IOC Strongly Considering 50′s for 2016 Olympics

On the elite level, OWS is 99% pack swimming with a 100-200M sprint at the end. There is no difference between a 5K or 10K ows, other than the distance of the warmup before the sprint. So I see no reason to add that event. 3 of the top 4 would be the same in each event. For the most part, the medal winners in the 100 are the same as the medal winners in the 200. But I do think that the podium in the 50's would be much different (to the respectice 100 counter part). You can see this in freestyle. Popov was the last one to win both. So from a competetion stand point, it is hard to argue that the 50 strokes are not unique events. But all of this is too much of a good thing in my opinion. IF they add 50's, they should drop 100's. That won't happen.

On the elite level, OWS is 99% pack swimming with a 100-200M sprint at the end. There is no difference between a 5K or 10K ows, other than the distance of the warmup before the sprint. So I see no reason to add that event. 3 of the top 4 would be the same in each event. For the most part, the medal winners in the 100 are the same as the medal winners in the 200. But I do think that the podium in the 50's would be much different (to the respectice 100 counter part). You can see this in freestyle. Popov was the last one to win both. So from a competetion stand point, it is hard to argue that the 50 strokes are not unique events. But all of this is too much of a good thing in my opinion. IF they add 50's, they should drop 100's. That won't happen.