2012 Olympics: Swimming

Why are there 6 teamates on the 400 fr relay?

2012 Olympic: Swimming Begins Sat July 28th ends Sat Aug 4th Days Till 2012 Olympics website 2012 Olympic Swimming Schedule & Results Swimming Schedule and Ticket Info Tickets Aquatics Centre NBC OLYMPICS NBC OLYMPICS SWIMMING 2012 USA Olympic Trials USMS forum site NEWS tv.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../2012-olympic-games

The Bad: The timing of this meet. It's time for common sense to prevail, either put the meet in the spring (and let the NCAAs deal with it) or change the selection process. The Ugly: The rise of the professional swimmer. This seems like a bit of a mixed blessing. On one hand, it's great that it's possible for the elite of the elite to actually make a living out of swimming these days. On the other hand, it could potentially weaken the depth of the pool of talent as only the best of the best will be able to compete with people who have no worries other than training. Over time, you'll start to see the same names over and over again, not sure that's a good thing. I'm going to take you to task on these two items. First, our trials is just perfect on timing. Why in the world would we let the NCAA manage trials? It is a distinct season with its current schedule and is extremely exciting. Being limited to only two swimmers just ramps up the excitement. It is the most competitive swim meet in the world, bar none, including the Olympics. Second, your comment about pro swimmers is just flat wrong. Our club, who I assume you are probably referring to, is sending 5 to London, all pros. But, we sent +/-40 total to trials, all influenced by our group of elites. These people don't practice in some fancy financial bubble. They are at the pool with the kids often, assist frequently with AG practices, and are extremely important in our club's development. They are inspirational to the younger swimmers and aren't viewed as some sort of vigilante squad. You get Cullen Jones around a group of kids and you see the type of influence these guys have. It is about time the US committed to post grad swimmers, like everyone other significant swimming country in the world. And, it's not only the kids. Our USMS team has a workout at the same time as Team Elite. You want to talk about awesome. That's as good as it gets for us geezers to see what these guys and gals can do. It is jaw dropping. And, to say it limits the depth of talent is crazy. That's like saying because we have the NFL, NBA, MLB etc that age groups in these sports will weaken, when, in fact, it has the exact opposite impact. Ask Chase Kalisz what it has been like to train with Phelps at NBAC. You might sing a different tune.

First, our trials is just perfect on timing. Why in the world would we let the NCAA manage trials? I think "deal with it" meant that NCAA would have to deal with trials encroaching on their usual timing, not that USAS would hand over trials management to NCAA. Or did I misread your comment?

Trials reactions: The Good: US woman's team depth. Lots of up and coming young talent. Mix of vets and teens on both teams. IMO, the "right people" ended up making the team in every event. The backstories. Jessica Hardy, Anthony Ervin, Breeja Larson, Brendan Hansen, Katie Ledecky etc, etc. Many good stories on this team, many interesting people. The venue and atmosphere. IMO, this was a perfectly staged and executed event. The crowds were awesome the entire meet. Omaha has their act together. The fact that most of the truly elite swimmers only partially tapered for this meet. 2008 was, if anything, too fast. The Bad: The timing of this meet. It's time for common sense to prevail, either put the meet in the spring (and let the NCAAs deal with it) or change the selection process. The "only two go" selection process. It's archaic and should be modified to include anyone ranked in the top 10. US dominance a la 1976 doesn't exist anymore, lets change the rules. The men's 100 free. Ugh. "Groupthink" swimming. The Ugly: The rise of the professional swimmer. This seems like a bit of a mixed blessing. On one hand, it's great that it's possible for the elite of the elite to actually make a living out of swimming these days. On the other hand, it could potentially weaken the depth of the pool of talent as only the best of the best will be able to compete with people who have no worries other than training. Over time, you'll start to see the same names over and over again, not sure that's a good thing. The obession with Phelps/Lochte. I get it, but there were lots of other stories worth covering at this trials. Phelps and Lochte treated this meet like a warm up (which was smart), but that made their head-to-head swims arguably some of the least interesting of the meet. Swimmers of the Meet: Cullen Jones. People kind of forgot about him and forgot about his talent. It's great to see him back and crushing swims. He's back on track and looks great going into London. Conor Dwyer. Finally is healthy and starting to show his true potential. I think he has a lot more time to drop. Elizabeth Beisel. She showed up looking more fit than I've ever seen her and exceeded my expectations. Again, I see her being faster in London Becca Mann. 14 years old, finals in three events and almost finals in four. She's a tiny little thing. Once she gets strong, she's going to be very tough. She's the reincarnation of Sippy Woodhead. Breeja Larson. Taking down Soni and going a 1:05 was the swim of the meet for me (except for perhaps Grevers). This is her first LCM taper, she's only been swimming seriously for 2.5 years. Insane story. Matt Grevers. 52.0. Seriously. Then gets third in the 100 free. he showed up ready to race. Hard luck of the meet: Katie Hoff. It's terrible to see her sick and struggling. Such a great talent. Elizabeth Pelton. So close in so many events. Bad luck? Bad program selection? Hopefully she sticks around another four years. Overall: The US Trails may seem a little slow, but only in comparison to 2008 which was Lzred to death. It's worth noting that every other country had "slow" trials (China, Australia, GB, France etc). Also the superstars have started to realize that they don't need to fully taper for Trials. This was smart. Lots to come in London.

