With just two weeks until the Paris Olympics kick off, the entries for the swimming have been confirmed, revealing who on the GB team will be contesting which events.
As we have come to expect from Bill Furniss and Chris Spice they have pulled out a few surprises as they seek to manage their relay resources, but to a large extent this team is as could have been predicted.
The main curveball is in the men’s sprint freestyle where the selectors are clearly aiming for maximum flexibility in the 4x100m freestyle team. That means Alex Cohoon gets an individual swim in the 50m freestyle, knocking out Matt Richards who had seemed adamant he would be taking that event on at trials, while Jacob Whittle takes the individual 100 freestyle spot vacated by Duncan Scott. That means all of the men selected for the sprint relay now have individual swims and there is no obligation to pick anyone.
The other eye catching selection is James Guy in the 100m butterfly. Again this is not a complete surprise as it means he’s not obligated to swim the 4×200, although it seems almost certain he will of course.
Elsewhere the additional swims offered are largely as expected. James Wilby gets the 100m breaststroke, while Angharad Evans was always going to swim the equivalent women’s event. Kieran Bird is in the 400m freestyle, while Keanna MacInnes adds the 100m butterfly to the 200m event and Medi Harris fills the vacant slot in the 100m backstroke.
Of the individual event qualifiers from trials not swimming, along with Scott and Richards not competing in the 50 and 100 free, Freya Colbert and Abbie Wood have both opted out of the 200m freestyle leaving GB with no entrant in that event.
That leaves the following swimmers as relay only competitors, which could largely have been expected, the possibility of Freya Anderson having been offered an individual swim notwithstanding:
- Joe Litchfield
- Jack McMillan
- Freya Anderson
- Eva Okaro
- Lucy Hope
For the women’s relays this doesn’t really affect the selection decisions with all three certain to be involved in the heats of the 4×100 or 4×200 freestyle teams. On the men’s side, however, it now means that McMillan is inked in for the 4×200 freestyle relay heats and Litchfield must swim the heat of one of the medley relays, assuming he isn’t being drafted into a freestyle team instead.
GB Swimming Entries for Paris 2024
Additional swims not selected directly at trials are shown bold
| Event | Women | Men |
| 50m Freestyle | Anna Hopkin | Ben Proud Alex Cohoon |
| 100m Freestyle | Anna Hopkin | Matt Richards Jacob Whittle |
| 200m Freestyle | – | Matt Richards Duncan Scott |
| 400m Freestyle | – | Kieran Bird |
| 800m Freestyle | – | – |
| 1500m Freestyle | – | Dan Jervis |
| 100m Backstroke | Kathleen Dawson Medi Harris | Ollie Morgan Jonny Marshall |
| 200m Backstroke | Honey Osrin Katie Shanahan | Ollie Morgan Luke Greenbank |
| 100m Breaststroke | Angharad Evans | Adam Peaty James Wilby |
| 200m Breaststroke | – | – |
| 100m Butterfly | Keanna MacInnes | James Guy |
| 200m Butterfly | Keanna MacInnes Laura Stephens | – |
| 200m Individual Medley | Freya Colbert Abbie Wood | Duncan Scott Tom Dean |
| 400m Individual Medley | Freya Colbert Katie Shanahan | Max Litchfield |