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.
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Former Member
I agree with you about taking the top times. But if that's all they are going to do then it's just a superflous round that could (I think should) be done away with.
Quoting you: "every swimmer in the field will have to do there best and cannot coast just to victory"... I agree with that sentiment, but it should be applied to the preliminary rounds.
I understand it generates excitement, and it offers more races in the evening that "mean something". But I'm not sure they put the athletes interests at heart when making that decision. Swimming is grueling. Swimming 3 rounds of a 200 in the span of 36 hours is grueling, especially if you have other races to boot. Personally, I like seeing domination by the top swimmers, and if removing the semi-finals allowed the dominant swimmers to do more events I'd be all for it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it's an interesting topic.
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Former Member
I agree with you about taking the top times. But if that's all they are going to do then it's just a superflous round that could (I think should) be done away with.
Quoting you: "every swimmer in the field will have to do there best and cannot coast just to victory"... I agree with that sentiment, but it should be applied to the preliminary rounds.
I understand it generates excitement, and it offers more races in the evening that "mean something". But I'm not sure they put the athletes interests at heart when making that decision. Swimming is grueling. Swimming 3 rounds of a 200 in the span of 36 hours is grueling, especially if you have other races to boot. Personally, I like seeing domination by the top swimmers, and if removing the semi-finals allowed the dominant swimmers to do more events I'd be all for it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it's an interesting topic.
