| Aghast |
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Does swimming have much more lenient qualifying standards? 1,800+ competitors for about 46 spots. |
| beachmouse |
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The swim trials this time around are a clusterf*ck- USA swimming used the same time standards as in 2008 and literally got twice as many qualifiers as they were targeting. And they only have one hard qualifying standard- no provisional invitations and such, so they were stuck with a big meet. It's been almost funny watching meet management freak out as entries rolled in- yes we're now using ten lanes for prelims even though we said we were only using eight lanes for prelims earlier; okay we're now doing flyover starts to keep the heats moving somehow; we're getting rid of time trials between sessions; wait we're bringing back time trials because of coach whining, but only on select days of the meet.... But it's just kind of accepted that swim meets in general will be huge. The Grand Prix (national level) series this year tended to cap entries at 800 or so athletes and generally hit that number fairly quickly after entries open. It helps in term of meet pacing that swim starts tend to be down and beep quickly affairs- you could get in two heats of 100M free in the amount of time it takes for a typical track sprinter in the 100M dash to get from 'on your marks' to the gun. Part of it is that they want promising juniors going through the Olympic Trials experience. Missy Franklin and Lia Neal were 12 and 13 year olds with no hope for Qualifying for Beijing in 2008, but were at the meet to get a taste for what it's like to be at that kind of level. Now Franklin is the 2011 World Swimmer of the Year expected to qualify in a bunch of events and Neal could pick up two relay spots, nd it's seen as good that both are not rookies to the big meet. |
| was a swimmer |
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Thanks for informative post, beachmouse! One small question: why are there time trials at Olympic Trials? |
| was a swimmer |
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The US is a powerhouse in swimming. Best country in the world, with very little debate on that. In your example, men's 100 breast, we had 5 of the top 25 in the world last year. Somewhat better than the US men's 10,000. I'm OK with 100 guys within a couple seconds of qualifying being in the event. It doesn't add extra rounds, since getting out of prelims is entirely based on time. Even with 200 or 300 in an event it would be heats, semis, finals. And the same top 8 would be in the final. It would just take a ridiculous amount of time! But these are athletes on a par with the last man in any given USATF event this week. Imagine if we went 100 deep in qualifying for USATF. Guys would get lapped. Twice. |
| sunfire |
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You could say the exact same things about T&F (the US is the best in the world and I'm sure 5 of the top 25 is the norm in the majority of T&F events). You're looking at it the wrong way using "a couple seconds." 2 seconds is a lot different in an event that lasts 10 seconds versus 27 minutes. And the "lapped" comment probably only applies to the 10k (on the men's side). I'm sure 100 could stay on the lead lap in the 5k and shorter. |
| beachmouse |
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Swimming is very much a train through most competitions and then taper for maybe 2-3 big meets where you're going for the really fast times kind of sport. There are swimmers who only maybe qualified for 1-2 events at the Olympic Trials who then tapered for the meet because it's the Olympic Trials, and you don't want to look like a fool there. So with the US Open coming up in August, many swimmers, especially juniors, were planning on using their Trials taper to pick up additional qualifying times for the US Open. Unlike a lot of years when the US Open doesn't mean much, this time around it's being used to select next year's World University Games team (the international team consolation prize of sorts for not making the Olympic squad) as well as a couple of national junior teams that are kind of a big deal. |
| Fish and ponds |
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was a swimmer wrote: The US is a powerhouse in swimming. Best country in the world, with very little debate on that. [/quote] Just you wait until they start building swimming pools in Africa ... |
| beachmouse |
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There is potential in west Africa. Like with track and field, afro-caribbean blacks seem to overperform in swimming compared to what you'd expect from countries that size. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, assorted Jamaicans named Atkinson, Enith Brigitha, the Fraser brothers from the Cayman Islands, Anthony Nesty.... all come to mind even if that group hasn't quite produced a Bolt-level athlete yet. |
| was a swimmer |
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I'm afraid you don't have a clue what you are talking about. There is no event in swimming that lasts 10 seconds. The OP's example, men's 100 breast, is just under one minute flat for the world's elite. And yes, any US swimming trials qualifier is going to be closer to Olympic final level than the last man in the USATF 10,000 or 5,000. We have great depth in swimming. Not so much in distance running. Just facts. BEACHMOUSE: You clearly know your swimming. Is there anywhere you go to discuss it online? |
| I LOVE COLLEGE |
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So...you want to see his genitals in an online chat room? |
| beachmouse |
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collegeswimming.com has message boards, and the newish swimswam.com blog is getting a fair amount of chatter. There's also discussion on the message boards at US Masters swimming - usms.org |
| Frank Myers |
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Almost all, evens ones with no hope of making the team, are tapered and shaved for this meet. A time-trial in an event they didn't have a cut in, would allow them to PR while they are tapered and shaved and if they are on the younger end perhaps make a cut for the mid-August Junior National meet without having to taper again before that meet.
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| was a swimmer |
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Thanks! I got out of the sport over a decade ago, but still follow it on swimnews.com etc. Always wondered if there's a letsrun for swimming, but never found one. Maybe that's a good thing (see the idiot above). |
| was a swimmer |
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Got it! Thanks! |
| den bosch |
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Yes, the Olympic swimming trials are much easier to qualify for relatively. I know people who can't make D3 nationals but can make OTs in swimming (keep in mind, one is a 25y pool, and the other is 50m, which is significantly different - you can be much better at one than the other). |