By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
2024 World Swimming Championships (25m)
- December 10-December 15, 2024
- Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
- Short Course Meters (25 meters)
- Official Meet Site
In spite of a $2.1 million prize pool available at the 2024 Short Course World Swimming Championships in Budapest starting later this month, most of the Olympic medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will not be participating.
In fact, only 10/42 (23.8%) of individual Olympic medals in men’s events and only 20/42 (47.6%) of individual Olympic medals in women’s events will be represented at the Short Course World Championships, with at least one more committed high-profile swimmer rumored to be on the ropes.
When original rosters and winter plans were announced, the numbers looked much better, but the defection of a couple of high profile swimmers like Leon Marchand, Torri Huske, and Kaylee McKeown have whacked the anticipated starpower of the meet.
Among other medalists, some, like Tatjana Schoenmaker Smith, have retired. Others, like home-nation star Kristof Milak, need time to train. The same goes for Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy.
Some, like Katie Ledecky, just don’t race Short Course Worlds (she never has).
For whatever the reason, the charts below show who is in, and who is out, as of today, from the Budapest Short Course world Championships.
That still leaves some good matchups – like Summer McIntosh versus Kate Douglass in the 200 IM or Lukas Maertens versus Elijah Winnington in the 400 free – but will also leave some wide open events – like the men’s 100 free, 200 IM, 100 breast, and the men’s distance events, which will have no Olympic medalists participating.
That leaves opportunities – especially for swimmers who excel in short course versus long course – to win big medals and big money.
That includes swimmers like Canadian Ilya Kharun, who has been electric early in the NCAA season, and Regan Smith, who broke World Records in the 100 and 200 backstrokes in short course meters during the World Cup Series.
Below is a table of who is in and who is out among Paris 2024 Olympic medalists.
H/T to SwimSwam reader Caeleb GOAT, who found this format on Weibo.
Men’s In/Out
Green = in, Red = out
For colorblind folks:
Women’s In/Out
Green = in, Red = out
For colorblind folks:
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Which Olympic Medalists Are “In” and Which Are “Out” for the 2024 SC World Championships?