"It’s just awful"; "Suddenly this is a crisis?"- Fans react to American swimmers creating GoFundMe platforms to help their families get to Olympics

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming - Day 2
Hunter Armstrong at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming - Day 2

American swimmers have been forced to open GoFundMe accounts to help raise enough funds to cater for their parents’ transport and accommodation for the Paris Olympics. 46 American pool swimmers, 26 men and 20 women qualified for the 2024 Paris Games during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.

Hunter Armstrong is one of the American Olympic swimmers who has come out to seek financial support to have his family with him in Paris.

Armstrong qualified for the Paris Olympics in the 4x100 free relay squad after finishing fourth in the 100-freestyle final, striking a personal best time of 47.78, and also finished second in the 100 backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Swimming trials.

He was a vital part of the 4x100 medley relay team that won gold at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where he was making his Olympic debut.

In a post shared on X, Braden Keith lamented about the case, questioning whether professional swimmers are never paid enough to cater to their needs. He added that the Chief Executive Officer of USA Swimming Tim Hinchey III was given a $236,000 bonus to help in developing the sport but their asset value still dropped by 45%.

In the post, he said:

"I don't know which is worse, that "pro athletes" don't make enough money to get their families to the Games while the CEO got a $236,000 bonus to lead an organization that saw their asset value fall by $17 million (45%) last year; OR that it costs $40,000 for the family of an Olympian to go to the Olympics."

Fans were irked by the news as they called out the federation, noting that the federation should come in handy for the athletes and their families, offering them affordable flights and accommodation.

Another drew a comparison between the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and the U.S. Olympic Committee, explaining that the latter should draw an example from the NCAA who pay for parents to go watch their children.

"$40K for how many people? If the NCAA / schools can pay for parents to come to the tournament / CF playoff, then the USOC and the sport federations should pay for families to come," a fan wrote.

Another fan penned:

"The family wants to go to 11 sessions, including literally all of the most expensive sessions. Even adding all of those up it should be about $5,000USD per person. So they presumably want to buy 88 last-minute tickets. That’s why it’s expensive."

A fan added:

"Suddenly this is a crisis? Did USAS not think that the parents might like to see their sons & daughters compete in Paris? Parents been footing the bill since their kids were 8 years old! Sorry, not sorry!"

Here are some more fan reactions:

"It’s just awful…not to mention whether you compete in a popular sport or not seems to influence what kind of support there is. There is a great documentary about athletes about this very subject," one fan wrote.
"Explain to me why a ~1-week trip to Paris would cost $40,000 for a family? Even with the 'Olympic upcharge', I bet I could make the same family style trip for well-under $8,000," another chimed in.
"The powers that be in world swimming systematically suppress professionalism," another added.

46 US swimmers selected for Paris 2024 Olympics

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming - Day 9
2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming - Day 9

The US Swimming trials culminated with only 46 swimmers making the cut to the Paris 2024 Olympics in a bid to dominate as they did at the previous edition in Tokyo.

During the previous edition of the Olympics, the U.S. topped the medal table with 30 medals, 11 of which were gold, 10 silver, and nine bronze medals and the team hopes to replicate the same performance or even do much better. The team of 46 comprises 26 men and 20 women.

Some of the returning athletes include defending champions Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong, Bobby Finke, and Chase Kalisz.

The women joining Ledecky in the pursuit of Olympic success include Kate Douglass, Torri Huske, Lilly King, and Paige Madden, all of whom won medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Simone Manuel, Alex Walsh and Gretchen Walsh will also be in action in Paris.

In addition to Kalisz, Finke, Armstrong, and Dressel, the men’s field comprises of the likes of Ryan Murphy, Keaton Jones and Aaron Shackell. Three American swimmers will compete in open water events. These include Katie Grimes, Mariah Denigan, and Ivan Puskovitch.

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Edited by Neelabhra Roy
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