Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification
This section tabulates the heads of qualification in a form suitable to be filled in as events progress. The full qualification rules[1] for swimming published by AQUA contain intricate conditions too lengthy for inclusion in Wikipedia.
This section tabulates the heads of qualification in a form suitable to be filled in as events progress. The full qualification rules[2] for open water swimming published by contain intricate conditions too lengthy for inclusion in Wikipedia.
This article details the qualifying phase for swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics. 852 swimmers competed in thirty-five swimming pool events at the Games, with forty-four more racing through the 10-kilometre open water marathon. The qualification window for swimming pool events occurred between 1 March 2023 and 23 June 2024.[3]
Qualification summary
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both of them had attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT). One athlete per event can potentially enter if they met the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), or if the total quota of 852 athletes had not been targeted. NOCs could also permit swimmers regardless of time (one per gender) under a Universality place if they had no swimmers attaining either of the standard entry times (OQT/OCT).[1][4][5]
For the relays, a maximum of 16 qualifying teams in each event must have been permitted to accumulate a total of 112 relay teams; each NOC could enter only one team. The top three teams in each relay race at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan directly booked a slot for their corresponding event at the Olympics, while the remaining thirteen vying for qualification per relay race must have attained their best time from the heats and finals at the combined 2023 and 2024 meet in Doha.[3][6]
NOCs without a swimmer attaining the OQT or invited by World Aquatics through OCT could enter the highest-ranked male and female swimmer based on the Points Table (2024 edition) or one man and one woman if they participated at the 2023 or 2024 World Championships. Similar to the 2020 format, swimmers from NOCs who had achieved the OCT allocated to the universality place could compete in a maximum of two individual pool events, while those without the OQT and OCT were limited to enter only one individual pool event.[4][5]
Following the end of the qualification window, World Aquatics assessed the number of swimmers who have achieved the OQT, the number of relay-only swimmers, and the number of Universality places, before inviting those with OCT to fulfill the total quota of 852. Additionally, OCT places were distributed by event according to the position of the World Aquatics Rankings during the qualifying deadline.[4]
Time standards
The qualifying time standards must have been obtained at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships, continental championships, continental swimming meets, national championships and selection trials, and various international meets approved by World Aquatics in the period between 1 March 2023 and 23 June 2024.[7]
The following table outlines the qualifying time standards for Paris 2024:
* OQTs correspond to the time achieved by a fourteenth-place swimmer in his or her respective preliminary heat of each event at the previous Games.
ª Because the fourteenth-place swimmer achieved a standard slower than the OQT in Tokyo 2020, the OQT used at the previous Games will remain constant.
^ OCTs are derived by adding 0.5% of the OQT standard.
Individual events
Those who achieved the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT) or the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), or received a Universality place are listed below for each of the following individual events.
The remaining thirteen teams vying for qualification with the fastest times from the heats and finals of both the 2023 and 2024 World Championships (from February 2 to 18 in Doha, Qatar) entered the corresponding event in Paris 2024.[8]
All athletes entered in individual events could be used in relays, even if they had not achieved the OCT for the corresponding stroke and distance of the relay in which they are entered.[9]
13: the top thirteen swimmers vying for qualification at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar
5: one representative from each FINA continent (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania).
1: from the host nation (France) if not qualified by other means. If one or more French open water swimmers qualified regularly and directly, their slots would have been reallocated to the next highest-ranked eligible swimmers from the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
