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.
Former Member
I've got to agree with you on this one Bert! I can think of a few races I've been in(granted they were not the Olympics) where I DQ'd. Would have loved to have had them back....not allowed! Should not be allowed here either!
Honestly Geek....Yes! If he made the team! He DQ'd....didn't make the cut! Happens to the best sometimes! To me, he wasn't focused on what he was doing, figured he'd make it easily. He should have except for one little mistake. I think he should acknowledge that mistake and step aside and let the other guy that made it swim. Personal opinion of course.:D
Originally posted by JRidge
I think you missed a small part of the Foster story. They have already changed the rules. It appears that Matthew Kidd is on the team (which is terrific) when he did not make the cut in the 100 free which he won (he missed the cut by .49) nor in the 50 in which he took second to Foster.
The story misunderstands the Matthew Kidd situation.
The British selection standards state "The 1st placed British swimmer in each 100m event final at the Trials will be selected for medley team events provided that the combined individual performances achieve the Top 8 World Ranking qualifying standard, as at 31 December 2003, set out below in Schedule 3."
The combined times for the medley relay is faster than the qualifying standard so Kidd was selected for the relay as the 100 Free Champion. He is allowed to swim extra events because the selection rules say that once you are selected you can swim events that don't have two British swimmers already in them. The 100 free had no British swimmers, so he will be allowed to contest. The 100 free didn't qualify him for the team, the medley relay did.
Dog chasing it's tail. Guess we aren't going to agree. The top-2 finishers get the spots. If one drops out, it goes to number 3, then 4, then 5. Not an arbitrarily made decision to choose the guy who got dq'd and didn't even finish. Those rules are the same as ours and are logical. If they want to change the rules to suit their needs and those of an adoring public, so be it. It seems like they are likely going down that road. I only want the fastest guys there anyway, so Pablo Morales should have been given a bonus final swim at the '88 Trials b/c he was the reigning WC and just made a mistake finishing third at Trials in the 100 fly.
BTW, I believe the "decision" we are talking about is made by the people strapping on the suit and goggles and actually "swimming" the race. That's why we call the sport "swimming" and not "If the wrong guy makes the team because the defending champ dq's, we can massage the rules, take that wrong guy out of the event, and choose who we want to swim the race." (plus, that longer name won't fit on any of our caps, sweats or letterhead)
Originally posted by tjburk
Honestly Geek....Yes! If he made the team! He DQ'd....didn't make the cut! Happens to the best sometimes! To me, he wasn't focused on what he was doing, figured he'd make it easily. He should have except for one little mistake. I think he should acknowledge that mistake and step aside and let the other guy that made it swim. Personal opinion of course.:D
Do we know if Thorpe would accept the offer? Maybe they will make it and he will say no?
I don't know all of the details of the rules the Aussies have in place. But in my gut, he was DQ'd. Somebody else is first, second, third, etc. The swimmers should be selected in order of finish. It just feels right to me that way.
Originally posted by aquageek
This analogy to The Masters is very ill conceived.
Australia has been given the freedom to choose their Olympians. If they decide to be somewhat shady, so what? That's their call, not the IOCs. You may not like their random use of their own rules but you can't randomly enforce an IOC rule that does not exist and claim some higher moral ground.
I agree that Australia may follow whatever selection process they elect. To me, the onus is on Thorpe the Olympian. Will he be a champion in the spirit of Jeff Farrell and REFUSE to accept the offer to swim the 400 free or will he follow Van Almsick and take the opportunity. Which example will he follow?
So far, he's merely said that he wouldn't swim if Stevens was subject to "undue" pressure.
