How to watch Marathon Swimming at Olympics 2024: free live streams, all eyes on the Seine for men's race

Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha raises a hand and sticks her tongue out at the camera at the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in 2024.
(Image credit: Emanuele Perrone/Getty Images)

Watch marathon swimming at Olympics 2024 and find out whether last time's gold winner Florian Wellbrock can regain his title in this year’s gruelling open water contest, taking place in the chilly (but hopefully clean!) waters of the Seine. Below we have all the information on how to watch marathon swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics Game from anywhere in the world with details on worldwide TV channels, broadcasters and free streams.

The marathon sets itself apart from other swimming events by taking place in open river waters, where competitors are at the mercy of the elements as well as the 10k challenge itself. The well-garlanded Tokyo Olympics winner Florian Wellbrock will be hoping to land another gold for Germany, but witnessed on Thursday how easily the title can evaporate – Ana Marcela Cunha lost hers, as Sharon Van Rouwendaal won her second in this discipline.

So who is Wellbrock up against? Daniel Wiffen for starters. The Irishman is currently ranked number 1 in the world and already has two medals around his neck from the pool last week. Turkey's Kuzey Tuncelli is the among the youngest competitors at just 16 and has been smashing records in recent junior contests. And Hungarian Kristóf Rasovszky and Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri who both medalled last time, will be hoping to go better still in Paris.

Here's where to watch marathon swimming and 2024 Olympics live streams online from anywhere – including FREE options.

Watch marathon swimming at Olympics 2024 Quick Guide

Key Dates

  • Event dates: August 8 – 9
  • Daily start: 1.30am ET / 6.30am BST

Best free streams

FREE marathon swimming Olympics 2024 live stream broadcasters

You can watch marathon swimming at Olympics 2024 for free with English language commentary on the BBC and iPlayer in the UK, RTÉ in Ireland, CBC in Canada and Channel 9 in Australia.

Channel 9 and the 9Now streaming service in Australia have the most comprehensive Olympics 2024 free-to-air coverage of all.

You can watch almost every session from every single 2024 Olympic event live and on demand through dedicated channels on the 9Now streaming service, including Olympic marathon swimming.

Other, non-English language Olympics free streams can be found on ORF (Austria), RTBF (Belgium), VRT (Belgium), RDS (Canada), Chilevision (Chile), Caracol (Colombia), DR (Denmark), France TV (France), RAI (Italy), Yle (Finland), ARD (Germany), ZDF (Germany), RUV (Iceland), JioCinema (India), TV3 (Lithuania), NOS (Netherlands), NRK (Norway), TVP (Poland), SABC (South Africa), RTVE (Spain), SNRT (Morocco), Canal 5 (Mexico) and the SRG SSR channels (Switzerland).

Use a VPN to watch Olympic marathon swimming for free on your usual streaming service above if you are away from home.

Use a VPN to watch any Olympics 2024 stream

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How to watch marathon swimming Olympic 2024 live streams in the US

The marathon swimming live stream from Olympics 2024 is on Peacock and the USA Network (men only) in the US.

Broadcast rights to the 2024 Paris Olympics belong to NBC. All Olympics 2024 sessions are available to watch on Peacock. Select events will also be on the NBC, USA Network, E!, CNBC and Golf Channel cable channels.

If you don't have cable, Peacock is the best option. You'll need a subscription to the ad-supported Peacock Premium which is $7.99 per month, or ad-less Peacock Plus which is $13.99 per month.

How to watch marathon swimming Olympic 2024 live streams in the UK and Europe

While many public and national TV broadcasters have the TV and live stream rights to the Paris Olympic Games in the UK and Europe, it's the Discovery Plus subscription service that offers the most comprehensive coverage across the region, with 3,800 hours of live coverage across 55 streams.

Plans usually start at £6.99 per month in the UK for the Discovery Plus Standard plan (which gets you access to all the Olympic action), but from July 17 – August 11 you can take advantage of a special Olympics offer which cuts the price to £3.99 per month. New customers will be able to take advantage of the discounted price for the rest of the year.

The BBC and RTÉ are the places for free Olympics 2024 live streams in the UK and Ireland. You can find a list of other public broadcasters with Olympics 2024 broadcast rights across Europe in the Rest of the World section below.

Official Olympic marathon swimming broadcasters by region

Africa

Americas

Europe

Asia

Oceania

Middle East

Can I watch 2024 Olympic marathon swimming for free?

Check your local broadcaster above but people in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and many other nations listed have free Olympics 2024 coverage as well as subscription broadcasters.

Those in Australia and Canada can watch almost every session of every Olympics 2024 event for free on 9Now and CBC. That will very likely include marathon swimming free live streams.

Remember that, if you're traveling away from home, you can use a VPN to watch the 2024 Olympics free from abroad on your usual streaming service.

When is the marathon swimming at the 2024 Olympics?

The 2024 Olympic marathon swimming takes place on Thursday, August 8 and Friday, August 9.

Start times are at approximately 1.30am ET / 6.30am BST each day, with the women's event on the Thursday and the men's on the Friday.

Can I watch 2024 Olympic marathon swimming on my mobile?

Of course, most broadcasters have streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone's browser.

You can also stay up-to-date with all 2024 Olympic Games events on the official social media channels on X/Twitter (@Olympics), Instagram (@Olympics), TikTok (@Olympics) and YouTube (@Olympics).

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Adam Marshall

Adam was formerly the Content Director of Subscriptions and Services at Future, meaning that he oversaw many of the articles TechRadar produces about antivirus software, VPN, TV streaming, broadband and mobile phone contracts - from buying guides and deals news, to industry interest pieces and reviews. Adam has now dusted off his keyboard to write articles for the likes of TechRadar, T3 and Tom's Guide.