Olympic 10k

I apologize in advance for the length of this reply. I was the NBCOlympics.com commentator and carefully observed both the women's and men's Olympic 10K races. Everyone raises and addresses very good issues in this thread. These are my observations based on my experience of being one of the USA Swimming national open water team coaches (since 2001) and a reporter of the past 6 World Open Water Swimming Championships (5K, 10K and 25K races at the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 events) 1. Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten of the U.K. both swam the race of their lives. The pace they set was tremendously fast; faster than any other FINA or world-class race I have seen to date. The Olympics was the closest anyone has come to beat Larisa since she first started to dominate open water swimming in 2004. Keri-Anne and Cassandra almost upset her. It was a great performance from all medalists. 2. The strategy of the 2 British athletes used (vis-a-vis their competitors and between themselves) was reasonable. Although they are both from the same country, they are rivals and they both had dreams of the Olympic gold. Often, it is assumed by Americans that the foreign open water swimmers "team up" and gain advantage their team tactics. However, from my careful observations and one-on-one post-race discussions with the swimmers, all of the athletes want to win, even if it comes at the expense of one of their fellow citizens. Therefore, team tactics are not a factor in these races. 3. Gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko is a special athlete. Although it may appear that she simply drafts, conserves energy and then sprints ahead at the end, this is much much more difficult to do than it may seem from the shoreline. That is, Larisa makes it look so easy, it is a wonder why no one else can do it. The answer is simple: Larisa can swim at any pace her competitors set. If the British swimmers would have set a faster pace, Larisa would have kept up. Secondly, Larisa very aggressively "protects" her second-place position from the start of the 10K to the very point she decides to make her move. That is, if someone attempts to move into the 2nd positon behind the leaders, Larisa moves them out. In the last 30 minutes of the race, Larisa gave a good kick and a few elbows to competitors who tried to move into position. Earlier in the race, there were several other swimmers (including the American, Brazilians and German) who appeared willing to challenge Larisa's position, but were not successful. 4. It is very difficult to make judgment calls on drafting for a variety of reasons. For example, the advantages of drafting occur in relative percentages, depending not only on the proximity of the swimmers, but also water conditions (e.g., less draft advantages come with greater surface chop). 20% energy savings can be achieved when a swimmer will optimally drafting right on the heels of a swimmer in glassy conditions, but 8% energy savings can still be achieved when the swimmer is 1 meter behind or drafting off the hips or lower legs. Therefore, the drafting rule was eliminated from the FINA rulebook and the sport took on the characteristics of bicycle road racing. 5. Visibility at the Olympic 10K course varied depending on the location of the swimmers. The water clarity was not consistent throughout the course. 6. Frequent sightings were used not because the swimmers were navigating the course and wondering if they were swimming in a straight direction. Rather, frequent sightings were used because the swimmers did not want their competitors to make a break or they did not to lose position going in to a turn buoy or feeding station vis-a-vis their competitors. Also, there were other reasons. For example, the best swimmers like to pass their competitors on the side where they breathe less frequently. 7. Under the starting rules of the Olympic 10K, the swimmers are required to have at least one foot at the edge of the starting pontoon (i.e., a track start). But, because of the texture of the starting pontoon, most of the swimmers felt more comfortable placing both feet at the edge of the starting pontoon. 8. Swimmers were given a 5-minute warning, then a 4-minute warning...all the way down to 30 seconds. During those last 30 seconds, it seemed like eternity (because there was no countdown). 9. From what I observed, there was no pulling back or unfair advantage gained by either Larisa (the Russian) or Angela Maurer (the 33-year-old mother of one who placed a close fourth), although Cassandra's comments immediately after the race implied the opposite. Angela traditionally swims a bit more "uncontrolled" than her competitors and she may have hit the feet of Cassandra towards the very end. While this must have been irritating, it did not slow down the momentum of Cassandra - it only pissed her off! From the head referee's boat, it would have been clear if any unfair advantage were gained. The referee, Dennis Miller of Fiji, is one of the most experienced and fair open water judges in the world. 10. Both 10K races will remain on the www.NBCOlympics.com website until September 15th (or so) when the races will be archived on the www.UniversalSports.com website. 11. The most amazing performance I saw, though, had to have been Maarten van der Weijden's win in the men's 10K. He truly swam a "Jason Lezak" type swim - except he did it over 10K and a few years after recovering from leukemia. Maarten has been training a hard 14K per day for the past 3 years and his training really paid off on the biggest stage. I apologize for the length of this reply.

