Perhaps, my ***, definitely! The Olympic schedule has been known for ages.
It rubs me the wrong way too, a little too diva-ish. All the protestations about being 41 and getting tired from all that swimming seems a little out of sync with the fact that she dominated the field in the 50 on the last day of trials, setting a new record.
But, in Dara's defense about the schedule, perhaps she entered the 100 only to qualify for the relay, not expecting to be in the top two. That was certainly MY expectation; her winning the 100 was one of the two biggest shocks of the meet (the other being Hansen's implosion in the 200 ***).
I have to agree it's a little selfish. The fact that there's very little chance she could medal in the 100 does take some of the edge off it. However, The reality is the U.S. team's number one seed in the 100 free doesn't want to swim it because it might tire her out.
So I guess the moral of the story is, unless you are prepared to swim the event at the Olympics, don't swim it at trials.
I can see the selfish side of the argument, but is it really so bad that she wants to swim the best 50 she can? :dunno:
I am sure she was swimming the 100 to see what she could do and as a "back-up" plan for the 50.
Based on the FINA world rankings, Dara's 53.78 in the 100 ranks 7th in the world this year. Her 24.25 in the 50 ranks 5th. A medal is a slim chance in either, but clearly better in the 50 where her ranking is higher and she has no risk of a bad turn. Looks like a wise choice.
Skip
I think she probably pulled out of the 100 knowing she couldn't medal. A medal is very important to her so she's going for it in the 50. It is very important because she might be able to parlay that into some money so she won't have to continue to sponge off wealthy sugar daddies.
I do agree that it is somewhat selfish.
I am sure she was swimming the 100 to see what she could do and as a "back-up" plan for the 50.
Good point, queenie. GHJ may want to turn back the clock and think of doing the same thing.
Can anyone think of another time a swimmer has qualified for an individual event at the Olympics and then not swum it? It's got to be pretty unusual.
Perhaps selfish?
John Smith
Selfish? Really? Permitting somebody else to step up and swim a race they might have otherwise not been able to swim is selfish? Okay. It seems to me that she wants to conserve her energy and concentrate her efforts on the 50 Free. It would seem far more selfish to swim all of the events one qualified for and then not be able to perform well at them due to being overburdened by the workload.
It rubs me the wrong way too, a little too diva-ish. All the protestations about being 41 and getting tired from all that swimming seems a little out of sync with the fact that she dominated the field in the 50 on the last day of trials, setting a new record.
But, in Dara's defense about the schedule, perhaps she entered the 100 only to qualify for the relay, not expecting to be in the top two. That was certainly MY expectation; her winning the 100 was one of the two biggest shocks of the meet (the other being Hansen's implosion in the 200 ***).
I am pretty sure she has said this in an interview already, so I think your suspicion is correct.
