Others may know too, but semi-finals were added to the Olympic program in 2000. Would it actually be more accurate to say that they were reintroduced in 2000? This is related tothe Phelps/ Spitz comparison. I seem to recall that semi-finals were part of the Olympic program in the 70's. But evrything I read says otherwise. Does anyone know the history of semi-finals in the Olympic program.
Rain Man:
I know they circle seed the swimming events but I am not sure how they do the Track events. Swimming has always been more clock oriented since electonic timing has been used in the Olympics and other Championships in Swimming. I know before electonic timing they had decided races like this in swimming. I also notice in Track running events especially the sprints, it sometimes is hard to determine who the winner is when seeing the events. In swimming, its immediate in that you can see the scoreboard and see who advances to the semi final.
My feeling is that every swimmer in the field will have to do there best and cannot coast just to victory because you never know what the other heat and times will be. In track somebody can let up if they know they will take top 3 and can conserve energy for the final. I think its just the culture difference in both sports. I also think this could cause controversy because some swimmers could draw a more difficult semi final depending on how the top swimmers swim there heats. You could actually have a 4th place finisher in a heat be faster than a heat winner because of results and the seedings of heats. The way its done now, there would be no controversy because you would advance by the clock not by the individual competitor and there are differences in individuals in performances but not the clock.
Rain Man:
I know they circle seed the swimming events but I am not sure how they do the Track events. Swimming has always been more clock oriented since electonic timing has been used in the Olympics and other Championships in Swimming. I know before electonic timing they had decided races like this in swimming. I also notice in Track running events especially the sprints, it sometimes is hard to determine who the winner is when seeing the events. In swimming, its immediate in that you can see the scoreboard and see who advances to the semi final.
My feeling is that every swimmer in the field will have to do there best and cannot coast just to victory because you never know what the other heat and times will be. In track somebody can let up if they know they will take top 3 and can conserve energy for the final. I think its just the culture difference in both sports. I also think this could cause controversy because some swimmers could draw a more difficult semi final depending on how the top swimmers swim there heats. You could actually have a 4th place finisher in a heat be faster than a heat winner because of results and the seedings of heats. The way its done now, there would be no controversy because you would advance by the clock not by the individual competitor and there are differences in individuals in performances but not the clock.
