307 swimmers from 154 countries are entered to swim at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics starting next week in Dakar, Senegal. The swimming portion of the event will run from November 1-6.
This is the return, and perhaps the finale, of the Youth Olympic Games after an 8 year absence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The meet is smaller by number of competitors than 2018 (390 athletes), but broader in terms of national representation (139 countries).
While many of the major swimming nations are absent, including the USA, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland, there are still some global swimming powers planning to race.
Among the countries that have entered athletes are China, 2018 medals table winners Russia, Italy, Hungary, New Zealand, South Korea, Poland, Belgium, Greece, and South Africa.
Each country is limited to 2 swimmers per gender.
Some races will be deep with entries: all four sprint freestyle races, for example, have at least 50 entries, led by the men’s 100 free with 71.
Other events are less-populated. The women’s 200 fly, for example, which has struggled to pull full fields at many international meets in recent years, has only 8 swimmers entered.
Despite of limited entries, that women’s 200 fly actually provides an interesting race, with both Mohan Chang of China and Serafima Fokina of Russia seeded with 2:07s.
While there are few internationally recognizable names at the meet, there are some rising stars present.
That includes Rami Alrahmouni, who was to be Tunisia’s latest distance star before gaining naturalization to Saudi Arabia earlier this year. He finished 4th in the 1500 free at the 2026 Asian Games and will swim the 400 and 800 freestyles here.
Other Anticipated Top Performers
- Seungwon Kim, South Korea’s Record Holder in the 50 backstroke, will swim both that race and the 100 back as the top seed. Her 59.30 in the 100 back was from this year’s Asian Games, where she won bronze medals in both events. She’s only 16.
- Mana Ishakawa of Japan is the top seed in the girls’ 200 IM, 100 breast (1:08.36), and 200 breast (2:26.03). She’s also seeded to medal in the 50 breaststroke as the #3 seed (31.96).
- The boys’ middle distance freestyles will be good races, led by Russia’s Bogdan Toropkin, the top seed in the 200 in 1:46.85; the aforementioned Alrahmouni in the 400; and Hungary’s Oliver Papai, the #2 seed in both races.
