This article originally appeared in the 2024 Olympic Preview edition of SwimSwam Magazine, courtesy of author James Sutherland. Subscribe to the SwimSwam Magazine here.
With a short three-year window between Olympics, with a bunch of major international meets packed in between, there were not as many retirements post-Tokyo as we usually see at the end of an Olympic cycle.
That, coupled with the fact that the majority of the medalists in Tokyo were in their prime and still have plenty of runway in their careers, there have only been a handful of reigning Olympic medalists who won’t be back vying to make it two in a row in Paris.
Below, find the individual medal table from the Tokyo Games with the swimmers who won’t be returning crossed out. That includes retirements, Russian swimmers who haven’t applied for neutral status, and those who failed to qualify at their respective national trials.
MEN
| EVENT | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |||
| 50m Freestyle | Caeleb Dressel (USA) | 21.07 | Florent Manaudou (FRA) | 21.55 | ||
| 100m Freestyle | Kyle Chalmers (AUS) | 47.08 | ||||
| 200m Freestyle | Duncan Scott (GBR) | 1:44.26 | ||||
| 400m Freestyle | Kieran Smith (USA) | 3:43.94 | ||||
| 800m Freestyle | Bobby Finke (USA) | 7:41.87 | Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) | 7:42.11 | Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) | 7:42.33 |
| 1500m Freestyle | Bobby Finke (USA) | 14:39.65 | Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) | 14:40.66 | Florian Wellbrock (GER) | 14:40.91 |
| 100m Backstroke | Ryan Murphy (USA) | 52.19 | ||||
| 200m Backstroke | Ryan Murphy (USA) | 1:54.15 | Luke Greenbank (GBR) | 1:54.72 | ||
| 100m Breaststroke | Adam Peaty (GBR) | 57.37 | Arno Kamminga (NED) | 58 | Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA) | 58.33 |
| 200m Breaststroke | Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) | 2:06.38 | Arno Kamminga (NED) | 2:07.01 | Matti Mattsson (FIN) | 2:07.13 |
| 100m Butterfly | Caeleb Dressel (USA) | 49.45 | Kristof Milak (HUN) | 49.68 | Noe Ponti (SUI) | 50.74 |
| 200m Butterfly | Kristof Milak (HUN) | 1:51.25 | Tomoru Honda (JPN) | 1:53.73 | ||
| 200m Individual Medley | Wang Shun (CHN) | 1:55.00 | Duncan Scott (GBR) | 1:55.28 | Jeremy Desplanches (SUI) | 1:56.17 |
| 400m Individual Medley | Chase Kalisz (USA) | 4:09.42 | Brendon Smith (AUS) | 4:10.38 |
The men’s distance freestyle and breaststroke events will feature all three returning medalists from Tokyo, as will the men’s 100 fly. The gold and silver medalists will be absent in the 400 free and 100 back.
WOMEN
| EVENT | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |||
| 50m Freestyle | Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) | 24.07 | ||||
| 100m Freestyle | Siobhan Haughey (HKG) | 52.27 | ||||
| 200m Freestyle | Ariarne Titmus (AUS) | 1:53.50 | Siobhan Haughey (HKG) | 1:53.92 | ||
| 400m Freestyle | Ariarne Titmus (AUS) | 3:56.69 | Katie Ledecky (USA) | 3:57.36 | Li Bingjie (CHN) | 4:01.08 |
| 800m Freestyle | Katie Ledecky (USA) | 8:12.57 | Ariarne Titmus (AUS) | 8:13.83 | Simona Quadarella (ITA) | 8:18.35 |
| 1500m Freestyle | Katie Ledecky (USA) | 15:37.34 | ||||
| 100m Backstroke | Kaylee McKeown (AUS) | 57.47 | Kylie Masse (CAN) | 57.72 | Regan Smith (USA) | 58.05 |
| 200m Backstroke | Kaylee McKeown (AUS) | 2:04.68 | Kylie Masse (CAN) | 2:05.42 | ||
| 100m Breaststroke | Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA) | 1:05.22 | Lilly King (USA) | 1:05.54 | ||
| 200m Breaststroke | Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA) | 2:18.95 | Lilly King (USA) | 2:19.92 | ||
| 100m Butterfly | Maggie MacNeil (CAN) | 55.59 | Zhang Yufei (CHN) | 55.64 | Emma McKeon (AUS) | 55.72 |
| 200m Butterfly | Zhang Yufei (CHN) | 2:03.86 | Regan Smith (USA) | 2:05.30 | ||
| 200m Individual Medley | Yui Ohashi (JPN) | 2:08.52 | Alex Walsh (USA) | 2:08.65 | Kate Douglass (USA) | 2:09.04 |
| 400m Individual Medley | Emma Weyant (USA) | 4:32.76 |
On the women’s side, we’ll see the full podium from Tokyo return in the 400 and 800 free, 100 back, and 200 IM, while two-thirds of the medalists from 2021 will be missing in the 50, 100 free and 1500 free, and 400 IM.
My greatest hope is a 🥇for Sarah Sjostrom. 🙏
According to wikipedia (I know, sources?), Jeremy Desplanches is listed in the 200IM under the OCT, as is Penny Oleksiak in the 100 freestyle. There might be some truth to it, as Jeremy posted on his instagram about qualifying for Paris.
Relay
Yeah Jeremy received a wildcard invitation for the 200IM so he will be back.
MA
Individual medalists already excluded that certain individual