Ask most people on Planet Earth where the nearest 50m pool is to their home…and a vast majority of humans will not know. But ask most people on Planet Earth where the nearest open body of water is to their home…and nearly everyone will know about the nearest river, lake, bay, sea, or ocean is.
Open bodies of water are ubiquitous around the world; simply put, 50m competitive swimming pools are not. The pools are costly to build and costly to maintain. In contrast, rivers, lakes, ponds, bays, seas, fjords, and oceans are Mother Nature’s gift to humankind.
In a way, this reality is reflective of the opportunities for ambitious and talented male and female aquatic athletes at the Summer Olympic Games. That is, if we compare the number of countries that qualify finalists in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim to the number of countries that qualify finalists in the 400m individual medley or the 200m freestyle (as two examples) in the pool, and the number of countries that qualify teams in the Olympic water polo events, and the number of countries that qualify finalists in the 10m platform diving event, marathon swimming for both men and women clearly offers greater opportunities across the globe.
Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Finalists
Olympic 10K marathon swim medals (gold, silver, and bronze) between the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics have been won by athletes from the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Hungary, Russia, Tunisia, Greece, USA, France, Canada, and Australia (13 countries total).
But when we review the data from a wider perspective, the global distribution of marathon swimmers is vast.
The Olympic marathon swim finalists at these 5 Olympic Games have come from Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Brazil, Hungary, Russia, Tunisia, Greece, USA, France, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Monaco, Mexico, Peru, Canada, China, Israel, Ecuador, Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Turkey, Norway, Namibia, Sweden, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa, Ukraine, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, New Zealand, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Syria, Switzerland, Croatia, Malaysia, and Guam.
That is, a total of 51 countries have qualified their representatives for the Olympic marathon swim.
400m Individual Medley Finalists
Compare this global distribution of Olympic marathon swimmers (51 countries) to the number of countries with Olympic male and female pool swimmers who qualified in the men’s and women’s 400m individual medley finals between the 2008 and 2024 Olympic Games: France, Japan, USA, Great Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Hungary, Spain, Brazil, South Africa, China, Zimbabwe, and Russia.
That is, the Olympic finalists in the 400m individual medley at these 5 Olympic Games have come from 17 different countries.
51 versus 17.
200m Freestyle Finalists
Compare this global distribution of Olympic marathon swimmers (51) to the number of countries with Olympic male and female pool swimmers who qualified in the men’s and women’s 200m freestyle between the 2008 and 2024 Olympic Games: Italy, Slovenia, China, USA, Romania, Great Britain, Australia, France, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Romania, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Canada, Czech Republic, and New Zealand.
That is, the Olympic finalists in the 200m freestyle at these 5 Olympic Games have come from 23 different countries.
51 versus 23.
Olympic Water Polo Teams
Compare this global distribution of Olympic marathon swimmers (51) to the number of countries that qualified for the opening rounds of men’s and women’s Olympic water polo between the 2008 and 2024 Olympic Games: Hungary, USA, Serbia, Montenegro, Spain, Croatia, Greece, Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, China, Netherlands, Russia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Brazil, France, Japan, and South Africa.
That is, the Olympic qualifying water polo teams at these 5 Olympic Games have come from 21 different countries.
51 versus 21.
10m Platform Diving
Compare this global distribution of Olympic marathon swimmers (51) to the number of countries with male and female 10m platform divers that qualified between the 2008 and 2024 Olympics: China, Japan, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Ukraine, North Korea, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, Malaysia, France, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Cuba, Columbia, and Sweden.
That is, the Olympic qualifying platform diving finalists at these 5 Olympic Games have come from 20 countries.
51 versus 20.
It is marathon swimming with a clear advantage in its global distribution of Olympic athletes, compared to pool swimming, water polo, and diving.
Comparison
51 countries have Olympic marathon swim finalists versus 17 countries in the 400m individual medley versus 23 countries in the 200m freestyle versus 21 countries in water polo versus 20 countries in 10m platform diving, male and female at the 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
And in a rare twist of fate, Olympic marathon swimming is the only aquatic discipline with finalists (and a medalist) who either survived leukemia or is an amputee with the likes of Olympic gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands and Natalie du Toit of South Africa.
© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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