What does it mean when we look at the performance of the US men's swimming team at Beijing without Phelps....... i.e. without the man carrying the team? Is he merely the "Vince Young" of a slightly above average football Team?
We essentially lose the 400 free relay, 100 fly (Ian moves form 4th to 3rd), 200 IM and 400 IM (Lochted moves to silver), 200 free and 200 fly. That's makes 6 less golds and one extra bronze.
The US would effectively only win 2 individual events...... the 200 and 100 back.
Is Phelps a true representation of the state of US men's swimming or and exception?
www.nbcolympics.com/.../index.html
Parents
Former Member
More hypotheticals:
What if you took the top three swimmers like in the old days? It favors USA.
What if you took the top 4 swimmers from each country per event and score it like NCAAs or for A/B/C finals? USA looks better than the other countries, I'm sure. (Consider the backstrokes)
What if you took the top 8 swimmers from each country and score it like NCAA's? USA looks fantastic.
The deeper the cuts/scoring, the better the US looks.
A USA mens olympic B relay would probably not be in the medal hunt, but would be in finals, in 4th-6th, well ahead of most all other B relays.
Furthermore, if you make the points go to where you train rather than your home country, we look better still (Mellouli, S Africa, Cavic, etc.)
I can't come up with a hypothetical under which the US looks worse other than taking away swimmers, which seems rather dumb.
More hypotheticals:
What if you took the top three swimmers like in the old days? It favors USA.
What if you took the top 4 swimmers from each country per event and score it like NCAAs or for A/B/C finals? USA looks better than the other countries, I'm sure. (Consider the backstrokes)
What if you took the top 8 swimmers from each country and score it like NCAA's? USA looks fantastic.
The deeper the cuts/scoring, the better the US looks.
A USA mens olympic B relay would probably not be in the medal hunt, but would be in finals, in 4th-6th, well ahead of most all other B relays.
Furthermore, if you make the points go to where you train rather than your home country, we look better still (Mellouli, S Africa, Cavic, etc.)
I can't come up with a hypothetical under which the US looks worse other than taking away swimmers, which seems rather dumb.
