The 2012 United States Olympic Trials - Swimming
will once again be held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The 2008 Trials set a new standard for swimming excitement and 2012 promises to bring even more poolside thrills to America's Heartland.
Check back often for updates as we draw closer to naming the team that will represent the United States in the pool at the London Olympic Games.
When: Mon June 25th - Mon July 2nd 2012
DAYS Till
Where: Qwest Center Omaha
455 North 10th Street Omaha, NE 68102
PSYCH Sheet
RESULTS
One cool thing is the website has USA Olympic Swimming Trials Results from 1920 - 2008
CUTS
APPROVED TECH SUITS
Link to 2012 Olympic Swimming
but the coolest thing is our 2012 LCM Nats is in the same pool starting Thu July 5th, 2012
2012 USMS Summer LCM Nationals
Qwest Center, Omaha, NE
Thu July 5 - Sun 8, 2012
Long Course Meters
Qualifying Times will be available in early 2012
2012 Olympics USMS Forum Site
Dara Torres - still swimming world class times at 45 years of age - doesn't deserve the little bit of extra attention she's getting? Sheesh - that seems a bit harsh. I agree that there were plenty of things NBC could have done differently - but I don't see this as one of them.
Yes, NBC should have also interviewed the top two finishers in the 50 (although how much is it really going to add to our experience to hear two more people saying "There are no words to describe how I'm feeling right now" or "I just knew I needed to get my hand on the wall"?), but Torres has accomplished something that is arguably even more rare and surprising than making the Olympic team: changing some of our deeply held preconceptions (which, thanks to her, we can maybe now call misconceptions) about the aging process. I find her astounding.
And I'm not just saying this because I happen to be her age!
For 2016, it seems like it would be pretty easy to trim the field with only some small adjustments to the cuts. For example, there are 179 entries in the men's 50 free. If the cut had been 23.29 rather than 23.49, the number of qualifiers would have been 94. I don't think anyone would call an adjustment of 0.2 seconds unfair.
For 2016, Nathan Jendrick suggests shortening the qualifying period to a year, and also mentions Rowdy's suggestion that swimmers should have to make a cut twice to be able to swim an event at Trials.
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../31117.asp
I looked at the other events besides the 50 free above, and making each cut a little bit faster (about 0.9% per event) trims the field considerably.
and also mentions Rowdy's suggestion that swimmers should have to make a cut twice to be able to swim an event at Trials.
I can't agree with Rowdy on this. What's the idea, that some people who qualified were flukes? Sorry, in swimming there are no flukes. You can either swim that fast or you can't. If you want a smaller meet it's as simple as making the cuts tougher.
In NBC's defense, I think they were planning on covering the 100 meter run-off between Felix and Tarmoh. When that didn't happen, they were scrambling to fill time. Let's be honest, airing an hour of swimming trials on prime-time TV for a week straight is already asking a lot. Covering the 1500 being contested by non-superstars that don't really represent credible medal threats is probably asking too much. Yes it's annoying that they cut away just when Jaeger and Gemmell caught La Tourette, but I'm more annoyed at all of the great semis that they missed in their obession to air every second Phelps swam the entire trials.
And we wonder why we don't have a lot of great distance swimmers. If they don't show the race in its entirety, how will kids know how exciting a mile can (sometimes) be? Last night's 1500 was one of the best I've seen in the US in a long time.
Everyone in the press area in Omaha was transfixed to the race, even those who knew little about swimming. They knew what was on the line, and were more excited than I was by the finish.
Australia broke away from regular programming to show the final of the 1500 in Athens live (which was like, 1 a.m. in Australia), and they did the same in Beijing. That's why Australia has a rich history of distance swimmers. They revere their milers just as much as they do someone like James Magnussen. Most of us see the mile and call it a "bathroom break."
Does anyone know if the entire 1500 final is available on-line? I looked on NBC's site and the video they have starts around 700 meters in, I think. It would be nice to see the entire 800 final too, for that matter.
Hey Jeff, congratulations on beating your seed time in 100 br at Olympic Trials! :applaud: I hope it was a wonderful experience for you; especially after what I read in your book about your previous experience at Olympic Trials.
Torres ... changing some of our deeply held preconceptions (which, thanks to her, we can maybe now call misconceptions) about the aging process.
Rich Abrahams already did that for me.
More accurately,
Rich Abrahams, among others, already did that for me.
Even more accurately,
Rich Abrahams, among many others, already did that for me.
It's an amazing sport! Every time I go to nats & see what some people are able to accomplish, it changes how I think about aging. There is nothing quite like seeing the final heat of the 100 free on the blocks and thinking, "Yikes! Every one of those people is 65 or older!" It's a real eye-opener!
Rich Abrahams already did that for me.
More accurately,
Rich Abrahams, among others, already did that for me.
Even more accurately,
Rich Abrahams, among many others, already did that for me.
It's an amazing sport! Every time I go to nats & see what some people are able to accomplish, it changes how I think about aging. There is nothing quite like seeing the final heat of the 100 free on the blocks and thinking, "Yikes! Every one of those people is 65 or older!" It's a real eye-opener!
That's for sure! Rich Abrahams? :banana: Amazing! And, look at what Laura Val has done! :applaud: She is a bit younger, but still...
But, when I grow up, I want to be just like my teammate, Anne Dunivin. She is almost 96 and goin' strong!
