How to watch the marathon swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

Don’t miss any open-water swimming action with our guide to how to watch the 2024 Paris Olympic Games marathon swimming events

Come the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, it isn’t just the triathletes who will be hoping to dive into the Seine for a swim.

The marathon swimming events take qualified athletes round a gruelling 10km open water swim course, with the best hoping to finish in under two hours.

To find out when the events will take place, who will be taking to the water and how you can watch all of the action, here’s a handy guide…

When will the marathon swimming events take place at Paris 2024*?

*All times are local, which is 1hr ahead of the UK.

Thursday 8 August

07:30am – Elite women’s Olympic marathon swimming race

Friday 9 August

07:30am – Elite men’s Olympic marathon swimming race

Where will the Paris Olympic triathlon events take place?

Both events start from under the Pont Alexandre III bridge – the same as the triathlon swim start.

Should the Seine fail water quality tests though, there is a plan b. In this situation the marathon swimming events would move to Vaires-sur-Marne, a nautical stadium located just outside Paris.

You can find out more about whether the water is likely to pass tests in the article here.

The dates would also change. Athletes would familiarise themselves with the new location on 10 August and then both the men’s and women’s races would take place on the 11 August.

Find out more about the marathon swimming events here.

What will the marathon swimming course be like?

If the swim goes ahead as planned in the Seine, athletes may not have an easy event – even is the water conditions are good enough in terms of levels of pollution.

The 10km will comprise six laps of 1.6km in a rectangle shape, with relatively short sections at either end for the athletes to turn around.

The main trouble however, could come with facing potentially very strong currents as Swim Smooth founder and coach Paul Newsome explains in his analysis of the race via a blog post which you can read in full here.

“Elite swimmers could reach paces of up to 20 seconds per 100m downstream, but struggle to hit 4 minutes per 100m upstream in Paris this summer,” says Newsome.

“The Seine’s flow typically ranges from 100 to 150 cubic meters per second in summer. This year, it has reached up to 670 cubic meters per second, dramatically affecting race dynamics.

The swimmers could potentially cover 795 meters downstream in under 3 minutes, but over 24 minutes upstream which would significantly alter their race strategies, especially with regards pacing and when and where to expend their biggest efforts.”

This will have had a big impact on how the swimmers have trained, with upper body strength against the strong currents being key.

Open water tactics will also be key. “Drafting will be crucial in this event,” continues Paul. “Swimmers need to tuck in on the feet in the negative flow to avoid the disastrous outcome of losing the pack and position themselves on the hip of a faster swimmer in the positive flow”.

The athletes will also need to be careful to navigate the fastest/slowest areas of the river on each lap as well as being mindful of feeding strategies in challenging conditions.

Which marathon swimmers have qualified for the Paris Olympic Games?

A total of 44 athletes will compete in the marathon swimming events in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 22 in the men’s event and 22 in the women’s. Between them they will represent 24 nations. The athletes will have either automatically qualified or earned their National Olympic Committee (NOC) quota places.

The top three finishers in both genders of the open water swimming 10km events at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships which were held last July in Fukuoka, Japan, earned a personal invitation and automatically qualified.

In the women’s race these were:
Gold: Leonie Beck (GER), silver: Chelsea Gubecka (AUS), bronze: Katie Grimes (USA)

In the men’s race these were:
Gold: Florian Wellbrock (GER), silver: Kristof Rasovsky (HUN), bronze: Oliver Klemet (GER)

Germany’s Florian Wellbrock will likely have a target on his back as the existing Olympic champion. Wellbrock achieved a world record time of 1:48:33 in the men’s race in Tokyo 2020.

In the women’s race, Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil is the reigning marathon swimming titleholder, with a Tokyo 2020 time of 1:59:30. Cunha qualified at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

Who will be representing Great Britain in the Paris 2024 marathon swimming events?

Team GB have three athletes qualified for the marathon swimming events.

In the men’s event, Hector Pardoe and Toby Robinson will represent Team GB, while in the women’s race all hopes are on Leah Crisp.

Hector Pardoe made his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, where he sustained a nasty eye injury after being knocked in the face by an elbow, resulting in a DNF.

In 2023, he set a new record for the fastest swim from end to end of Lake Windermere, covering it in 3:40:28.

On 4 February 2024, Pardoe finished third in the 10km marathon swim at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar and qualified for Paris in the process.

Toby Robinson won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 qualifier but narrowly missed out on an Olympic spot due to the one-per-nation rule. 

He finished 15th at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha to secure a quota place for Team GB. 

In the women’s race, Leah Crisp will be hoping to make her mark in her first Olympics. The 2019 800m and 1500m freestyle British champion made her official move to the long-distance event in 2023.

Crisp finished 17th in Doha to secure a quota spot in just her second season of open water swimming.

Where to watch the Paris 2024 Olympic Games marathon swimming events

The BBC and Eurosport will be providing extensive coverage of the Olympic Games in the UK, including both the marathon swimming events. BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button will also stream some of the action alongside their coverage on BBC One and Two.

In the United States, viewers can find exclusive coverage on NBC, and in a Summer Games first for Peacock the service will stream every sport and event, including all 329 medal events.

Find out which triathletes have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and also how to watch the triathlon events.