Distance events and mixed medley added to Tokyo Olympics.

Former Member
Former Member
swimswam.com/.../ Men's 800 free and women's 1500 free added as well mixed 400 medley relay. Other mixed relays and stroke 50s not added.
  • swimswam.com/.../ Men's 800 free and women's 1500 free added as well mixed 400 medley relay. Other mixed relays and stroke 50s not added.This is AWESOME ... but now I need to create a new picture/emoji thing for this forum ;)
  • This is AWESOME ... but now I need to create a new picture/emoji thing for this forum ;) I was hoping that they would add the 50 of strokes before adding any relays. Its interesting that they would add a Mixed Medley Relay instead of a Mixed Free Relay. The 200 Relays would make more sense because they have been going for sometime now and they would not take as much time as the 400 Relays. Maybe because of time, they only wanted one 400 Relay and maybe that is why only one. I would think they would want to duplicate the events at the FINA World Championships and that is why I am surprised of no 50 of strokes. This opens up the medal capacity of mid distance and distance free swimmers. Someone like Katie Ledecky could win 7 golds if she can get on the team as a relay swimmer for the 100 Free.
  • This is AWESOME ... but now I need to create a new picture/emoji thing for this forum ;)Just change Give to Gave. Non Swimming Related - I also see they are adding 3 on 3 basketball. That could be interesting.
  • Arthur, you beat me to it. I was just going to start a thread and post this article: www.aol.com/.../ All the changes/additions for 2020 are included in the article, including other sports.
  • I was hoping that they would add the 50 of strokes before adding any relays. Its interesting that they would add a Mixed Medley Relay instead of a Mixed Free Relay. Perhaps of the IOC splits the 24 games between Paris and LA as seems to be a possibility, they'll add those events then to better fill the games for whichever city would host the swimming. Don't know, just a guess. Very happy with the distance additions. But I, too, am miffed at a mixed medley, rather than a mixed free. Will the additions open up any additional roster spots?
  • I was wondering if every country would use the same gender for the same strokes so I looked at the world record differential between all four stroke 100s. It is 5.15 free, 6.27 back, 7.22 ***, and 5.66 for fly. The best option might be for women to swim free and fly and men to swim back and ***. Depending on a country's individual swimmers they might swap fly and back but free should always be done by a woman and *** by a man. That is assuming you have a fast male breaststroker and a fast female freestyler. There is an idea to go men for the BK and BR to get open water for the women. I think that is not as important as how fast people are. Add up the times and see what gives you the best result.
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 7 years ago
    absolutely NOT!!! they will use the fastest guy in the 100 fly and 100 *** for the relay thats already on the team. same for 100 back and 100 free for women that are already on the team. ZERO new spots I was wondering if every country would use the same gender for the same strokes so I looked at the world record differential between all four stroke 100s. It is 5.15 free, 6.27 back, 7.22 ***, and 5.66 for fly. The best option might be for women to swim free and fly and men to swim back and ***. Depending on a country's individual swimmers they might swap fly and back but free should always be done by a woman and *** by a man.
  • absolutely NOT!!! they will use the fastest guy in the 100 fly and 100 *** for the relay thats already on the team. same for 100 back and 100 free for women that are already on the team. ZERO new spots Was thinking more along the lines of the men's middle distance and the women's long distance, not the relay. Also in the future of the add 50's of stroke.
  • My thinking is that a mixed medley presents more of a challenge to the coaches. With mixed free, barring event limitations, you just toss in your two fastest men and women. I don't think it's that simple in a mixed medley. (Or maybe it is, and I'm just not thinking about the problem correctly.) It isn't, there are a lot more possibilities with mixed medley relays. As a summer league coach, I address this problem every other week (five age groups, A/B/C relays per age group). In our summer league, a further complicating factor is that you can have 3 or even 4 females in a "mixed" relay, not just 2. Free relays are easy, Team Manager will even suggest them for you and usually they are correct or close to it.
  • Will the additions open up any additional roster spots? absolutely NOT!!! they will use the fastest guy in the 100 fly and 100 *** for the relay thats already on the team. same for 100 back and 100 free for women that are already on the team. ZERO new spots