What WR will last the longest?

Has there ever been an olympics in the modern era in which no swimming WR's were set? Great trivia question- I don't think so.

Besides the 50, I'm thinking Phelps' 4:03 400 IM will be around for a long time. Tyler Clary may have a shot at it. Sounds like Ryan doesn't want to swim the event after this year and Phelps says he's done with the event.

I think the swimming poobahs are addicted to world records and will change other rules to promote them. Any ideas what they might change?

For the women, the sprint Frees are also very fast -- the 200 and 400 Free as well, but I always think that Evans went 4:03 twenty years ago - so somebody should be to swim 3:59 at some point (without aid). I agree. I actually thought the winning time would be faster than 3:59. I think the 200 free at 1:52.98 will be much more difficult to break. When Evans swam her 4:03 in Seoul the WR in the 200 free was a 1:57.5 by East German swimmer Heike Friedrich, so the 200 free and 400 free records have both gone down by about 4.5 seconds. It might be more interesting to see swimmers chasing that "red line" for a while rather than leaving it in the dust. After the record assault we've experienced in the last two years maybe we need a couple years where no records are set.

I think the swimming poobahs are addicted to world records and will change other rules to promote them. If WR becone so scarce or even unattainable viewership will really fall off - right now swimming is big every four years - outside of the hard core fan - and this year in Rome was the exception. If that red line is closely chased, then it is exciting (this 35 WR and 41 WR at a single meet is a bit unreal). But if not - people will get off the bandwagon, and unlike baseball - the sport doesn't seem to have the viewership to support many lean years. If they are smart FINA will change somethings to promote the swimmer, minimize the impact of technology and move the sport ahead. Then again this is FINA and this may only happen when pigs fly.

If WR becone so scarce or even unattainable viewership will really fall off - right now swimming is big every four years - outside of the hard core fan - and this year in Rome was the exception. If that red line is closely chased, then it is exciting (this 35 WR and 41 WR at a single meet is a bit unreal). But if not - people will get off the bandwagon, and unlike baseball - the sport doesn't seem to have the viewership to support many lean years. If they are smart FINA will change somethings to promote the swimmer, minimize the impact of technology and move the sport ahead. Then again this is FINA and this may only happen when pigs fly. Dunno about that. The Cavic v. Phelps 100 fly showdown seemed more about the quest for redemption and man on man combat than the record. The WR was a component, but a secondary one. Joe Sixpack understands how close the Beijing race was, the smack talk leading up to the Roma Rematch, the fact that Cavic posted a faster time in the prelims, and the fact that Cavic was leading at the 50. He doesn't understand how mind-blowing it is to go sub-50; to him, that's just a number that bears no relation to his (or, truthfully, my) daily reality.

If WR becone so scarce or even unattainable viewership will really fall off - right now swimming is big every four years - outside of the hard core fan - and this year in Rome was the exception. If that red line is closely chased, then it is exciting (this 35 WR and 41 WR at a single meet is a bit unreal). But if not - people will get off the bandwagon, and unlike baseball - the sport doesn't seem to have the viewership to support many lean years. If they are smart FINA will change somethings to promote the swimmer, minimize the impact of technology and move the sport ahead. Then again this is FINA and this may only happen when pigs fly. Gymnastics has no world records. The stars are marketed not the performances. That is how swimming has to do it. That actually is better for the sport.

basically limiting swimmers to knee skinsCan't imagine anyone going 1:41 in the 200 free with just skin. Then again there are some seriously fast high schoolers out there right now.