Without much fanfare, Sanchez and Hatch try to make waves
Swimming has been relatively quiet in the buildup toward the Olympics. Inquirer Sports breaks down the information for the swimming events in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With two Philippine swimmers in tow, here are things you should know before they take the pool.
WHEN AND WHERE ARE THE EVENTS?
Running from July 27 to Aug. 4, the swimming competitions of the Olympics will be held at Paris La Defense Arena.
BASICS OF THE SPORT
The events for individual and team competitions are: freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly. These will be further broken down into the competition distances, with the most awaited being the 100-meter and 200-m freestyle races.
There will also be individual and relay events which will involve one swimmer using all four strokes or team members each using a different stroke.
The 50-m freestyle is the shortest race in swimming while 1,500-m free is the longest.
For the open water marathon, swimmers will have to swim 10 kilometers.
HOW MANY MEDALS ARE AT STAKE IN PARIS?
Like in the Tokyo iteration of the Olympics, Paris will be putting up 35 golds in the swimming events this year.
LOCAL PLAYERS TO WATCH
Philippine record holder for 100-m freestyle Kayla Sanchez will take the spotlight after qualifying for the Olympics in the World Aquatics Universality Places.
Sanchez was part of the medal-winning squads of Team Canada before switching federations to represent her Filipino roots. Another Philippine record-holder (100-m butterfly) in Jarod Hatch will also see action for Team Philippines.
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