which is the women’s 1500 free final.

CHANGES MADE

• On Day 5, the women’s 200 fly semis and men’s 200 breast final will swap places. This makes the 200 fly the third event of the night and the 200 breast the seventh.
• On Day 6, the men’s 50 free semis will be the third race of the night (originally sixth) and the women’s 200 back will be the fifth (originally third).

Although the majority of fans are critical of the change, with the general sentiment being that the organizers shifted things around for one star swimmer who happens to be from the host country, it does beg the question of what other changes could be made to help the sport’s bigest names.

Below, we’ll look at some superstars and how slight changes in the current schedule could help them alleviate a conflict. Since it wasn’t done in the move made on Wednesday, we won’t switch the day of an event, just simply shifting around the timing of them in their given sessions (unless otherwise noted).

FULL PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC SWIMMING CALENDAR

KAYLEE MCKEOWN

• McKeown was affected by the schedule change on Wednesday, as she will now only have the semis of the men’s 200 IM in between the women’s 200 back semis and the final of the 800 free relay. Of course, McKeown was not a lock to swim the relay, and there’s no doubt she can cruise through the 200 back semis and make the final, but it still dims the chances she’ll end up in the relay final.
• The first schedule change that would help McKeown would be moving the semis of the women’s 100 back to the end of Day 3 if she wanted to race the 400 IM. As it currently strands, the 400 IM final is the first event of the night, and the 100 back semis are third. McKeown is elite in the 400 IM, ranking #3 in the world in 2023, but has not raced it at either the Olympics or World Championships in her career.
• The other move is essentially reversing what was done yesterday—if the 200 back semis were pushed to the top of the order on Day 6, it would leave a big gap prior to the 800 free relay.
• On Day 7, the 200 back final and 200 IM semis are already separated by two events, but one more could be added if the 200 back kicked the session off rather than the men’s 50 free final.

REGAN SMITH

• The only conflict Smith would’ve had was alleviated with the Day 6 change, as she now has three events and four heats between the final of the 200 fly and the semis of the 200 back. Before the schedule was shifted, only the men’s 200 back final was between the two.

SUMMER MCINTOSH

• The swimmer with the obvious conflict as it stands is McIntosh, who, even if she took on six individual events, would only have one real conflict on the schedule. She would have four doubles during finals sessions, but two of them are separated by the maximum amount: On Day 3 the final of the 400 IM is first and the final of the 200 free is last on the schedule. On Day 6, the final of the 200 fly is first and the 800 free relay is last on the schedule.
• The only issue is the one that came up when she dropped an 8:11.39 swim in the 800 freestyle in early February. On Day 8, the final of the 200 IM and 800 free are back-to-back. Moving one race to the start of the session would help, but realistically this is one scenario where changing the day of one of the events is probably the only way to fix her issue (though having the 200 IM at the start of the session, then the final of the men’s 100 fly, the 200 IM medal ceremony, the semis of the women’s 50 free, and the 100 fly medal ceremony, would probably give her enough time to challenge for an 800 free medal).
• The other double McIntosh might end up having is the finals of the 400 free and 400 free relay on Day 1. Only the semis of the men’s 100 breast is between them, but McIntosh has had quick turnarounds and produced strong relay splits, especially over 100 meters, previously.

CAELEB DRESSEL/MICHAEL ANDREW

• This scenario no longer really applies, as Andrew has said he’s not focusing on the 200 IM this year and Dressel never really took the event on with full force in long course. But there are only two events between the semis of the men’s 50 free and 200 IM, and that could be doubled if the 50 was moved to the top of the order.
• A more common double that both swimmers have had in the past is the 100 fly and 50 free, which coincide on Day 7. The men’s 50 free final and the 100 fly semis are separated by two events, but a shift could see that extended to three events if the 100 fly semis were moved to the end of the session (of course, that would put the women’s 200 back final even closer to the 200 IM semis, hurting someone like Kaylee McKeown, so there’s no right answer here).

200 BACK/200 IM

• The classic Ryan Lochte double that we never got to see Michael Phelps take on, the finals of the men’s 200 back and 200 IM are no longer in the same session, but the 200 back final and 200 IM semis are (with men’s 50 free semis and women’s 200 breast semis in between). Moving these events to different days was an obvious change to make, especially when Paris 2024 extended the schedule to nine days, but they remain together.
• The same goes for the women, with the 200 back final and 200 IM semis separated by just two events. This is one double that Kaylee McKeown will likely take on, and even swimmers like Regan Smith and Summer McIntosh could realistically be in the final of both races if they chose to/qualified at their Trials.