Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Team GB Swimming Hopes

With the season of Spring in full swing and Summer fast approaching, we can start looking forward to what will be an enthralling year of sport. The big event of the Summer for sports fans will be the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with Team GB expected to enter teams in most events.

It is a chance for fans of all sports to come together and watch the best athletes in the world go head-to-head to win what is arguably the most historic title on the planet in their respective sports. Here at Engage we will be doing a mini series of what to expect as the Olympics approach.

Team GB look like they will shape up well on dry-land in their hunt for gold medals, but what about in the pool? Team GB’s swimming team have enjoyed plenty of success in the Olympics over the years with 16 Olympic golds as well as 55 silver and bronze medals in total. Famous names involved in British swimming success include Anita Lonsbrough, the first woman to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Rebecca Adlington, Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott.

Swimming was introduced to the Olympics in 1896, originally with races taking place in a natural environment until 1908 where they moved to a pool. With only freestyle to begin with, backstroke and breaststroke were added in 1904 before butterfly was added in 1956 to complete the four swimming actions of the sport. Over the years, USA have famously dominated the sport owing much of that credit to Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals.

Athletes can expect to perform in the state of the art Paris La Defense Arena in 2024. Opened in 2017, the venue has hosted rugby matches, performing artists, conventions and more. Fans can watch the action on the world’s largest interactive screen (it is the size of seven tennis courts!). It is located in the La Defense business district, easily accessible via public transport and up the road from the iconic Arc De Triomphe.

So who can we expect to see on the podium for Team GB? Undoubtedly, the biggest name in GB swimming in recent years and one of the greatest breaststroke swimmers of all time, Adam Peaty will return to defend his Olympic title.

Three time Olympic Champion, he is on the hunt for his third consecutive Olympic breaststroke gold. He has broken the World Record 14 times, currently holding the 50m and 100m breaststroke records, and is also 8-time World Champion. After a 2-year battle with mental health, he is now on the comeback trail for Paris and is more eager than ever to win three in a row.

Duncan Scott will also be on the plane to the French capital. The Scotsman made history in Tokyo becoming Britain’s most decorated athlete at a single Games taking home 4 medals (3 silver, 1 gold) while also becoming the most decorated British Olympic swimmer in history. Scott will be keen to retain GB’s 4x200m freestyle title, while also gunning for individual success in the 200m freestyle and 200m medley where he was beaten to the gold by fellow Briton Tom Dean and Chinese swimmer Wang Shun in 2021.

Dean, Tokyo 2020’s double Olympic Champion, will also be back to defend his title while fellow double Olympic Champion James Guy is also in the 33-strong GB Team hoping to play a part in the medal effort. Matt Richards will also be on the plane, the fourth man in the 4x200m freestyle team alongside Scott, Dean and Guy.

Kathleen Dawson, Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson have also been selected. Olympic Champions in the mixed 4x100m medley in Tokyo, the trio will hope to contribute to yet another gold medal.

Freya Colbert will also be a medal contender after becoming World Champion in the 400m medley in Doha earlier this year. A breakthrough year for the 20-year old, could she make it even better by winning gold in Paris?

In other events, Team GB will field a strong swimming team in the marathon events with Hector Pardoe, Leah Crisp and Toby Robinson taking part. Crisp and Robinson make their debuts in the 10km swim, with Pardoe hopeful of turning his 2024 World Championship bronze medal to gold in Paris.

So with such a strong team, can we see one of Team GB’s best medal hauls yet in Olympic swimming? It certainly looks possible and has the promise to be a very successful Games for the British team. Why not be part of their success? Watch the pool action in person from the best seats in the house with Engage Hospitality with the swimming events taking place from the 27th July to the 4th August.

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