Great Britain Announce Team Of 33 For Paris Olympics, Scott’s Six-Pack Of Targets Heading For A High Five With Dean
Olympic champions of Tokyo 2020ne Adam Peaty, Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, James Guy, Matt Richards, Anna Hopkin, Kathleen Dawson and Freya Anderson will lead a 33-strong team across pool and marathon swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Team in full at the foot of this file
The British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed that TeamGB and selectors at British Swimming have opened for almost the fullest team possible under the terms of the criteria set for qualification.
That includes all possible relay picks, meaning that for the first time in history Britain is set to have a quartet in all seven relays, a count first possible in Tokyo three years ago (It would not be the first time Britain has entered all available relays, of course).
Peaty, a three-times Olympic champion, will head to Paris to “attack” the 100m breaststroke title for a third time after his debut gold at Rio 2016 and follow-up triumph in Tokyo three years ago, his second victory making him the first British swimmer in history to retain an Olympic crown in the pool. He said:
“I’m thrilled to have made my third Olympic team. It’s always amazing to be part of Team GB, but with it being so close to home in Paris this summer, and us having more home fans there supporting us, it’s even more exciting.”
Adam Peaty – photo: the champion celebrates his second gold in Tokyo, where he became the first British swimmer in history to retain an Olympic swimming title – By Patrick B. Kraemer
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Scott, whose gold and three silvers in Tokyo made him the most decorated British athlete ever across all sports at a single Games, has a potential program of six targets, the 100 and 200m freestyle and 200m medley combined with the 4×100 and 4x200m free and 4x100m medley relays, the relays all dependent on form in Paris and selectors picks, heats and finals.
Shortly after the team announcement, Scott confirmed that he is likely to drop the solo 100m free and make it a High Five of goals, including two solos and three relays.
That leaves open the possibility that Tom Dean‘s own High Five target is alive and kicking, as third man home in the 100m free at trials, second home behind Scott in the 200IM, a definite for the 43×100 and 4x200m free relays and a possible for the 4x100m medley.
Dean, with two golds over 200m free and 4x200m free in Tokyo, will defend the relay crown with Scott, James Guy and Matt Richards, the World champion who won both the 100 and 200m free at trials a touch ahead of Scott, Dean locked out of the defence of the solo 200m crown in Paris.
Both Dean and Guy will be looking to add to their tallies of two Olympic golds apiece in Tokyo, Guy’s pantheon including three relays silvers, the 4x100m medley from Tokyo, the other two from Rio 2016, is the 4x200m free and 4x100m medley.
Hopkin, Dawson and Anderson, in heats, all contributed to Britain’s mixed medley, world-record setting quartet, with Peaty and Guy, in Tokyo, where the event made its Olympic debut. The Paris team also includes among its big medal shots Britain’s fastest-ever swimmer, Ben Proud, who in 2022 became the first swimmer ever to claim 50m free titles at World, European and Commonwealth levels in the same year.
Memories of Britain’s Celebration In Tokyo:
All photos by Patrick B. Kraemer
Ten To Make Their Olympic Debuts In Paris
Ten pool swimmers will make their Olympic debut at La Defense Arena in July, including Freya Colbert and Oliver Morgan, both on the cusp of medal-shot status as they head for Paris.
At trials in London early this month, Colbert moved her game on with a 4mins 34 win in the 400m medley, more than 2secs off the time she clocked to claim gold at the Doha 2024 ‘intercalated’ World Championships in the absence of the Paris podium favourites.
Morgan cracked the 53sec mark to break Liam Tancock‘s 15-year-old British 100m backstroke record at trials in London and pipped Luke Greenbank, Olympic bronze medallist in the 200m backstroke to make his first Olympic team with a strong shot at making finals.
The count of 33 includes the 10km marathon swimmers who had already met the qualification criteria: Tokyo 2020 Olympian Hector Pardoe, bronze medallist in Doha, and will race alongside Tobi Robinson in Paris, while their teammate Leah Crisp will represent Britain in the women’s marathon in the River Seine, marking the first time since Beijing 2008 that Team GB will have three athletes contesting the 10km at one Games.
