HomeNews ArticlesDolphins capture global audience during record week at Australian Swimming Trials
Australian Dolphins | 20 June 2024

Dolphins capture global audience during record week at Australian Swimming Trials

OUR Paris-bound Dolphins captivated the nation and an international audience extending to the USA, UK and India during the 2024 Australian Swimming Trials at Brisbane Aquatic Centre.

Six days of world-class racing attracted more than 16,700 swimming fans through the gates – the highest since pre-COVID – including two sellout nights on Friday and Saturday.

From a broadcast perspective, the event had a total TV reach of over 5.7 million viewers, with a finals session average of 631,000 (586k linear and 45k Broadcast Video On Demand (BVOD)).

The highest total Finals TV audience was for Wednesday’s world record night – when Ariarne Titmus established  anew 200m freestyle world record – with 707,000 viewers (653k linear and 53k BVOD).

The event propelled Nine to the No. 1 metro linear network during primetime for Total People and All Key Demographics, while 9Now was the No. 1 commercial BVOD platform nationally during prime time (Total People and All Key Demos).

Building the reach of the event was the media coverage generated, taking the event to a worldwide potential audience of 21 billion people. There were 41,000 media mentions across all platforms including 20,100 for TV, 8,500 for radio and 500 print articles.

On the social media front, engagement across Swimming Australia and the Dolphins Swim Team owned channels skyrocketed. There were almost 3,500 mentions on X, and engagement increased on Instagram by 1896% and on Facebook by 1823%.

The most engaging content being reels involving Cate Campbell, Shayna Jack and Ariarne Titmus’s World Record, while the most shared content includes Tim Hodge’s World Record and Sam Short’s family reaction to his inclusion on the team.

The success of the Trials reflects the popularity of Australia’s highest participation sport, with 5.9 million participants annually, and comes as Swimming Australia launches Pool for Purpose through the SwimAus Foundation.

Ahead of Brisbane 2032, Swimming Australia is looking to drive investment in building a legacy for all and connecting communities through swimming across Australia.

With the aim to raise $2.5M, a dollar for every litre of an Olympic size swimming pool, the funds will go towards a number of grassroots programs including Para and First Nations participation programs and coach development in regional and remote communities.

Swimming Australia CEO Rob Woodhouse said the numbers prove that swimming is Australia’s favourite Olympic and Paralympic sport, capturing the attention of many Australians as they head into Paris.

“These numbers, the engagement in our sport, is testament to the affinity swimming has with the Australian public,” said Woodhouse.

“We are so proud of how our athletes performed and to have a platform that showcases their talents to all of Australia, we couldn’t have asked for a better preparation ahead of Paris.

“We thank the Australian Government, the Australian Sports Commission and the National Institute Network for their support of our High Performance program in enabling our athletes to perform on the biggest stage. “

Executive General Manager of Commercial, Jodie Hawkins, thanked the many partners who brought the event to life and noted impact on the sport moving forward.

“We are grateful to the media for their ongoing support, in particular our broadcast partners in Channel 9 for putting on a great broadcast,” said Hawkins.

“We also thank Tourism and Events Queensland and the Brisbane Economic Development Agency for their support, and the Brisbane Aquatic Centre and Stadiums Queensland for facilitating the event.

“We look forward to continuing to build on the momentum of the Trials, and the Paris Games, to drive commercial success for Swimming Australia and our athletes and to inspire more Australians to swim.”

Swimming Australia thanks its corporate and supplier partners on the delivery of an incredible Trials event, and congratulates all athletes, coaches and support staff selected on the Olympic and Paralympic teams for Paris.