Olympic swimming debacle

If you think swimming is bad Wait till track 🤪

That was brutal to watch.

https://twitter.com/nzaccardi/status/1420228655557525516?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Titan wrote:

Zach Apple is NOT. A 200 swimmer!

Horrible split.

Horrible decision by the coach.

He legit started going backwards. Commentator Phelps went silent for awhile. That was awkward.

I want a coaching job!

What a horrible decision.

Pick a 200 swimmer, not a drop-dead 100 guy.

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

Ray Cyst wrote:

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

Jesus dude. I will say that calling her the female Bolt is over the top but you have to at least respect her PRs, longevity, and the contributions she has made to the US medal count, year after year. And on top of that she got second at the trials THIS YEAR in the 400m. I get it that people don’t like human interest taking the spotlight, but for you guys to be in full power hate mode against one of the greatest American sprinters of all time because they show a few shots of her kids on air is pretty silly.

Sure did seem like a bad call to have him on the relay after his 100. Head scratcher.

I don't remember a more terrible performance. I agree

Not an unusual "coach's call" to put Apple on the relay. USA has done similar selections in the past (eg. bumped Gary Hall Jr.) with big success. This one backfired and it is always easy to criticize the decision as Monday morning quarterbacks. Personally, I have made similar decisions as a swim coach and 80% of the time was correct, but it is that 20% failures that I still feel bad about.

At least he didn't drop the baton 😉

Ray Cyst wrote:

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

You again?! What is it with you and black women? Did one turn you down or something?

Ray Cyst wrote:

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

If it's not a real medal then it shouldn't matter who we send right?

That was the moment Phelps decided he'd come back in 2024.

One bad apple ruins a bunch.

Sorry, I had to

You guys know nothing about swimming, please stop discussing this and go back to pretending you know something about running. And gymnastics.

Note that the US would have put Caleb Dressel, the best swimmer in the world, on that relay in place of Apple. I think the calculation was that even if they put Dressel on that relay the US still wouldn't win gold. And if they put him on the relay it would hurt his chances of gold in his other events. If Dressel had been on that relay in place of Apple the US would for sure have gotten the silver. It might have been very exciting if Dressel had been anchoring and was even or had a slight lead on GB going into the final leg. Hard to imagine him getting beat in that scenario.

NYDCRunner1 wrote:

Ray Cyst wrote:

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

You again?! What is it with you and black women? Did one turn you down or something?

Seriously. This guy right here.

NYDCRunner1 wrote:

Ray Cyst wrote:

This is the future of the USA women's 4x4 if they don't summon the intestinal fortitude to leave Alyson Felix off the team. She's going to bring out the kid again to gain sympathy, the media is going to add more pressure and it's going to be very difficult for them to do. They can let her run the mixed 4x4 and she can get another ceremonial medal that she can flaunt as if it's a real medal.

You again?! What is it with you and black women? Did one turn you down or something?

WTF is wrong with you and your RACE-BAITING? There are no white women anywhere close to the 4x4, Ray is advocating for Athing Mu, Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhamed to run along with the 400m champion........ALL BLACK WOMEN.

just think about it for a second wrote:

...but you have to at least respect her PRs, longevity, and the contributions she has made to the US medal count, year after year. And on top of that she got second at the trials THIS YEAR in the 400m.

To me, the only thing that matters is in the "what have you done for me lately" scheme of things. "Lately" is an undefined period of time, certainly, but the longevity card shouldn't apply to any athlete who hasn't performed well since, say, the Rio Olympics. (Yeah, I know, Lasse Viren did squat in-between consecutive Olympics, where he shined, but even that was only 4 years between Olympics, unlike the 5 between Rio and Tokyo.) Past history is certainly part of Alysson Felix's appeal, but glory that came in the distant past, like winning an Olympic gold in the 200 in London, means squat to me in 2021.

That said, Felix did finish second in the 400 in the trials this year, so she's legitimate in that event and in relays...but her participation in relays should 100% be based on her more recent successes on the track, not on ancient successes.