How To Watch Swimming At The 2024 Paris Olympics

The 2024 Paris Olympics get underway on Friday, July 26 with the Opening Ceremony. The pool swimming competition kicks off the next day in La Défense Arena and runs from Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, August 4. Open water events are scheduled for Thursday, August 8, and Friday, August 9.

Set your alarm clocks early to watch each day’s preliminary session at 5 am ET. Finals sessions, which feature semifinals and medal rounds, kick off at 2:30 pm ET. On August 4, the final day of the competition, there is only the last finals session, which starts two hours earlier at 12:30 pm ET.

All the morning sessions air live on USA Network. Finals sessions are live on NBC. Sessions are also available on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, and the NBC and NBCOlympics app.

Schedule

Saturday, July 27

• Preliminaries: Women’s 100-meter butterfly, Women’s 400-meter freestyle, Men’s 100-meter breaststroke, Men’s 400-meter freestyle, Women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay
• Finals: Women’s 100-meter butterfly semis, Men’s 400-meter freestyle final, Women’s 400-meter freestyle final, Men’s 100-meter breaststroke semis, Women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay final, Men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay final

Sunday, July 28

• Preliminaries: Men’s 200-meter freestyle, Men’s 400-meter IM, Women’s 100-meter breaststroke, Men’s 100-meter backstroke, Women’s 200-meter freestyle
• Finals: Men’s 400-meter IM final, Women’s 100-meter butterfly final, Men’s 200-meter freestyle semis, Women’s 100-meter breaststroke semis, Men’s 100-meter backstroke semis, Men’s 100-meter breaststroke final, women’s 200-meter freestyle semis

Monday, July 29

• Preliminaries: Women’s 400-meter IM, Women’s 100-meter backstroke, Men’s 800-meter freestyle
• Finals: Women’s 400-meter IM final, Men’s 200-meter freestyle final, Women’s 100-meter backstroke semis, Men’s 100-meter backstroke final, Women’s 100-meter breaststroke final, Women’s 200-meter freestyle final

Tuesday, July 30

• Preliminaries: Men’s 200-meter butterfly, Men’s 100-meter freestyle, Women’s 1500-meter freestyle, Women’s 100-meter freestyle, Men’s 200-meter breaststroke, Men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay
• Finals: Men’s 100-meter freestyle semis, Men’s 200-meter butterfly semis, Women’s 100-meter backstroke final, Men’s 800-meter freestyle final, Women’s 100-meter freestyle semis, Men’s 200-meter breaststroke semis, Men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay final

Wednesday, July 31

• Preliminaries: Women’s 200-meter breaststroke, Men’s 200-meter backstroke, Women’s 200-meter butterfly
• Finals: Women’s 100-meter freestyle final, Men’s 200-meter butterfly final, Women’s 200-meter butterfly semis, Women’s 1500-meter freestyle final, Men’s 200-meter backstroke semis, Women’s 200-meter breaststroke semis, Men’s 200-meter breaststroke final, Men’s 100-meter freestyle final

Thursday, August 1

• Preliminaries: Women’s 200-meter backstroke, Men’s 50-meter freestyle, Men’s 200-meter IM, Women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay
• Finals: Women’s 200-meter butterfly final, Men’s 200-meter backstroke final, Men’s 50-meter freestyle semis, Women’s 200-meter breaststroke final, Women’s 200-meter backstroke semis, Men’s 200-meter IM semis, Women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay final

Friday, August 2

• Preliminaries: Men’s 100-meter butterfly, Women’s 200-meter IM, Women’s 800-meter freestyle, Mixed 4×100-meter medley relay
• Finals: Men’s 50-meter freestyle final, Women’s 200-meter backstroke final, Men’s 200-meter IM final, Men’s 100-meter butterfly semis, Women’s 200-meter IM semis

Saturday, August 3

• Preliminaries: Women’s 50-meter freestyle, Men’s 1500-meter freestyle, Men’s 4×100-meter medley relay, Women’s 4×100-meter medley relay
• Finals: Men’s 100-meter butterfly final, Women’s 50-meter freestyle semis, Women’s 200-meter IM final, Women’s 800-meter freestyle final, Mixed 4×100-meter medley relay final

