INDIANAPOLIS — As people descend on downtown Indianapolis in mid-June to watch the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming at Lucas Oil Stadium, they will have plenty of other activities and events to participate in that celebrate the trials.
According to an announcement from the Indiana Sports Corp. a 66-fot replica of The Eiffel Tower will be installed at the intersection of Georgia Street and Capitol Avenue. The announcement said the replica will weigh around 19,000 pounds and be the centerpiece of the events surrounding the trials.
From June 15-23, the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials are expected to draw more than 250,000 fans and is expected to break the record for the largest swim meet ever. The announcement said that more than 1,000 athletes will compete for 52 spots to represent TEAM USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“I am proud to stand here today and hear about all of the strategic creativity our community has dedicated to making the nine days of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials special,” Patrick Talty, the president of the Indiana Sports Corp. said in the announcement. “But I’m not surprised. Taking the world-class events to another level is what we do best in Indianapolis and these nine days will be something everyone will want to see and be part of.”
The celebration will also include a free concert series, starting at 5 p.m. on June 14 with The Starting Block Party. The Main Squeeze, a Bloomington-based funk band, will perform at 8 p.m. that evening. The concert series, curated by Forty5 Presents, will feature headliners at 5:30 p.m. each day, including:
June 15 – lovelytheband
June 16 – John Driskell Hopkins (Hop from Zac Brown Band)
June 17 – The Motet
June 18 – Saved By The 90s
June 19 – Brittney Spencer
June 20 – Taylor Swift Night: The Taylor Party
June 21 – Fastball
June 22 – To Be Announced
June 23 – Six Foot Blonde
“At Forty5 Presents, we thrive on bringing people together through music. We do that at the Historic Vogue Theater in Broad Ripple and Rock the Ruins at Holliday Park, but this is the first time we’re booking bands to rock an U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials,” Jenny Boyts, the chief executive officer for Forty5 Presents, said in the announcement. “So we couldn’t be more delighted to fill the OneAmerica Financial Stage with a lot of high-energy, diverse music and bands from inside and outside of Indiana.”
The festivities will also include a “Swim Up Bar” in the center block of Georgia Street, multiple new art projects around the Georgia Street corridor, as well as the return of SPARK! on the Circle. Indiana Sports Corp, along with USA Swimming, will also host the Swim IN Safety program, working to teach 50,000 Hoosiers to be water safe by the end of 2024.
“At USA Swimming we are excited to bring the Olympic Trials to Indianapolis, which has committed tremendous creativity and innovation to host the world’s fastest swim meet in June,” Shana Ferguson, the chief commercial officer with USA Swimming, said in the release. “For the first time ever, a swim meet is being held on a football field, as 3 swimming pools take the stage in Lucas Oil Stadium! And Indianapolis is living up to its reputation as an incredible event city by creating USA Swimming LIVE Presented by Purdue University just outside on Georgia Street and the Toyota Aqua Zone inside the Indiana Convention Center.”
Tickets to the swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium can be found here. For more information about USA Swimming LIVE, click here.