All who made target times at trials made the team, along with all possible relay reserves, with Kieren Bird, a fraction out the 400-m free target time, also in the fold for Paris. There was no place for Amelia Blocksidge, the 14-year-old who won the 800 and 1500m freestyle titles at British Championships and trials but too far outside the target times set by selectors. Never an easy call, ‘the where do you draw the line’ never still in a shifting-sand of possibilities, but history also shows how inspiration at a first Games when very young can light the flame that fuels champions, Britain’s Sharron Davies, Australia’s Michelle Ford and Tracy Wickham among those who were 13 when selected for their first Games before going on to lead the clean world in their events on major occasions.
Of the relay picks who left trials uncertain whether they would make the cut, some with a shot at solo action come Paris, Eva Okaro, Freya Anderson, James Wilby and Jacob Whittle were among those celebrating TeamGB selection.
Okaro is the first black woman to make the Great Britain Olympic pool swimming team: she and her mother Helen spoke to The Times for Black History month when Eva was still 15, their perspective and experience of a sport often cited as “white”, highlighting some of the key messages of Ed Accura’s Blacks Can’t Swim (oh, yes they can!) campaign, and subsequent formation of the Black Swimming Association, among its directors the first black female swimmer in Olympic history, former marathoner Alice Dearing.
Head Coach Bill Furniss, mentor to Rebecca Adlington, double gold medallist of 2008 in the 400 and 800m free and bronze medallist in the same events four years on at London 2012, said: “The swimmers have come through a tough selection process and earned the chance to show what they are capable of on the Olympic stage. We have a mix of proven experience and some exciting new talent, and our relay strength is encouraging in many events.
“The challenge for everyone on the team is to maximise the final months of preparation and produce their best performance of the season in the Olympic arena.”
Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England said: “Team GB has a proud tradition in Olympic swimming competitions, and I am delighted to welcome all 33 athletes to the team for Paris 2024. The strength and depth of our pool swimming team was evident to see at the recent Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, and along with the ten swimmers making their debut for Team GB it is fantastic to welcome back seven Olympic Champions and nine Olympic medallists.
“I have no doubt the thrilling races we saw at the British Championships last week will be equally close fought. It is also fantastic to have three athletes contesting the marathon swimming races for the first time since 2008 and we’re excited to watch them all compete against the best in the world.”
Aquatics GB Performance Director Chris Spice heading to his third Games, reflected on trials in London: “On top of some outstanding individual swims, the collective displays showed that we are in a really good place across multiple relay events, which has been a key focus for us over recent years – and the depth that this team possesses is fantastic.”
He looked forward to Paris, adding: “As well as 12 Olympic debutants across the pool and marathon programmes, we will have five three-time Olympians and the valuable experiences of so many who were part of a memorable Games in Tokyo, so we cannot wait to see how this team comes together with the aim of swimming faster in the summer. We know each and every athlete can do that, and that would put us in a very good place in Paris, where we are relishing having packed crowds and plenty of British support roaring us on.”
Paris 2024 Olympic Swimming Team:
Freya Anderson, Bath Performance Centre
Kieran Bird, Bath Performance Centre
Alex Cohoon, Loughborough University
Freya Colbert, Loughborough Performance Centre
Leah Crisp, Bath Performance Centre
Kathleen Dawson, University of Stirling
Tom Dean, Bath Performance Centre
Angharad Evans, University of Stirling
Luke Greenbank, Loughborough Performance Centre
James Guy, Millfield
Medi Harris, Loughborough Performance Centre
Lucy Hope, University of Stirling
Anna Hopkin, Loughborough Performance Centre
Daniel Jervis, Swim Wales High Performance Centre
Joe Litchfield, Loughborough Performance Centre
Max Litchfield, Loughborough Performance Centre
Keanna MacInnes, University of Stirling
Jonathon Marshall, Carnegie
Jack McMillan, University of Stirling
Oliver Morgan, Birmingham University
Eva Okaro, Repton
Honey Osrin, Loughborough University
Hector Pardoe, Loughborough University
Adam Peaty, Loughborough Performance Centre
Ben Proud, Bath University
Matthew Richards, Millfield
Toby Robinson, Loughborough University
Duncan Scott, University of Stirling
Katie Shanahan, University of Stirling
Laura Stephens, Loughborough Performance Centre
Jacob Whittle, Bath Performance Centre
James Wilby, Loughborough Performance Centre
Abbie Wood, Loughborough Performance Centre