Relay Teams

[wendy]

Hi, I heard that the girls had a swim of last week for the fourth spot in the 4 X 100m freestyle relay team. Which I believe made the team Fran Mel Caitlin and Julia.
I have heard that there will be no such swim off for the lads that went out as possible participants in the boys team. The boys team is more contoversial I think as the team does not reflect the rankings or even the speed swimmers went in August last year.
I know I may be biased but surely the Team coach for the lads 4X100m relay wants to swim out the fastest team that we have at present. Why not give all the lads a fair shot as the girls had?
I really like the team coach but it does look like he is not confident one of his swimmers would remain in the team! otherwise surely he would swim them off to prove he is right?

[DAK]

Hi, I heard that the girls had a swim of last week for the fourth spot in the 4 X 100m freestyle relay team. Which I believe made the team Fran Mel Caitlin and Julia.
I have heard that there will be no such swim off for the lads that went out as possible participants in the boys team. The boys team is more contoversial I think as the team does not reflect the rankings or even the speed swimmers went in August last year.
I know I may be biased but surely the Team coach for the lads 4X100m relay wants to swim out the fastest team that we have at present. Why not give all the lads a fair shot as the girls had?
I really like the team coach but it does look like he is not confident one of his swimmers would remain in the team! otherwise surely he would swim them off to prove he is right?

Is this heresay or fact? Who are the men involved? Why is there not a swim off?

[wendy]

This is as I understand it from a team member out there. I am not a coach or a swimmer so I don't really understand the reasons, it seems unfair to me.
Maybe a coach could shed some light

[Steve]

Presumably then the team is currently:

Burnett
Davenport
Cozens
And either Craig Gibbons or Ben Hockin (with Hockin the winner at trials likely to get the nod without a swim off)

Reading between the lines it seems that Wendy is suggesting that Ian Turner is reluctant to have a swim off because then Davenport (one of his swimmers at Loughborough) may be eliminated from the team. Sounds unlikely to me. I think the comment about times last August is a red herring too, since Cozens led off the GB team in the 4x100 heats in Budapest in 50.77 - faster than Hockin at trials and faster than Gibbons' final swim which is all that counted for selection.

If they could be sure of a finals spot I would have thought that Burnett may have been rested in the heats and then the others race off for spots in the final. However I'm not sure we have the strength in depth to do that.

[NotVeryFast]

In the 2006 rankings, there's just 0.2 seconds between 2nd and 5th place, so if you ask me, a swim off when they still have another week of tapering left would effectively be a lottery anyway.

[wendy]

No I though Bill Pil was in charge of the lads relay team.... told you I know nothing! But I thought Craig and Ben at least if not Craig Ben and Chris should all swim off.
It is hard to choose the team in August, but why take the others if you are not going to give them the same swim off chance that the girls had?

[Steve]

Yes though that Bill P was in charge of that team, but when you said this:
I really like the team coach but it does look like he is not confident one of his swimmers would remain in the team!

I thoguht I must have been wrong, since as it stands, it appears that one of Bill's swimmers will miss out whatever. Hence if he has a swim off then he might get both of them on the team. That made me think that it must be someone else in charge.

To me looks like either a misunderstanding and there is a swim off coming (e.g. on the day itself - that's been done many times before) or a storm in a teacup.

[water babe]

the girls had a swim of last week for the fourth spot in the 4 X 100m freestyle relay team. Which I believe made the team Fran Mel Caitlin and Julia.
I was told the girls team will be Fran,Mel, Ros and Julia.The swim off was between Julia ,Kathryn and Amy for the 4th swimmer.

[Curly]

I don't understand why the swim off included Julia as she did not qualify during the trials (in Budapest) for this event. However, the swim off did take place and Julia did go fastest on the day - despite it being 9 days before the end of the taper and 9 days before the event, which seems a little premature to me (I agree with the quote by NotVeryFast "a swim off when they still have another week of tapering left would effectively be a lottery anyway"). This was not a challenge but a swim off - which according to Lane 4's probably accurate description of a challenge seems a bit tough to those who qualified in Budapest. However, it is most important that the best team swim which I understand.

But I have to agree about other swim offs - why just this one? How about a swim off for the women's 200m freestyle relay too - and I can assure you, no swim off is going to take place for this - as well as for the men's relay teams as others have said in this thread.

I would like to think that it has nothing to do with Loughborough swimmers in relay teams, but it does make you wonder a bit.

[badger swimmer]

Julia swam in the time trials at Europeans, which i believe stood as the equivalent of the finals swam by other swimmers in the national final and others swimming either the first leg of a relay or the individual 100 at Europeans...it was this swim that made her eligable for the 4x100free team...i believe as well that if you're part of the British squad then you can ask for a swim off in a relay, so as long as you're out there with the team, you have a chance.

[Katie]

Badger, that's not quite right. The qualifiers for the 4 x 100 free team based on the selection policy were Fran, Mel, Ros, Katherine, and Amy. Julia actually qualified for the 4 x 200 team. However as she's swum some good 100s recently the decision was made to have a swim off between the 3 of us, which makes sense because the team need to come in the top 12 here to enter a team in the Olympics. Other bits and bobs don't seem quite so logical, but what can you do?

[DAK]

Badger, that's not quite right. The qualifiers for the 4 x 100 free team based on the selection policy were Fran, Mel, Ros, Katherine, and Amy. Julia actually qualified for the 4 x 200 team. However as she's swum some good 100s recently the decision was made to have a swim off between the 3 of us, which makes sense because the team need to come in the top 12 here to enter a team in the Olympics. Other bits and bobs don't seem quite so logical, but what can you do?

Will you be getting a swim now in Melbourne Katie?

[wendy]

Not in the 4x100 it seems, but maybe as she swam so well in the 200 at BUSA's she will get the opportunity to swim off for that, as I understand that is why Julia was allowed to try for the 4x100. It only seems fair and we all just want the fastest team we can produce on the day surely.

[Katie]

I am not swimming, but these things happen.

[Woodward]

Swim offs are fine. But if they really wanted to be sure they were selecting the fastest foursome they should have waited until closer to the event (or even during).