IndyStar is reporting that Indianapolis is likely to win the bid to host the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in 2024. Although IUPUI has hosted the Trials a handful of times previously, the last of which came in 2000, the proposal for the 2024 Trials is reportedly to construct temporary pools in Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL team.
There is a news conference scheduled for Tuesday in Indy, where it’s expected it will be announced that Indianapolis has won the bid. The other finalists are Omaha, which has hosted the past 4 Trials meets, Minneapolis, and St. Louis.
Indianapolis has a history of hosting high-level swim meets, having hosted the Olympic Trials a number of times, NCAA Championships at every level, and even the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships. IUPUI hosted the U.S. Diving Olympic Trials last summer as well, marking the 7th time Indy has hosted that meet.
Since 2008, Omaha, Nebraska has hosted the Olympic Swimming Trials. They build temporary pools in the CHI Health Center, an arena and convention center. Indy will be following a similar system, converting Lucas Oil Stadium into a natatorium for the week of Trials.
Indianapolis’ proposal will reportedly have space for 30,000-35,000 spectators and is formatted in the same design as they use when they host the Final Four of the college basketball tournament. The pools would simply take the places of the basketball courts in that design.
Notably, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers, hosted the 2004 SC World Swimming Championships, although that meet only required a pair of 25m pools. Gainbridge Fieldhouse doesn’t have enough room to fit the two 50m pools necessary for the Olympic Trials meet, so the bid went to Lucas Oil Stadium.
As IndyStar notes in their report, Indy hosting the 2024 Trials presents a unique coincidence. In 1924, Indy hosted the Swimming Trials for the 1924 Olympics, which were also held in Paris. That means that swimmers will be going from Indianapolis to Paris for the Olympics exactly 100 years later.
Seeing a lot of Midwest hate in the comments haha
I hope Indianapolis will fulfill the needs of both swimmers and fans in terms of a good experience. Omaha had some negatives but I hope Indy takes a page out of Omaha’s book and continues the tradition of making the Trials the most exciting swimming competition… Read more »
on the planet. The main reason for the change is probably the potential revenue windfall with the increased numbers. What you will lose is the intimacy of a 50 mtr pool in a basketball arena compared to a huge football stadium that has nosebleed seats and has to be partitioned off with a curtain. As accomplished as Indy is with hosting events like this, I believe when all is said and done ,
Dr. Deluxe:
If Indy receives the 2024 Trials bid, the event will be staged in a fashion that will be totally amazing! Having been personally involved in staging aquatic events in Indianapolis since the late 1970’s, we have the ways and means to have the best trials
EVER! WE know how to make these meets WORK. I hope that your expectations will be exceeded AFTER the event is completed.
Hoping to see you in Indy in two years!
Thanks for responding to my comments. I personally love Indianapolis and I have no doubt that the city of Indianapolis will put on a good show. I hope they prove me wrong ..I will be there in 2024 as I was in 1996.
If you are personally involved in the planning ( maybe you are a member of the Sports Commission) please bring back the
name engraving of each swimmer..that was a great tradition!!
Why are trials always in the mid west 😐
So that either coast doesn’t have an advantage with travel. If it’s in the middle it’s easier for everyone. Plus Indy is a pretty cool city. Swam there enough to enjoy it
Can’t wait to eat at the Weber Grill for 8 straight days!
PSSSSSSShhh (Sizzle sound, every 12 seconds)
Omaha, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Indy.
Dang, really serving up the cream of the crop there. Don’t overextend yourselves w creating so many new relationships USA Swimming.
Why the effort is not placed on locations that compliment the sport is absurd. The Midwest locations are tired relationships.
It should take about 37 seconds to figure out a major swimming competition belongs in a warm city on the water. This isn’t complicated and this concept is very simple. Grow the sport by association w a city that is warm, on the water, and contains other fun water activities.
