By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam
FINA has released the qualifying standards for the Paris 2024 Olympics, revealing time standards which are considerably faster than in previous years. If you wish to read our report on the qualifying times, including the selection criteria, click here.
In short, the OQT time standards, which function as ‘A’ times, were derived by taking the 14th-place finisher from prelims at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in each event. The OCT times, which serve as the ‘B’ standards, are 0.5% slower than the OQT standards.
Below, you can view tables comparing the Paris 2024 time standards to the London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 standards.
Men’s Olympic Qualifying Times (‘A’ Cuts)
| EVENT | LONDON 2012 | RIO 2016 | TOKYO 2020 | PARIS 2024 |
| 50m Free | 22.11 | 22.27 | 22.01 | 21.96 |
| 100m Free | 48.82 | 48.99 | 48.57 | 48.34 |
| 200m Free | 1:47.82 | 1:47.97 | 1:47.02 | 1:46.26 |
| 400m Free | 3:48.92 | 3:50.40 | 3:46.78 | 3:46.78 |
| 800m Free | N/A | N/A | 7:54.31 | 7:51.65 |
| 1500m Free | 15:11.83 | 15:14.77 | 15:00.99 | 15:00.99 |
| 100m Back | 54.40 | 54.36 | 53.85 | 53.74 |
| 200m Back | 1:58.48 | 1:58.22 | 1:57.50 | 1:57.50 |
| 100 Breast | 1:00.79 | 1:00.57 | 59.93 | 59.49 |
| 200 Breast | 2:11.74 | 2:11.66 | 2:10.35 | 2:09.68 |
| 100 Fly | 52.36 | 52.36 | 51.96 | 51.67 |
| 200 Fly | 1:56.86 | 1:56.97 | 1:56.48 | 1:55.78 |
| 200 IM | 2:00.17 | 2:00.28 | 1:59.67 | 1:57.94 |
| 400 IM | 4:16.46 | 4:16.71 | 4:15.84 | 4:12.50 |
Men’s Olympic Consideration Times (‘B’ Cuts)
| EVENT | LONDON 2012 | RIO 2016 | TOKYO 2020 | PARIS 2024 |
| 50m Free | 22.73 | 23.05 | 22.67 | 22.07 |
| 100m Free | 50.93 | 50.70 | 50.03 | 48.58 |
| 200m Free | 1:50.76 | 1:51.75 | 1:50.23 | 1:46.79 |
| 400m Free | 3:58.01 | 3:58.51 | 3:53.58 | 3:47.91 |
| 800m Free | N/A | N/A | 8:08.54 | 7:54.01 |
| 1500m Free | 15:45.12 | 15:46.79 | 15:28.02 | 15:05.49 |
| 100m Back | 56.40 | 56.26 | 55.47 | 54.01 |
| 200m Back | 2:01.53 | 2:02.36 | 2:01.03 | 1:58.09 |
| 100 Breast | 1:03.61 | 1:02.69 | 1:01.73 | 59.79 |
| 200 Breast | 2:18.24 | 2:16.27 | 2:14.26 | 2:10.33 |
| 100 Fly | 54.09 | 54.19 | 53.52 | 51.93 |
| 200 Fly | 2:01.08 | 2:01.06 | 1:59.97 | 1:56.36 |
| 200 IM | 2:03.89 | 2:04.39 | 2:03.26 | 1:58.53 |
| 400 IM | 4:24.78 | 4:25.69 | 4:21.46 | 4:13.76 |
Women’s Olympic Qualifying Times (‘A’ Cuts)
| EVENT | LONDON 2012 | RIO 2016 | TOKYO 2020 | PARIS 2024 |
| 50m Free | 25.27 | 25.28 | 24.77 | 24.70 |
| 100m Free | 54.57 | 54.43 | 54.38 | 53.61 |
| 200m Free | 1:58.33 | 1:58.96 | 1:57.28 | 1:57.26 |
| 400m Free | 4:09.35 | 4:09.08 | 4:07.90 | 4:07.90 |
| 800m Free | 8:33.84 | 8:33.97 | 8:33.36 | 8:26.71 |
| 1500m Free | N/A | N/A | 16:32.04 | 16:09.09 |
| 100m Back | 1:00.82 | 1:00.25 | 1:00.25 | 59.99 |
| 200m Back | 2:10.84 | 2:10.60 | 2:10.39 | 2:10.39 |