Ian Kim
Pan Zhanle celebrates his new world record after winning the 100-meter freestyle in Paris.
Olympic swimmers might have the chance to win three more medals at the Los Angeles Olympics with the potential addition of the 50-meter butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke.
World Aquatics, an international organization that manages water sports, has submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the addition of the remaining 50-meter events to the 2028 Olympics schedule. For context, the 50-meter events are already held in prestigious swim meets such as the World Aquatics Championships but have yet to be seen at the Olympics.
5-time Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe weighed in, saying that every fan of swimming should support the addition of the 50s. Thorpe also mentioned that adding several more events should be acceptable since swimming plays a major role in the Olympics.
“The 50s need to be in … they’re important. It’s almost a unique event in itself that we should be acknowledging. They are exciting. I actually think it balances the program perfectly between sprint races and middle distance. I hope every swimmer is for it,” said Thorpe.
Nevertheless, if the IOC chooses to implement the new events, it won’t come without challenges. The already extended swim meet could risk becoming even longer, creating scheduling issues. It’s also important to note that since the So-fi stadium will be used for the opening ceremony and for hosting the swim meet, an extended meet would cut into the time between the start of the Olympics and the start of swimming. As a result, organizers would have less time to convert the stadium into a pool.
A common argument against the addition of the 50s is that swimming already awards too many medals to athletes. With the addition of the 50s, there would be a total of 41 medals for the world’s best swimmers. For example, Michael Phelps dominates the record board for the most Olympic medals with a whopping 23 golds.
Isaac Cooper, who won the 50m backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships, disagrees with that argument. He mentions how athletes are not receiving the proper credit they should be getting for winning the 50s since they aren't considered real events.
“It works everywhere else, why not at an Olympics? You would get specialists and you would get people swimming so much faster… I’m standing on the podium and everything I have been told is that you’re winning a medal for an event that’s not real. It’s already taking away the credit from incredible athletes,” said Cooper.
It remains to be seen whether the IOC will go forward with these changes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.