Pan-Am Games: Some Facts and Figures

The last of this year’s big international meets (at least domestically for the U.S.) is nearly upon us, with the 2023 Pan American Games set to kick off on October 20 in Santiago, Chile. Swimming will start on the 21st and run through the 25th, while open-water swimming will be contested on the 29th. 

In preparation for the Games, SwimSwam has gathered some numbers and tidbits to highlight both important and interesting information about these and past Games, as they are just a week away from starting. 

General 2023 Information 

• 8,000: number of athletes expected across both the Pan-Am and Para-Pan Am Games
• 425: number of medaling events
• 41: number of countries
• 39: number of sporting events contested 
• 19: number of editions of the Pan Am Games 
• 8: number of times the Games have been held in South America
• 1: These Games mark the first time that Chile will be the host 

A Look at the Past: The 2019 Pan Ams

• 114: number of medals awarded across pool and open-water swimming
• 45: number of medals won by the USA in swimming, leading the medal table (293 across all sports)
• 33: number of swimming medals won by runner-up Brazil
• 5: number of swimmers who represented the US in Lima that then made their first Olympic team in 2021
  • Phoebe Bacon, Drew Kibler, Nic Fink, Annie Lazor, Alex Walsh
• 5: number of Games Records broken in Lima in 2019
  • Annie Lazor (USA) – W 200 Breast – 2:21.40
  • Will Licon (USA) –  M 200 Breast – 2:07.62
  • Brazil – M 4×100 Free Relay – 3:12.61
  • Brazil – M 4×200 Free Relay – 7:10.66
  • USA – M 4×100 Medley Relay – 3:30.25

Swimming Facts

• 120,000: the number of square meters that Laguna Los Morros, where open water swimming will be held, covers.
  • The venue will also host water skiing (on separate days)
• 1860: the approximate number of feet above sea level where the pool in which swimming will be held sits.
  • For reference, the 2011 Pan Am Games were held in Guadalajara, Mexico, which sits 5,000 feet above sea level
• 38: number of swimming events that will be held
  • 36 in the pool (50-1500 FR, 100-200 of FL/BK/BR, 200-400 IM, 4×100 FR, 4×200 FR, 4×100 Medley for Men and Women each, and 4×100 FR and 4×100 Med Mixed relays)
  • 2 in open water (10K for both Men and Women)
• 43: number of swimmers that were announced to be representing Brazil, 12 of whom are Tokyo Olympians
  • Nathalia Almeida, Stephanie Balduccini, Guilherme Basseto, Guilherme Costa, Leonardo de Deus, Giovanna Diamante, Beatriz Dizotti, Matheus Gonche, Viviane Jungblut, Vinicius Lanza, Murilo Sartori, and Fernando Scheffer.
• 36: number of swimmers that were announced to be representing the US,  6 of whom are Tokyo Olympians
  • Brooks Curry, Catie DeLoof, Jay Litherland, Paige Madden, Erica Sullivan, and Ashley Twitchell
• 36: number of swimmers that were announced to be representing Canada, 5 of whom are Tokyo Olympians
  • Javier Acevedo, Finlay Knox, Maggie MacNeil, Sydney Pickrem, and Katerine Savard
• 23: number of total medals won by Brazilian Thiago Pereira, the most in Games history across all sports
• 2: number of 2021 Olympic gold medalists competing in the pool
  • Maggie MacNeil (100 Fly)
  • Brooks Curry (4×100 Free Relay)
• ?: number of athletes added to the U.S. National Team.
  • If any US swimmer posts a time equal to or faster than the 6th-placed swimmer on the National Team roster and they aren’t already on the Team, then they are eligible to be added to the National Team (no swimmer will be removed i.e. no bumping)