New Duel in the Pool?

[Katie]

Just saw this on swiminfo... sounds good! Would definitely be interesting.

After 2009 World Champs, a USA vs. Europe Matchup? -- May 1, 2007

ROME, Italy, May 1. THE Italian Web site, www.anaten.it, is reporting that a United States vs. Europe matchup could follow the 2009 World Championships in Rome. The matchup would be the latest Duel in the Pool, replacing the USA vs. Australia clashes that have seen the Americans win handily in each of the three meetings.

With a full continent from which to draw talent, a USA vs. Europe faceoff would be highly intriguing. If such a meet came about, the competition could feature the likes of Italy's Filippo Magnini, France's Laure Manaudou and Germany's Britta Steffen.

[Stevie_k]

Sounds like a Ryder cup style showdown.

What sort of format are the races. Is it like the golf. 1 on 1, winner takes the point, first to X points takes the trophy.

Sounds like it could be great watching Katie.

Phelps would be their 'tiger woods'.

[Woodward]

Apart from being Europe vs. the US that's where the similarities end! Very different sport and format!

Two potential obstacles though:

1. The US is unlikely to participate if an American network (most likely NBC) does not sign up for it. NBC is kicking themselves after signing on to cover three Duals vs. Australia leading up to Beijing. Truthfully, all the meets turned out to be anticlimactic with the swimmers times suffering coming off bigger meets and swimming so many races in one session. Only Phelps's 400IM WR from 2003 and Lenton's unratified WR swim stand out over the course of three meets. NBC opted to cover the Dual instead of the Worlds. They're not happy with the results of this gambit . Oops.

2. As for Europe ... how would the participation of the best swimmers be secured? This will likely be problematic with so many federations. Scheduling the meet right after Worlds in Rome helps but some athletes may decide they're not interested. Swim Australia was able to secure participation of it's entire team (save Klim ;) ) after the Dual was slated to follow Worlds in Montreal and Melbourne. They basically mandated it unless there was a health concern or other pressing issue. All the European federations are unlikely to do that especially as there will be no more than a handful of swimmers from each respective country rather than their entire team. The event will suffer if Europe doesn't have all its best swimmers involved.

[selkie]

For the US/Australia meets, scoring was:

Scoring

Scoring in the individual events will be:
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">Placing
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">Points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">1st Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">5 points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">2nd Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">3 points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">3rd Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">2 points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">4th Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">1 point
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Scoring in the relay events will be:
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="1" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">Placing
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">Points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">1st Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">7 points
</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="156">2nd Place
</td> <td valign="top" width="144">0 points
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>