If I am reading this right, Swiminfo.com is reporting that Craig Stevens is indeed going to back out of the 400 and leave it up to Australia Swimming to "pick another member of the Olympic Team" to swim that race in Athens. If I am ANY other country, swimmer, the 3rd place finisher at the Trials or an organization interested in ethics, then I am raising a stink on this one!!!! Thorpe DQ'd and the Aussies are going to skirt the rule and get him in anyway. They would be relegated to the status of Ben Johnson, Rosie Ruiz, and the 60+% of MLB who are on steriods! This is FREAKIN' UNBELIEVABLE. I have no respect for any of the aforementioned and if this happens, none for Ian Thorpe and the Australian swim federation (or whatever official name they hide behind) are in that seeming, stinking pile.
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Former Member
'96 without Quance in the 4IM Bert, this is one I have seen many times, and she deserved to be disqualified, many many times over. In fact every meet ref that let her get away with that horrible back to breaststroke turn should have been dismissed as well. She was just lazy "going past the vertical towards the ***", she recieved no advantage with her style. But she must have done the same thousands of times in practice, so the coaches are also to blame.
I know if you or I were coaching her she would not have been allowed to get away with sloppiness like that. Pure sloppy turns in a world record holder, shame.
I feel the false start rule is stupid myself in big meets like the Olympics. They have one race every 20 minutes!!! This start rule is one of the reasons US swimmers have gone to the track start, so they are not disqualified by a poor rule ( my 2 cents). The rest of the world likes the grab start because it gets them out farther faster. So they are penalized for trying their best efforts?
Notice how I have changed this to a harrang on the track start:mad:
'96 without Quance in the 4IM Bert, this is one I have seen many times, and she deserved to be disqualified, many many times over. In fact every meet ref that let her get away with that horrible back to breaststroke turn should have been dismissed as well. She was just lazy "going past the vertical towards the ***", she recieved no advantage with her style. But she must have done the same thousands of times in practice, so the coaches are also to blame.
I know if you or I were coaching her she would not have been allowed to get away with sloppiness like that. Pure sloppy turns in a world record holder, shame.
I feel the false start rule is stupid myself in big meets like the Olympics. They have one race every 20 minutes!!! This start rule is one of the reasons US swimmers have gone to the track start, so they are not disqualified by a poor rule ( my 2 cents). The rest of the world likes the grab start because it gets them out farther faster. So they are penalized for trying their best efforts?
Notice how I have changed this to a harrang on the track start:mad:
