{"id":587212,"date":"2024-06-13T11:27:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T18:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=587212"},"modified":"2024-06-13T11:27:01","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T18:27:01","slug":"the-paris-olympic-century-100-years-makes-a-major-difference-in-u-s-olympic-qualification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/the-paris-olympic-century-100-years-makes-a-major-difference-in-u-s-olympic-qualification\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paris Olympic Century: 100 Years Makes a Major Difference in U.S. Olympic Qualification"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Paris Olympic Century: 100 Years Makes a Major Difference in U.S. Olympic Qualification<\/strong><\/p>\n

America\u2019s best swimmers will descend on Indianapolis next week for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. By the end of June 23, the swimmers will know who will travel to Paris and, almost down to the minute, when and how often they will swim in the French capital at the end of July and beginning of August.<\/p>\n

The group of Olympic swimmers that voyaged to Paris in 1924 had nothing close to that level of clarity.<\/p>\n

Back in 1924, the path to get on the boat \u2013 not the plane, but the Steamship America \u2013 was far more opaque and far less standardized. With two qualification meets in the United States, one of which led to a cross-country trip with stops to reach the team departure point of New York \u2013 and a final qualification in Paris, the 1924 swim team presents an anomaly unthinkable now.<\/p>\n

Officially, the 1924 Olympic swimming roster counts 40 individuals \u2013 18 women and 22 men \u2013 who traveled to Paris (including divers and water polo players, of which there was substantial overlap, it\u2019s 25 women and 39 men). But only 12 women and 14 men actually competed in swimming events in the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n