Well, that didn't go according to plan

[NotVeryFast]

Originally Posted by 50DASH

I would agree with swimclublurker, get some advice of the cycling coach. The Manx Missile said last night how hard the track cyclists train and how the technical team analyse everything.

The problem is you can't apply the cycling methods to swimming because the rules don't allow it. UK Sport develops its own equipment that is effectively not available to the teams they are competing against, and you cannot gain an advantage in the same way in swimming.

And in the team pursuit, for example, teams have even optimised the ordering of the riders by testing different orderings in the wind tunnel to see how much drag each rider experiences in the context of being in a different position relative to the other riders. The same gains simply aren't there to be made in swimming.

[LondonBoy]

The problems are deep seated but here are few of my thoughts:

Sort out the bland time trial type competitions that we do and teach all our swimmers to race. The ASA are in charge of this. As an example do not issue a licence to greedy clubs who have 200 swimmers doing 200 free in multiple age groups with no head to heads in finals. It’s not by chance that many PB’s are hit in league type meets that the USA are doing all the time in the college meets.

Sort out our university programmes to keep seniors involved rather than the joke type programmes offered at so many universities (excluding the likes of Bath and Loughborough) we need 15 – 20 programmes competing.

[Alan Rowson]

If any major company or football team preformed below expectation continually, the CEO and senior managers would have to go and bring in someone else with new ideas.

Perhaps it is time for a change.

[selkie]

I'm reading the Sydney Morning Herald's Olympic coverage, and they're also already doing the same kind of dissection of what went wrong.

I wonder if one of the advantages the Americans have with Trials so close to Games is more mental- you never have a chance to spend much time believing your own press clippings. You can't count your chickens before they hatch and finish in the top 2 with an A qualifier time, and once that happens, the Americans only really have a week to rush home, pack, and make sure they've got their electric bill paid and their cat-sitter arranged before they're right off to the bubble of Olympic Training Camp. There are no months of watching world rankings and a false sense of security from those world rankings.

[comeondarlo]

Originally Posted by selkie

I'm reading the Sydney Morning Herald's Olympic coverage, and they're also already doing the same kind of dissection of what went wrong.

I wonder if one of the advantages the Americans have with Trials so close to Games is more mental- you never have a chance to spend much time believing your own press clippings. You can't count your chickens before they hatch and finish in the top 2 with an A qualifier time, and once that happens, the Americans only really have a week to rush home, pack, and make sure they've got their electric bill paid and their cat-sitter arranged before they're right off to the bubble of Olympic Training Camp. There are no months of watching world rankings and a false sense of security from those world rankings.

I have to say I like the way USA have done things. Some of our swimmers have had to get prepared for two trials and then the actual event.

Three lots of tapering? I'm asking the question btw, cos I don't know if this is the case.

[awaldram]

Originally Posted by Alan Rowson

If any major company or football team preformed below expectation continually, the CEO and senior managers would have to go and bring in someone else with new ideas.

Perhaps it is time for a change.

Unfortunately its a closed club , with no responsibility to anyone.

it is not possible to censure them, just keep paying your asa fees

[Laugh Out Loud]

Originally Posted by swimclublurker

Feel sad for Becky A, she looked tired and sluggish, turns looked poor in comparison to the others.
So we have one (unexpected) silver and two bronze to show for all that money and the ITCs, what's gone wrong?

one thing I was delighted with 2 breast strokers both Scottish swam a blinder!

Breast stroke seems to have been an exception or was it just these swimmers

[awaldram]

Originally Posted by oswim

one thing I was delighted with 2 breast strokers both Scottish swam a blinder!

Breast stroke seems to have been an exception or was it just these swimmers

Andrew Willis was born in Frimley generally not known as a Scottish suburb

But yes they did swim well , Though Andy got a little over excited in the final

[Apostle]

Originally Posted by awaldram

Though Andy got a little over excited in the final

Bearing in mind that he had never been in that situation before, was swimming well outside of his comfort zone was in the process of setting blistering times, in touching distance of winning an olympic gold medal, I thought he was fantastic.

But I'd be interested to know how you have dealt deal with that sort of pressure and and how you handled it?

[saturdaynighter]

Michael Scott seemed embattled in the interview with the brilliant Claire Balding

[NotVeryFast]

Originally Posted by Alan Rowson

If any major company or football team preformed below expectation continually, the CEO and senior managers would have to go and bring in someone else with new ideas.

Perhaps it is time for a change.

I once did a bit of analysis of swimming rankings, adding up the number of swimmers from each nation in the European top 50, and comparing against each nation's population. The correlation between population size and number of swimmers ranked in the top 50 was extremely strong. I just don't think it's possible to throw money at the sport and dominate like the track cyclists have, so much of it comes down to the talent of the individual swimmers and that is just a numbers game. China are actually doing pretty poorly relative to their size of population, and I think we can expect to see them improve even more in years to come if they can provide opportunity to more of their population.

[awaldram]

Originally Posted by Apostle

Bearing in mind that he had never been in that situation before, was swimming well outside of his comfort zone was in the process of setting blistering times, in touching distance of winning an olympic gold medal, I thought he was fantastic.

But I'd be interested to know how you have dealt deal with that sort of pressure and and how you handled it?

Why misquote me just to make it look like I was being critical ??

I said

But yes they did swim well , Though Andy got a little over excited in the final

It was understandable that he went out a little to fast hence the whole sentence and the smiley.

[Bold Dave]

Wow we face a tough job at the next funding round! Cycling will get whatever they want as will Rowing and after three golds in one night at the Athletics we are seeming somewhat the poor relations of British Sport performance wise at least which may soon be reflected in the size of our pot?
I keep on moaning about the lack of data from the media but I was just trying to find an upside in some of our performances on the basis that if you did a PB you had succeeded
as opposed to if only you had done one you would have medaled....... We even put two World record holders in the pool for the return of one bronze and whilst Becky's Bronze in 400 was a PB I believe (therefore to be celebrated) the biggest high for most of us was Mens 200 Breaststroke where two chaps did PB after PB through UK record book getting faster at each heat shame we were limited to one event for this phenomenon.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Bold Dave

Wow we face a tough job at the next funding round! Cycling will get whatever they want as will Rowing and after three golds in one night at the Athletics we are seeming somewhat the poor relations of British Sport performance wise at least which may soon be reflected in the size of our pot?
I keep on moaning about the lack of data from the media but I was just trying to find an upside in some of our performances on the basis that if you did a PB you had succeeded
as opposed to if only you had done one you would have medaled....... We even put two World record holders in the pool for the return of one bronze and whilst Becky's Bronze in 400 was a PB I believe (therefore to be celebrated) the biggest high for most of us was Mens 200 Breaststroke where two chaps did PB after PB through UK record book getting faster at each heat shame we were limited to one event for this phenomenon.

Becky's 400 wasn't a PB (It was slower than her swim at trials too) it was just faster than her winning time in Beijing.

The only PB's came from Michael Jamieson and Andrew Willis in the 200m breaststroke and also from Jamieson and Craig Benson in the 100m breaststroke.

For some of the older swimmers with PB's set in poly suits, always going to be tough to break that mark, but you would hope they could swim a season's best in the biggest meet of the year - Micahel Scott basically acknowledged as much in his interview with Clare Balding.

[awaldram]

The Australian perspective

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-0...d-dawe/4173114

Particularly liked the none swimming nations sending swimmers.