IIRC, Pelton is off to Cal for college this fall and has all four years of NCAA eligibility to figure out a way of getting herself back onto international teams. She was just in Florida this year to train with Yetter. Given McKeever's record with baby birds with broken wings (she's responsible for Coughlin, Vollmer, and Ervin getting back into the mental space to stick with the sport) I think Pelton's probably got a successful and happy college experience ahead of her.

Mix of vets and teens on both teams. I was actually interested to note that there are no teens at all on the men's team, where no one is under the age of 21. Also, the average age of the men's team is closer to 30 than to 20. Three men (Hansen, Ervin, Lezak) are in their thirties. There are a ton who are 28 years old (Lochte, Shanteau, Jones, Vanderkaay, Tarwater, etc...). Compare to Beijing, where there were several who were 20 years old, one was 19 (Adrian) and most of the rest were under the age of 25.

Keep NCAA out of this !!!!!:badday::worms:

Every other country in the world disagrees with you. No other country in the world comes close to our swimming dominance so we are just fine. You could make a case for Australia I guess but since we compete with them quite effectively it is hard to say there is a major issue with our plan. Plus, it works with our swimming system. The "only two go" rule is a legacy of the US men's team's dominance in 1976. The world is much flatter now. We wind up with some of the best swimmers in the world (including Tyler Clary and various Japanese breastrokers) not at the Olympics simply because of a rule technicality and where they were born. All rules are technicalities in every sport. Just because it doesn't suit your particular tastes doesn't make it trivial or a technicality. If we took the top 3,4,5,etc some hotshot is still going to be on the outside looking in. My point is that the current system has pros who live/eat/breathe swimming competing against college kids who also have classes, jobs etc to worry about. As the men's results shows, it's not a fair fight. You wind up with a few dominant swimmers qualifying in multiple events at the expense of a broader team. Because of the way our current system works, these dominant swimmers have had to consciously make the decision to go pro and lead the monastic life that that dictates. It’s probable that some of the best talent doesn't want to make that decision and end up abandoning swimming. Again, it's not clear that's a bad thing, but it could potentially discourage talent over time. As I said, it’s not clear that this is a bad thing in terms of developing the best talent, just the implications aren’t yet clear. Here we go with the fair fight thing. Take a look at our team top to bottom. There are kids from all types of teams, all parts of the country, high schoolers, college kids and pros. You state isn't a bad thing but I have seen it in action every day for the past four years. It is a good, no, great thing. The implications aren't fuzzy, they are crystal clear and beneficial in the real world, in real pools, with real swimmers. Could discourage talent over time? Seriously, that's crazy. Having pros be accessible and visible does nothing but encourage swimming at all levels. And, if you think being a pro swimmer requires a monastic life, I suggest you follow a few on Twitter to see the life they are living. Many have jobs and their schedule is extremely hectic. And, our parking lot is full of nice cars when the pros train, Jones especially, nicer than the coaches often. The system you are proposing would be far worse for swimming than what we have now. Our system works because it is integrated into the nationwide college and AG seasons and allows for swimmers of all levels to make Trials. Limiting it to top 10s and holding it in the middle of short course AG championship season would be far more detrimental. Obviously, it isn't perfect, but it is pretty darn good.

I just can't wait for the Olympics this year, it's going to be exciting. However I hope our competitors won't be doing breaststroke incorrectly form some footage I've seen, this would be devastating.