Sunday, August 4

• Finals: Women’s 50-meter freestyle final, Men’s 1500-meter freestyle final, Men’s 4×100-meter medley relay final, Women’s 4×100-meter medley relay final

How The Competition Works

The journey through the rounds of an event starts in the morning preliminaries for every swimmer. In every event below 400 meters, the top 16 advance to the semifinals during that evening’s session. From there, the field is whittled down to the top eight who advance to the next day’s final and compete for the medals.

There are no semifinals for relays and individual events 400 meters and longer. The top eight swimmers in the morning advance directly to the final. The 400-meter freestyle and individual medley finals race on the same day as the preliminaries. Finals of the distance events—the 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle—take place the following evening.

When To Watch Team USA’s Biggest Stars

Katie Ledecky

• Preliminaries: July 27, 400-meter freestyle; July 30, 1500-meter freestyle; August 2, 800-meter freestyle
• Finals: July 27, 400-meter freestyle final; July 31, 1500-meter freestyle final; August 1, 4×200-meter freestyle relay final; August 3, 800-meter freestyle final

Katie Ledecky, who’s 27-year-old, is looking to continue writing history in Paris as she aims for a record fourth consecutive gold medal in the women’s 800-meter freestyle. She’s the strong favorite to win that race and the 1500-meter freestyle. In the women’s 400-meter freestyle, she faces tough competition from Ariarne Titmus, world record holder and defending Olympic champion, and Summer McIntosh, the former world record holder.

Caeleb Dressel

• Preliminaries: July 27, men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay; August 1, 50-meter freestyle, August 2, 100-meter butterfly
• Finals: July 27, 4×100-meter freestyle relay final; August 1, 50-meter freestyle semis; August 2, 50-meter freestyle final, 100-meter butterfly semis; August 3, 100-meter butterfly final; August 4, 4×100-meter medley relay final

Caeleb Dressel completed his comeback to the sport by making his third U.S. Olympic team. He’s continued to improve throughout the 2023-24 season and aims to continue the trend at the Games. He’s the defending Olympic champion in both the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly and while he’s in podium contention, both races have deep fields.

Regan Smith

• Preliminaries: July 29, 100-meter backstroke; July 31, 200-meter butterfly; August 1, 200-meter backstroke
• Finals: July 29, 100-meter backstroke semis; July 30, 100-meter backstroke final; July 31, 200-meter butterfly semis; August 1, 200-meter butterfly final, 200-meter backstroke semis; August 2, 200-meter backstroke final; August 4, 4×100-meter medley relay final

Regan Smith is looking to improve on her medal haul from Tokyo, where she won two silver medals (200-meter butterfly, 4×100-meter medley relay) and one bronze (100-meter backstroke). She’s also added the 200-meter backstroke to her Olympic schedule. At the U.S. Olympic Trials, Smith broke Kaylee McKeown’s 100-meter backstroke world record by two-tenths (57.13). The pair face off twice in Paris. First in the 100-meter backstroke, then again in the 200-meter backstroke. While Smith reclaimed the 100-meter backstroke world record last month, McKeown is the defending Olympic champion in both events and still owns the 200-meter backstroke world record.

Kate Douglass

• Preliminaries: July 31, 200-meter breaststroke; August 2, 200-meter IM
• Finals: July 27, 4×100-meter freestyle relay final; July 31, 200-meter breaststroke semis; August 1, 200-meter breaststroke final; August 2, 200-meter IM semis; August 3, 200-meter IM final; August 4, 4×100-meter medley relay final

Kate Douglass, one of the most versatile swimmers in history, will be busy in Paris. She dropped the 100-meter freestyle from her schedule—which she won at the U.S. Olympic Trials—to focus on the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter IM. Still, as the fastest American woman in the 100-meter freestyle this season, she will be called on for the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay and the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay.