By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
USA Swimming will not send a team to the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
2026 will mark the return of the event after an eight year hiatus. Dakar was originally scheduled to host the 2022 Youth Olympics, but their bid was delayed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
It is unclear yet whether USOPC will attempt to form a team outside of USA Swimming, which US-IUSF did when USA swimming opted out of the 2022 World University Games.
The swimming dates and venue for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games were recently announced. Swimming will be held from November 1-6 at the Egg Tower Complex in Dakar, which is being rebuilt for the Games. The 10-lane competition pool will have seating for 562 spectators.
The format of the Youth Olympic Games is different than most major international meets. Countries are allowed to send four male and four female swimmers: just enough to fill out relays. This generally keeps any one country from dominating with depth.
USA Swimming historically prioritized other meets, like the Pan Pac and Junior Pan Pacs, over the Youth Olympic Games, which means they have not sent their fastest eligible juniors to the meet. In total, the U.S. has won 8 medals in swimming at the Youth Olympic Games: 4 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze. Their most successful performance came in 2014, where Hannah Moore led the way with a pair of gold medals and Clara Smiddy added another.
At the most recent edition, Rhyan White was the only American medal winner, taking bronze in the girls’ 100 back in 1:00.60. She went on to be a (senior) Olympian representing the U.S. in Tokyo in 2021, where she won silver as a prelims leg of the 400 medley relay.
The Youth Olympics have been a crucial pathway for a number of big names from other countries. That includes Australian Kaylee McKeown, who has 5 gold and 9 total Olympic medals. In 2018, she won the 50 backstroke, took silver in the 100 backstroke, and bronze in the 200 backstroke at the Youth Olympic Games.
Australia has also not announced any criteria for the Youth Olympic Games, though they have not said whether they would field a team or not alongside a planned team at Junior Pan Pacs from August 17-20 in Vancouver, Canada.
Thomas Ceccon of Italy, Kristof Milak of Hungary, and Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia all also won gold at the 2018 edition before going on to become some of the world’s best swimmers at the senior level.
Changes to the 2026 Games
The IOC and its new President Kirsty Coventry took the pause as an opportunity to reset the Youth Olympic Games.
“Adopting a tailored approach to the sports programme for the Youth Olympic Games allows us to ensure that each edition is uniquely aligned with the host context and needs,” said Coventry in 2024, when she was an IOC Member and Chair of the Coordination Commission for the YOG Dakar 2026.
“This flexibility not only enhances the relevance and appeal of the YOG but also fosters innovation and engagement. We are excited to see how this new model will enrich the experience for all participants and spectators at Dakar 2026 and beyond.”
That included limiting each “sport” to one discipline (swimming is a ‘discipline’ of aquatics). The athlete quota reduces the field from about 4,000 athletes to an anticipated quota of 2,700, equally balanced between boys and girls.
The program has also been reduced from 239 events in 32 sports to 153 in 25 sports. While the exact event-by-event schedule has not been released for swimming yet, that makes it unlikely that swimming will carry the full program that it had in previous editions.
That schedule includes 73 events for boys, 73 events for girls, and seven mixed events.
The age range has also been shifted downward. In previous editions, the age range was 15-18, but in 2026, that range is lowered to 14-17.
The 25 competition sports are athletics (track and field), aquatics (swimming), archery, badminton, baseball (baseball5), basketball (3×3), boxing, breaking, cycling (road cycling), equestrian (jumping), fencing, football (futsal), gymnastics (artistic gymnastics), handball (beach handball), judo, rowing (coastal rowing), rugby (rugby sevens), sailing, skateboarding (street), table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball (beach volleyball), wrestling (beach wrestling) and wushu.
The 10 engagement sports, meaning sports showcased through both on the ground and digital activities for Dakar 2026 are canoe-kayak, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, shooting, sport climbing, surfing, tennis and weightlifting.
The IOC has also removed many road and beach events to ‘reduce complexity and city impact’ caused by needing to shut down public spaces for competition.
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