Léon Marchand in the context of "Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre butterfly"

The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Through 2022, the flame would continue to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it was extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony. In 2024, electric lighting and mist were used to create a simulated flame for the Olympic cauldron, with the actual flame kept in a lantern exhibited at an adjacent location. That lantern was then taken by French swimmer Léon Marchand from Jardins des Tuileries (where the Olympic cauldron, that was extinguished at that moment, was located) and ceremonially "transferred" to the Stade de France at the start of the Closing Ceremony; there it was finally extinguished just after the IOC president officially closed the Games.

The world records in swimming are ratified by World Aquatics (formerly known as FINA), the international governing body of swimming. Records can be set in long course (50 metres) or short course (25 metres) swimming pools. World Aquatics recognizes world records in the following events for both men and women, except for the mixed relays, where teams consist of two men and two women, in any order.

• Freestyle: 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m
• Backstroke: 50m, 100m, 200m
• Breaststroke: 50m, 100m, 200m
• Butterfly: 50m, 100m, 200m
• Individual medley: 100m (short course only), 200m, 400m
• Relays: 4 × 50 m freestyle relay (short course only), 4 × 100 m freestyle, 4 × 200 m freestyle, 4 × 50 m medley relay (short course only), 4 × 100 m medley
• Mixed relays: 4 × 50 m mixed freestyle (short course only), 4 × 100 m mixed freestyle (long course only), 4 × 50 m mixed medley (short course only), 4 × 100 m mixed medley

The ratification process is described in FINA Rule SW12, and involves submission of paperwork certifying the accuracy of the timing system and the length of the pool, satisfaction of FINA rules regarding swimwear and a negative doping test by the swimmer(s) involved. Records can be set at intermediate distances in an individual race and for the first leg of a relay race. Records which have not yet been fully ratified are marked with a '#' symbol in these lists.

The International Olympic Committee recognises the fastest performances in pool-based swimming events at the Olympic Games. Men's swimming has been part of the official program of the Summer Olympics since the Games' modern inception in 1896; it was not until 1912 that women's events were held. The swimming events at the 1896 Olympic Games were held in a bay in the Aegean Sea with swimmers being required to swim to the shore—Hungarian swimmer Alfréd Hajós won two gold medals that year, saying "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." The 1900 Summer Olympic Games in Paris had the swimming events take place in the River Seine, and the events at the 1908 Summer Olympics were held in a 100-metre pool surrounded by an athletics track in the White City Stadium in London.

Races are held in four swimming categories: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, over varying distances and in either individual or relay race events. Medley swimming races are also held, both individually and in relays, in which all four swimming categories are used. In the Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, both men and women competed in eighteen events in the pool. Of the 35 pool-based events, swimmers from the United States hold fifteen records, Australia five, France four, China, Canada and South Africa two each, and one each to Ireland, Great Britain, Russian Olympic Committee, Hungary, and Sweden. Nineteen of the current Olympic records were set at the 2024 Summer Olympics, seven in 2020, five in 2016, one in 2012, and three in 2008.

The swimming competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were held from 27 July to 9 August 2024. There were 35 swimming events in the pool and two marathon swimming events in the open water. The pool events took place from 27 July to 4 August at the Paris La Défense Arena, and the marathon swimming events took place from 8 to 9 August between Pont Alexandre III and Pont de l'Alma in the Seine river.

France's Léon Marchand won all four individual events he entered at the Games. Four world records were broken, by: Pan Zhanle in the men's 100 m freestyle, Bobby Finke in the men's 1500 metre freestyle, and team United States in the women's 4 × 100 metre medley and mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relays. Some slower than expected performances contributed to media speculation that the Paris 2024 pool was slow.

The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 1 to 2 August 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.

France's Léon Marchand and China's Wang Shun were the considered the most likely to win gold and silver, respectively. Other medal contenders included the US' Carson Foster and Shaine Casas, Great Britain's Duncan Scott and Tom Dean, and Canada's Finlay Knox. All except Casas qualified for the final.

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 30 to 31 July 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.

Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook, China's Qin Haiyang and France's Léon Marchand were considered the most likely candidates to win the event, though China's Dong Zhihao, the US' Matt Fallon, and Japan’s Ippei Watanabe and Yu Hanaguruma were also in contention for medals. All except Qin and Fallon progressed through to the final.