Time zone and travel in the Continental US is immaterial – the reason I know this is the destination after Trials has… Read more »
This is an incredibly asinine take. Not sure when you think trials is, but all of these cities are warm in June. An outdoor meet in LA, Houston, Miami, in June makes it harder for athletes to perform at a high level, and spectators would cook in the stands with the length of these sessions over the course of a week. If the Olympics is going to be in an outdoor venue, then go ahead and host trials outdoors. Otherwise it should be about selecting the most competitive team, and there’s plenty of backstrokers and IMers who are at a disadvantage in that setting. There’s also a higher chance of weather delays just about anywhere other than LA. Even the… Read more »
Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but this is the worst one.
Sir:
If you were actually familiar with
Goëthe’s, ‘Doctor Faustus,’ you would realize that you are trying to say,
Mephistopheles…
Still. Indy will provide great site for the 2024 Trials. It will be the 100th anniversary of the 1924 ones held in the old Broad Ripple Park pool. And…if you get cold,
you could always wear a sweater!
I was really happy that Trials last year were indoors! It was 105* in Omaha during Wave 2. We went with my family of five, three of whom are swimmers. I’m a coach, and the kids had to keep up with their workouts, and it was miserable walking to get to a pool for them to practice. We did set up times with coaches beforehand, but pools were not easy to reach. Ubers and Lyfts were few and far between. We had a wonderful experience overall, but the heat and lack of training facilities made it more difficult.
Indy will do a great job. Indiana and Illinois have two huge LSCs. I could see the trials selling out 35k in seats!
Indianapolis is an excellent host city for large events. Lucas oil was basically built to host a super bowl (probably not literally true, but they hosted shortly after construction) so there is lots of space around the venue for attractions and fun event-related activities. Plus Indy hosts a lot of events (not just sports but industry-related as well) so by my experience it seems to have a lot of hotel capacity for a city its size.
Wow we’ve made the big time — 35,000 swimming fans all under one roof!
I wonder if there will be any reduction in crowd noise due to a venue that big.
Also today I am officially launching my campaign to have the 2028 Trials at the new Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. It’s a big part of SoCal swimming history.
I’ve been trying to thought-experiment if I think it will sell out.
I’m sure it will fill more than the 18k in Omaha. I’m having trouble convincing myself of the full 35k in Indy.
I would set the over/under at maybe 26k/session.
Indy has a big swimming culture surprisingly… Carmel swim club just a few miles north. Plus Indy is way easier to get to for most people than Omaha. I’m hopeful for a large attendance
I’d go low 20s I suppose if they got creative they could fill more seats with the local age group swimmers. Maybe sell them block of tickets at $15 each for the cheap seats and have the teams bus them in. I don’t see them getting 30,000 people buying the weeklong tickets its just not that big a sport. I’ll probably try to do a 3 or 4 day ticket if I can get it.
If I recall correctly, and given how long it’s been my memory could certainly be fuzzy, back in 2000 my old age group team in KY had access to tickets for Trials at IUPUI for somewhere around that rate.
I am willing to predict 30K spectators.
Any takers for the over/under?
Wouldn’t they just use the actual Olympic pool that year? It needs to be ready to go anyway.
Last I heard, the 2028 Olympic swimming venue is supposed to a temporary pool on the USC baseball field.
I honestly don’t know the timing of the pool’s construction and how SC’s baseball season would affect things.
Are there any other significant sports/music/festival events happening there at the same time as the 24 Trials? The overlap of the NCAA Baseball events in Omaha created even more competition for hotel rooms and food sources. I’m hoping the Trials could be the only big show in whatever town it goes to.
I believe Sun Yang is doing a hammer signing that week
Bringing my hammer will put me over the airline’s weight limit for my luggage! May have to do a road trip and drive
If it’s an emotional support hammer you can bring it on the plane with you free of charge.
I bet I could Sun’s doctor to sign off on that
Will I be able to buy some anti-wrinkle cream too? perhaps I should get him to sign my TUE as well.