It’s the first time the event, which is a major benchmark meet for the Junior Dolphins, is being held in Australia with more than 300 athletes and support staff from 13 countries based on-site at the AIS for the four-day event.

International teams have arrived in recent days with the event taking place from 21-24 August.

Australian Sports Commission (ASC) CEO Kieren Perkins OAM said he was delighted to welcome the next generation of swimming talent to campus.

“Events like this are often the first opportunity for athletes to compete in a high-performance environment and are critical to developing young athletes,” he said.

“The ability for athletes to train, compete, recover and have their meals and accommodation all within walking distances makes the AIS the ideal venue for an event like this.

“Following an incredible fortnight of Olympics action, it’s exciting to think there could be some stars of tomorrow taking part in this event as they build towards LA 2028 and beyond.”

Today’s opening ceremony is among the first events to be held in the new look AIS Arena which reopened last month following a $15 million upgrade made possible by the Australian Government.

“We are seeing strong demand from sports and the broader community to use our facilities and services and we look forward to welcoming even more athletes, support staff and the public to campus in the months and years to come,” Perkins added.

A 40-person Australian team has been selected for the event and for 32 swimmers it will be their first major benchmark meet.

CEO of Swimming Australia Rob Woodhouse said the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs was a great opportunity for some of our leading young swimmers to participate in a high-quality event at home.

“The athletes coming through the junior ranks now are incredibly fortunate that Australia is hosting Olympic Games within the next eight years.”

Team lead Gary Barclay added: “Competing nations have sent full-strength teams, so this meet is a good measure on how our pathway athletes are heading ahead of LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032.”