The preparations and the talk are nearly over - the Paris 2024 Olympic Games dive into action this weekend, kickstarting 16 days of competition in the world's greatest sporting event.
Since a unique, memorable, delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics three years ago, Aquatics GB athletes across diving, swimming, marathon swimming and artistic swimming have won 40 World Championship medals - including six world titles - 51 European medals and provided countless unforgettable moments in the arena, all the result of incredible dedication and delivery in training, both from those in the water and from the coaches, support staff, friends and family who make up that crucial support network.
Once the Opening Ceremony on the River Seine raises the curtain on Paris 2024 later today (Friday 26th July), with Tom Daley one of the Team GB flag bearers, those athletes will be ready to take to the Olympic stage, across La Defense Arena (swimming), the Olympic Aquatics Centre (diving and artistic swimming) and the Seine itself (marathon swimming).
Keanna MacInnes will be the first swimmer in the water for Team GB when she contests the Women's 100m Butterfly heats at around 10am BST on Saturday (27th July), with Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen the first Aquatics GB athletes in medal contention as they look to follow up back-to-back podium finishes at World Championships with the Olympic final of the Women's 3m Synchro in diving (10am BST).
Across the opening nine days, we will see all four of the Team GB synchro diving pairs in action. All four have won medals in at least one of the previous two World Championships - with five-time Olympian Daley and Noah Williams combining in the Men's 10m Synchro on 29th July and looking to defend the title won by Tom and Matty Lee in Tokyo. Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson have formed a world-class partnership over the past two years and go in the Women's 10m Synchro on 31st July, before 2022 and 2023 world medallists and European champions Jack Laugher - at his fourth Games - and Anthony Harding close the synchro programme in the Men's 3m Synchro event.
In the impressive-looking La Defense Arena pool, there are sure to be highlights wherever you look. The opening night of swimming brings the much-anticipated Men's 4x100m Freestyle and Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay finals, before Adam Peaty looks to become the second man after Michael Phelps to win three successive Olympic titles in the same individual event as he goes in the Men's 100m Breaststroke, alongside James Wilby. The final for that is on Sunday (28th July).
Across a newly-expanded nine-day swimming programme, a host of gold medallists from a record-breaking Tokyo performance will be targeting more Olympic memories this time around, including Matt Richards and Duncan Scott in the Men's 200m Freestyle, Scott and Tom Dean in the Men's 200m Individual Medley, Anna Hopkin in the Women's 50m and 100m Freestyle events, plus efforts in the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay - where GB are reigning Olympic champs and won World Championship gold last summer - and Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay, which brought Olympic gold and a world record in 2021. A real focus has been placed on relays in recent years by Aquatics GB, to great effect, ensuring so many of our swimmers will have a key part to play across the heats and finals of those events in the coming week.
Meanwhile, there are 10 Team GB debutants in the pool, including backstroker Oliver Morgan and breaststroker Angharad Evans, both of whom have broken British records in recent months and will be excited to get into the Olympic arena.
The second half of the Olympic aquatics programme then clicks into overdrive, as attention turns to the individual diving events, while Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe will target British Olympic history in the artistic swimming.
They have already made history in 2024, claiming Aquatics GB's first ever duet medals at a World Championships in February, ahead of them claiming gold at the Olympic test event in the Olympic pool more recently. On 9th and 10th August, the focus will be on their Tech Duet and Free Duet routines respectively, as they look to make that Paris podium.
There is also the two marathon swimming races, with World Championship bronze medallist Hector Pardoe and Toby Robinson contesting the Men's 10km race on 9th August, the day after Leah Crisp goes in the Women's 10km event. The River Seine will provide a spectacular stage for those races, and the athletes will look to rise to that occasion, with Crisp and Robinson making their Olympic debuts and Pardoe looking to build on that Doha podium from earlier this year.
In the individual diving events, Yasmin Harper and Grace Reid are the Women's 3m Springboard entrants, with synchro partners Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson going solo for the Women's 10m Platform - Spendolini-Sirieix having won Worlds bronze in February.
Laugher and Games debutant Jordan Houlden are our Men's 3m Springboard athletes, in the event that has brought Jack silver and bronze respectively at the last two Games. The programme closes with Williams and Kyle Kothari set to play a part in what should be a thrilling Men's 10m Platform showpiece.
It is set to be a brilliant, breathless two weeks of aquatics action. To follow every result, update and highlight from Paris, make sure to follow us across social media @aquatics_gb - on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
You will also be able to access all the key results, event info and more across our What's On? page, here on the Aquatics GB website.
Throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and every single day across the cycle into the Games, we are so grateful for the support of National Lottery players, who help our athletes and teams get to this unique sporting stage.
