A record 57 athletes, confirmed by their respective National Olympic Committees and National Federations, will compete in the Marathon Swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The athletes will swim in the River Seine, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Pont Alexandre III, with the events taking place from 8-9 August 2024.

Forty-four of these athletes - 22 women and 22 men – either automatically qualified or earned their National Olympic Committee (NOC) quota places for Marathon Swimming through their performances at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka 2023 and Doha 2024.

An additional 13 athletes that achieved  the Olympic qualification standard in either the 800m or 1500m freestyle and compete in at least one of these events in Paris  are confirmed to compete in Marathon Swimming.

Women’s 10km Marathon Swimming (24 Participants Representing 17 Countries)

8 August 2024

For the Women’s 10km Marathon Swimming event two athletes – Leonie Martens (GER) and Ginevra Taddeucci (ITA) – qualified with their 800m pool times. As a result of qualifying through this pathway, Martens and Taddeucci are also required to compete in the 800m swimming competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Men’s 10km Individual (33 Participants Representing 24 Countries)

9 August 2024

For the Men’s 10km Marathon Swimming event, 11 athletes qualified to compete through their pool swimming performances. Six athletes – Felix Auboeck (AUT), Guilherme Costa (BRA), Daniel Wiffen (IRL), Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), Emir Batur Albayrak (TUR), David Johnston (USA) – qualified with their 800m pool times.  Five athletes – Carlos Garach Benito (ESP), Kim Woomin (KOR), Henrik Christiansen (NOR), Victor Johansson (SWE), Ahmed Jaouadi (TUN) – qualified with their 1500m pool times. As a result of qualifying through this pathway, these 11 athletes are also required to compete in either the 800m or 1500m swimming competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Breakdown of Competing Athletes by Country

Athletes from 30 countries are confirmed to compete in Marathon Swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, two off the Olympic record for country representation in Marathon Swimming (London 2012).

 Here is a breakdown of the competing athlete participation numbers by country and gender:

Olympic History of Marathon Swimming

In the first three editions of the modern Olympic Games, all swimming events were held in natural bodies of water. It was not until 1908 that swimming competitions were moved to pools.

In 1991, World Aquatics brought back open water swimming on the international stage when the sport made its debut at the World Aquatics Championships – Perth 1991.  

Marathon Swimming made its Olympic debut at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The Paris 2024 Olympics will be the fifth time that the sport is contested at the Games.

Olympic Palmares in Marathon Swimming Coming into Paris 2024

Florian Wellbrock of Germany comes into the Paris 2024 Olympics as the defending Marathon Swimming champion for men. Three other Olympic medallists in Marathon Swimming will also compete in Paris 2024. Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary won silver and Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy earned bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, while Marc-Antoine Olivier of France secured bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil is the reigning women’s Marathon Swimming champion. Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands  also comes into Paris as an Olympic champion, having won gold at the Rio 2016 Games and silver at the Tokyo 2020 Games. She is also the defending world champion in the individual 10km. Leonie Beck of Germany was the first athlete to qualify for the women’s Marathon Swimming event by winning the Women’s 10km Individual event at the World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023.

About the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Pathway for Marathon Swimming

World Aquatics collaborated closely with the IOC Sports Department, the leadership of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Technical Committee, and consulted with its National Member Federations to develop qualification principles for men’s and women’s Marathon Swimming events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Aquatics Olympics Qualification Principles for the Paris 2024 Games were published on 18 June 2022. For these principles, please refer to the following link: Aquatics Olympic Qualification System Principles.

World Aquatics published the Qualified Athletes and NOC Quota Positions for Marathon Swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics on 6 February 2024, following the conclusion of the open water swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024.

About World Aquatics 

Driven by the vision of a world united by water for health, life and sport, World Aquatics is the international governing body for aquatic sports. Founded in 1908, World Aquatics is an independent organisation of 210 National Federations and five Continental Organisations.  

World Aquatics oversees six aquatic sports – swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming, and high diving – and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the leading global authority on these sports.