At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, there were a total of 25 men and 25 women who qualified for each of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swims.
But the number of slots were initially reduced from 25 swimmers to 22 swimmers during the current quadrennial.
Essentially, the number of slots for marathon swimmers was reduced to make way for athletes in other disciplines.
But on July 8th, the IOC and World Aquatics confirmed a total of 57 athletes – not 22 men and 22 women – were confirmed by their National Olympic Committees and National Federations to compete in 6-loop course in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 24 women will represent 17 countries and 33 men will represent 24 countries in the River Seine near the famed Eiffel Tower at Pont Alexandre III on August 8th and 9th (if everything goes according to Plan A).
So what happened?
How did 44 slots become 57 swimmers?
Initially, 22 women and 22 men automatically qualified or earned their National Olympic Committee quota through their performances at the World Aquatics Championships held in either Fukuoka in 2023 or Doha in 2024. But an additional 11 men and 2 women achieved the Olympic qualification standard in either the 800m or 1500m freestyle and were also entered in the marathon swim.
This addition of 13 fast pool distance swimmers has completely changed the anticipated game in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. With faster swimmers, the pace will immediately start fast and stay fast throughout the race with an even faster finish.
Felix Auboeck of Austria, Guilherme Costa of Brazil, Daniel Wiffen of Ireland, Kuzey Tuncelli and Emir Batur Albayrak of Turkey, David Johnston of the USA, and Leonie Martens of Germany and Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy each qualified for a marathon swimming slot due to their fast 800m pool times.
Carlos Garach Benito of Spain, Kim Woomin of South Korea, Henrik Christiansen of Norway, Victor Johansson of Sweden, and Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia each qualified for a marathon swimming slot due to their fast 1500m times.
World Aquatics TOWSC Chairman Sid Cassidy explains why the inclusion of elite pool swimmers from the 800m and 1500m freestyle were accepted into the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, “There is logic. This [inclusion] was totally my idea and was pushed through at my insistence. When ]the IOC and World Aquatics] told the Technical Open Water Swimming Committee that we had to cut from 25 entrants to 22, I adamantly demanded they allow us this window to help us grow the Olympic [marathon swimming] event.
Even before they swim, I would tell you it’s already a success.
Some of the pool swimmers have more open water swim experience than others, so it will certainly be interesting and it does give people something else to talk about. ]This is] something we want. In the end, it provides us with a better Olympic race.
It also allows the distance [swimmers] at the Olympics to have an opportunity for another medal, for more exposure, and in turn making their sponsors happy.
It is a completely different world from when [professional marathon swimmers] swam in Canada in the 1970’s. And it also a far cry from the 25 km [marathon swims] of the 1990’s. But there will never be a 25 km event in the Olympic Games – and we want to make sure [the open water swimming community] never loses the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.”
Female Olympic 10 km Marathon Swimmers
- Chelsea Gubecka, Australia
- Moesha Johnson, Australia
- Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil
- Viviane Jungblut, Brazil
- Emma Finlin, Canada
- Xin Xin, China
- Maria de Valdes Alvarez, Spain
- Angela Martinez Guillen, Spain
- Oceane Cassignol, France
- Caroline Laure Jouisse, France
- Leah Phoebe Crisp, Great Britain
- Leonie Beck, Germany
- Leonie Martens, Germany
- Bettina Fabian, Hungary
- Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Italy
- Ginevra Taddeucci, Italy
- Airi Ebina, Japan
- Martha Sandoval Ayala, Mexico
- Lisa Pou, Monaco
- Sharon van Rouwendaal, Netherlands
- Maria Alejandra Bramont-Arias, Peru
- Angelica Andre, Portugal
- Mariah Denigan, USA
- Katie Grimes, USA
Male Olympic 10 km Marathon Swimmers
- Kyle Lee, Australia
- Nick Sloman, Australia
- Felix Auboeck, Austria
- Jan Hercog, Austria
- Guilherme Costa, Brazil
- Martin Straka, Czech Republic
- David Andres Farinango Berru, Ecuador
- Carlos Garach Benito, Spain
- Logan Fontaine, France
- Marc-Antoine Olivier, France
- Hector Pardoe, Great Britain
- Tobias Patrick Robinson, Great Britain
- Oliver Klemet, Germany
- Florian Wellbrock, Germany
- Athanasios Charalampos Kynigakis, Greece
- David Betlehem, Hungary
- Kristóf Rasovszky, Hungary
- Daniel Wiffen, Ireland
- Matan Roditi, Israel
- Domenico Acerenza, Italy
- Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy
- Taishin Minamide, Japan
- Woomin Kim, South Korea
- Paulo Strehlke Delgado, Mexico
- Phillip Seidler, Namibia
- Henrik Christiansen, Norway
- Piotr Wozniak, Poland
- Victor Johansson, Sweden
- Ahmed Jaouadi, Tunisia
- Emir Batur Albayrak, Turkey
- Kuzey Tuncelli, Turkey
- David Johnston, USA
- Ivan Puskovitch, USA
Race Course on the Seine – Plan A
Race Course in the Rowing Basin at Nautical Stadium Olympic d’île-De-France – Plan B
When British competitive pool swimmer and Olympic 10 km marathon swim silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne was asked if she considers herself a pool swimmer or an open water swimmer, she replied, “I am a swimmer.“
The merging of the two different disciplines – pool swimming and open water swimming – seems closer and closer ss the Paris Olympics approaches.
Let the Games begin. Watch the world’s fastest swimming humans in the open water on August 8th and 9th.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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