Olympic Games Paris 2024

2024 British Swimming Championships: Preview, schedule and how to watch live

By Sean McAlister
6 min|
Adam Peaty 

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

After the glittering success of Tokyo 2020, where British swimmers registered a record eight Olympic medals, the current crop of Olympic hopefuls will be battling for team selection at the 2024 British Swimming Championships.

The event, hosted at the London Aquatics Centre from 2-7 April, will see the likes of Olympic gold medallists Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott, Tom Dean, James Guy, Kathleen Dawson and Anna Hopkin competing for one of a maximum of 30 spots on GB’s Olympic roster - provided they also meet the entry standards for Paris 2024.

The top finisher in each final will be nominated for selection to the British team while athletes who finish second will also be in the mix. The final selection of athletes will be at the discretion of the National Olympic Committee.

Read on to discover everything you need to know about this year’s British Swimming Championships.

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.

Athletes to watch at the 2024 British Swimming Championships

After struggles with depression and alcohol saw him step away from the sport for a period last year, three-time Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty returns to the British Swimming Championships to race in the 100m breaststroke - an event in which he holds the world record.

Peaty’s comeback at last month’s World Aquatics Championships saw him settle for bronze in an event he has become used to dominating, but the swimmer admitted it was all part of a process that he hopes will end with Paris gold.

“Now it’s about how we can fine-tune it for the Olympics,” the 29-year-old said at the time.

Peaty’s golds at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 saw him become the first British swimmer to retain his Olympic title. With the potential of more history in his sights, these British Championships will be an excellent test with the Games in France now less than four months away.

Speaking of history, Tom Dean has been outspoken about his ambitious goal to attempt to win five gold medals at Paris 2024, having become the first British swimmer to win two golds at a single Olympics in 113 years at the Tokyo Games.

“We want to change the aim, we want to change the priorities and we want to go for a massive different range of events to see how far we can push my body,” Dean said of his new approach in an interview with Olympics.com last year.

That approach now seems to be in full swing, with the Olympic 200m freestyle champion lining up in the 100m free, 200m free and 200m IM, as well as the 4x100m and 4x200m free relays at these championships.

One Olympic champion who is a major doubt for the championships is Freya Anderson, with the member of the gold-winning mixed 4x100m medley relay team from the last Games in Japan stating that she is unlikely to race after recovering from a bout of glandular fever at the beginning of the year.

However, fellow mixed relay gold medallists Anna Hopkin and Kathleen Dawson both compete, with Hopkin aiming for a 50/100m free double and Dawson slated to race both the 100m and 200m backstroke.

Hopkin recently spoke about how much British swimming has improved over the past years with Olympic medals now more of a realistic target than ever.

"As the standards get higher, I think people want to be on those teams and they want to be on those relays because they want to be the ones winning the medals. As a whole, I think everyone's aiming higher," she said in a recent interview with Eurosport.

For Dawson, these trials come after three years in which she has struggled with injury, but the Scot is in a confident mood as her long-term goals begin to come into focus.

"It's always been about making the Olympics," she told BBC Scotland.

"Especially since coming off the back of the last Olympics being injured. I knew that my goal was to be better for the trials to make the Olympics.

"It's been like a kind of rolling season that it's not really stopped. It's just: 'We're making the Olympics'."

Other Olympic medallists who will be hoping to put on a show in London include James Guy, Luke Greenbank and Duncan Scott.

Anna Hopkin

Picture by 2021 Getty Images

2024 British Swimming Championships Schedule

MC: Paris Para Final

A: Open Paris Final

Tuesday 2 April

  • Women’s 50m Butterfly [MC]
  • Open/Men’s 400m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Women’s 200m Butterfly [A]
  • Open/Men’s 150m Individual Medley [MC]
  • Women’s 200m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Open/Men’s 100m Breaststroke [MC-A]

Wednesday 3 April

  • Women’s 1500m Freestyle [Heats declared - fastest heat in evening session]
  • Women’s 50m Breaststroke [MC]
  • Open/Men’s 200m Butterfly [A]
  • Women’s 200m Breaststroke [A]
  • Open/Men’s 100m Backstroke [MC-A]
  • Women’s 100m Backstroke [MC-A]

Thursday 4 April

  • Open/Men’s 1500m Freestyle [Heats declared - fastest heat in evening session]
  • Women’s 400m Individual Medley [A]
  • Open/Men’s 50m Butterfly [MC]
  • Women’s 50m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Open/Men’s 400m Individual Medley [A]
  • Open/Men’s 100m Freestyle [MC-A]

Friday 5 April

  • Open/Men’s 100m Butterfly [MC-A]
  • Women’s 400m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Open/Men’s 50m Breaststroke [MC]
  • Women’s 150m Individual Medley [MC]
  • Women’s 200m Backstroke [A]
  • Open/Men’s 200m Individual Medley [MC-A]

Saturday 6 April

  • Open/Men’s 800m Freestyle [Heats declared - fastest heat in evening session]
  • Women’s 100m Butterfly [MC-A]
  • Open/Men’s 200m Breaststroke [A]
  • Women’s 50m Backstroke [MC]
  • Open/Men’s 50m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Women’s 200m Individual Medley [MC-A]

Sunday 7 April

  • Women’s 800m Freestyle [Heats declared - fastest heat in evening session]
  • Open/Men’s 50m Backstroke [MC]
  • Open/Men’s 200m Backstroke [A]
  • Women’s 100m Breaststroke [MC-A]
  • Women’s 100m Freestyle [MC-A]
  • Open/Men’s 200m Freestyle [MC-A]

How to watch the 2024 British Swimming Championships

The British Swimming Championships will be streamed live in the UK on Channel 4 (heats and finals) BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website (finals only).

You can also keep up to date with all the results right here on Olympics.com.

Related content