USA Swimming Makes Indy Olympic Trials Official
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USA Swimming and the Indiana Sports Corp. have officially announced Indianapolis as the host of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The nine-day event to select Team USA for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indy, marking the first time a football stadium has held the trials. In addition to the event, USA Swimming and the ISC have committed to investing $400,000 in legacy projects benefitting youth in the Indianapolis region.
During a news conference this morning, USA Swimming Chief Executive Officer Tim Hinchey III said the event will make history.
“Highlights will include nine days of competition this time around,” he said. “We’ll have 17 sessions of swimming. We’ll have dozens of broadcast hours on NBC and its affiliates, 100,000 square feet of fan activation opportunities in the Toyota Aqua Zone. We’re going to have unparalleled hospitality in the USA Swimming House and so much more that Lucas Oil provides that no one else has been able to provide for us previously.”
As part of the setup, three temporary pools – one 25-meter and two 50-meter pools – will be installed inside Lucas Oil Stadium. The Indiana Convention Center will also host the Toyota Aqua Zone, which will feature a variety of attractions for visitors and spectators.
The Legacy Projects planned for the event will focus on ensuring increased access to water for children in underserved areas of the Indy region. The partners say they will work with programs and facilities in need of financial and programmatic assistance, with the goal of promoting the sport of swimming and water safety skills.
“As someone who learned to swim at the IU Natatorium after nearly drowning, I can tell you that these particular programs are especially important to me. I literally wouldn’t be here but for that kind of investment,” said ISC President Ryan Vaughn. “And that’s what Indy does best; it creates community opportunity and impact beyond the event.”
USA Swimming says it expects to host hundreds of thousands of spectators throughout the event. At the 2016 trials, the last event held with spectators before the pandemic, nearly 200,000 spectators attended the 15 sessions in Omaha, Nebraska. The event generated more than $74 million in economic impact for the city.
Indianapolis last hosted the trials in 2000, and the 2024 event will mark the 100-year anniversary of the first time Indy hosted the event ahead of the 1924 Olympic Games, which were also held in Paris.
“Indianapolis continues to solidify its place as the top host city in the country,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in written remarks. “One hundred years after the road to swimming in the Paris Summer Olympics went through our city, we’re looking forward to once again highlighting the top athletes in the country.”
Scott Davison, CEO of Indianapolis-based OneAmerica, is heading up the local organizing committee for the trials.
“This can be the next chapter in our great history in swimming in this state,” Davison said. “We certainly plan to take the trials to a whole new level. Omaha’s done a great job, but we’ve got this amazing venue and we are going to create something that the world has never seen before for a swim meet.”