Swim trials attendance continues to break records, USA Swimming CEO says

The National Anthem is performed ahead of the fifth night of competition during the Olympic Swim Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium, on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (IBJ photo/Mickey Shuey)

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis have already set high-water marks for attention on the sport by breaking single-night indoor attendance records twice over the past week. Next comes an even bigger record.

USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey III said Friday that total-event indoor attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium is well on pace to exceed the previous record of 197,892 set at the 2016 trials in Omaha, Nebraska. In fact, the record has likely already fallen.

So far, the trials in Indianapolis have brought in at least 190,000 people in just 11 of the event’s first 13 sessions. Attendance figures for daytime preliminary sessions on Thursday and Friday were still not available early Friday night. Overall, 17 sessions are scheduled in Indianapolis for the nine-day event, which wraps up Sunday with a single night session.

Attendance marks for the events include both tickets sold and those distributed by other means, including giveaways or donations.

In Omaha eight years ago, the trials took place over 15 sessions in eight days of competition—an average of 13,193 per session.

Indianapolis is averaging more than 17,272 people per session over the 11 sessions that have been counted.

Hinchey told IBJ about two weeks ago began that early ticket sales were lagging expectations, but that he expected momentum from television coverage and word-of-mouth would build interest and drive more spectators through the doors of Lucas Oil Stadium.

USA Swimming said said the trials drew night-session crowds of 20,689 on Saturday and 22,209 on Wednesday, both records. The previous record was about 16,000 during the 2016 Omaha trials.

The Indianapolis trials also set a preliminary-round record with a crowd of 17,697 on June 16.

The records officially apply to indoor attendance. The 1908 London Olympics held its swimming and track and field events at the 97,000-seat White City Stadium, with newspapers at the time reporting massive crowds of 60,000 or more each day. Others consider the 1936 Berlin Games the crown holder, with crowds of more than 20,000 reported every night (albeit through state-run news entities).

Hinchey said Indianapolis beat out cities including St. Louis, Minneapolis and Omaha to secure the 2024 trials and all three cities have contingents studying the city’s hosting efforts. The 2028 trials will be once again be awarded through a request-for-proposals process.

On Friday, the leaders of the Los Angeles Olympics announced that SoFi Stadium will host swimming in 2028 with the ability to host 38,000 spectators, which means the records set in Indianapolis might not last for long.

Hinchey told news outlets on Friday he believes it would be “difficult” for USA Swimming to move back to a non-football stadium set-up for the trials after seeing such success in Indianapolis.

He said aside from the configuration of the venue and general attendance performance, the switch to Indianapolis created opportunities for premium ticket and suite sales. More than 50 suites have been sold throughout the week. The move to Lucas Oil Stadium also gave the organization an opportunity to sell more walk-up tickets (it’s averaging about 1,200 to 1,400 per evening session), Hinchey said.

The Aqua Zone inside the Indiana Convention Center has also been a success, according to Hinchey, averaging about 10,000 visitors per day. He said he’s been impressed by the way Indianapolis has embraced the sport—something that could play a role as Indianapolis goes after a bid for 2028.

“I feel like for the first time in a long time our sport has gotten the ‘red carpet treatment’ here as hosts.”