I apologize in advance for the length of this reply. I was the NBCOlympics.com commentator and carefully observed both the women's and men's Olympic 10K races. Everyone raises and addresses very good issues in this thread. These are my observations based on my experience of being one of the USA Swimming national open water team coaches (since 2001) and a reporter of the past 6 World Open Water Swimming Championships (5K, 10K and 25K races at the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 events) 1. Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten of the U.K. both swam the race of their lives. The pace they set was tremendously fast; faster than any other FINA or world-class race I have seen to date. The Olympics was the closest anyone has come to beat Larisa since she first started to dominate open water swimming in 2004. Keri-Anne and Cassandra almost upset her. It was a great performance from all medalists. 2. The strategy of the 2 British athletes used (vis-a-vis their competitors and between themselves) was reasonable. Although they are both from the same country, they are rivals and they both had dreams of the Olympic gold. Often, it is assumed by Americans that the foreign open water swimmers "team up" and gain advantage their team tactics. However, from my careful observations and one-on-one post-race discussions with the swimmers, all of the athletes want to win, even if it comes at the expense of one of their fellow citizens. Therefore, team tactics are not a factor in these races. 3. Gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko is a special athlete. Although it may appear that she simply drafts, conserves energy and then sprints ahead at the end, this is much much more difficult to do than it may seem from the shoreline. That is, Larisa makes it look so easy, it is a wonder why no one else can do it. The answer is simple: Larisa can swim at any pace her competitors set. If the British swimmers would have set a faster pace, Larisa would have kept up. Secondly, Larisa very aggressively "protects" her second-place position from the start of the 10K to the very point she decides to make her move. That is, if someone attempts to move into the 2nd positon behind the leaders, Larisa moves them out. In the last 30 minutes of the race, Larisa gave a good kick and a few elbows to competitors who tried to move into position. Earlier in the race, there were several other swimmers (including the American, Brazilians and German) who appeared willing to challenge Larisa's position, but were not successful. 4. It is very difficult to make judgment calls on drafting for a variety of reasons. For example, the advantages of drafting occur in relative percentages, depending not only on the proximity of the swimmers, but also water conditions (e.g., less draft advantages come with greater surface chop). 20% energy savings can be achieved when a swimmer will optimally drafting right on the heels of a swimmer in glassy conditions, but 8% energy savings can still be achieved when the swimmer is 1 meter behind or drafting off the hips or lower legs. Therefore, the drafting rule was eliminated from the FINA rulebook and the sport took on the characteristics of bicycle road racing. 5. Visibility at the Olympic 10K course varied depending on the location of the swimmers. The water clarity was not consistent throughout the course. 6. Frequent sightings were used not because the swimmers were navigating the course and wondering if they were swimming in a straight direction. Rather, frequent sightings were used because the swimmers did not want their competitors to make a break or they did not to lose position going in to a turn buoy or feeding station vis-a-vis their competitors. Also, there were other reasons. For example, the best swimmers like to pass their competitors on the side where they breathe less frequently. 7. Under the starting rules of the Olympic 10K, the swimmers are required to have at least one foot at the edge of the starting pontoon (i.e., a track start). But, because of the texture of the starting pontoon, most of the swimmers felt more comfortable placing both feet at the edge of the starting pontoon. 8. Swimmers were given a 5-minute warning, then a 4-minute warning...all the way down to 30 seconds. During those last 30 seconds, it seemed like eternity (because there was no countdown). 9. From what I observed, there was no pulling back or unfair advantage gained by either Larisa (the Russian) or Angela Maurer (the 33-year-old mother of one who placed a close fourth), although Cassandra's comments immediately after the race implied the opposite. Angela traditionally swims a bit more "uncontrolled" than her competitors and she may have hit the feet of Cassandra towards the very end. While this must have been irritating, it did not slow down the momentum of Cassandra - it only pissed her off! From the head referee's boat, it would have been clear if any unfair advantage were gained. The referee, Dennis Miller of Fiji, is one of the most experienced and fair open water judges in the world. 10. Both 10K races will remain on the www.NBCOlympics.com website until September 15th (or so) when the races will be archived on the www.UniversalSports.com website. 11. The most amazing performance I saw, though, had to have been Maarten van der Weijden's win in the men's 10K. He truly swam a "Jason Lezak" type swim - except he did it over 10K and a few years after recovering from leukemia. Maarten has been training a hard 14K per day for the past 3 years and his training really paid off on the biggest stage. I apologize for the length of this reply.