2024 U.S. Olympic Selection
The opinions below are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of SwimSwam as a whole.
We have endured nine sessions so far and I don't want to say that the energy is declining, but there seems to be an increasing number of absentees and absentees. This includes James Sutherland, whose absence has been noticeable so I have taken over live summary duties this morning.
Luckily it was a short session in a long pool so I had time to gather myself between heats, but I'm happy to be able to hand the baton over tonight.
Do 200 strokes
There were three 200 stroke events this morning. I wasn't expecting many riders to improve their entry times, but was pleasantly surprised by the results. Even more surprising was that a qualifier made it into the semi-finals in the first heat.
Initially Gabriel Roseis already well known for her 100m breaststroke. She was seeded DFS (not to be confused with declared false start) and worked her way up to 14th lol. I'm a big fan of her splits and she showed incredible consistency. Rose was 34.41/38.52/38.94/38.26 and completely dominated her rivals in the final 50m. The only exception was (shout out to the future engineer) Sarah Bernardwe should hurry to course 2!) The rest of the field faded away rapidly.
Even if I make a good shot from 200 yards with my weakest stroke, I feel very happy.
Ben Irwin The other Heat 1 hero advanced to the semifinals, this time in the 200 backstroke. Irwin was the polar opposite of Rose. sent I respect that. His times were 27.80/29.39/30.37/31.40, times I would have desperately wanted at another stage in my life. I can imagine how he felt coming home, but he did it and will continue to swim tonight.
This is starting to become more of a “Swimmings you may have missed” post, so hopefully I'm not killing myself by missing all the good swimming here, but I do love watching swimming!
Let's all support each other more
Yesterday, my eyes and ears were drawn to Section 423, packed with yelling spectators in fluorescent green shirts. Even after the five heats in the women's mile, the eight heats in the women's 100-meter freestyle and the nine heats in the men's 200-meter breaststroke were over, their voices were the loudest in the stadium.
Some of the crowd is going wild in the 9th heat of the 200 breaststroke. Section 423 maybe? Good luck! #SwimTrial24
— SwimSwamLive (@SwimSwamLive) June 18, 2024
This morning, a group of people wearing the green uniforms of Ireland filed into the section just behind the media. They, too, were first Marcus Reyes Gentry,and Tommy Janton.
My point is, the other athletes need to try harder. It's not that hard to wear the same color T-shirts and shout the same name in unison. The stadium has proven to be loud when needed. According to a reliable source, the noise in the stadium reached 100 decibels during the women's 200m freestyle final.
Athletes, you are not immune to this bullshit. You should be spelling out your name, whooshing at the start, and putting your all on the deck.
You may not know what I'm talking about, but I've only been to one international race before, and there was a trumpeter in the stands who played a trumpet before every race. I'm looking for that kind of energy, like the Kentucky Derby, where someone plays arpeggios.
Speaking of which, you should get a marching band on deck. There's plenty of room. Replace all that piped music and have them play as you exit. Here are my recommendations:
The Percussive Arts Society is headquartered in Indianapolis, so I know there are a ton of drums somewhere in the city. If anyone from PAS is reading this, give me a call. I played bass drum 4 for one high school football season.
I think we need a third section.
Maybe it's been five days since I've been in Indy and I'm running out of words, or maybe this morning was really just a snack before tonight's feast.
What are you most looking forward to? That's difficult. Those who know me personally would agree that I will choose the most interesting option every time. The only thing I can ask is for people to be more vocal in their listening, because I am bound by media neutrality and cannot contribute myself.
If you're in Indy tonight, you better cheer! Stand up and ring your SwimSwam branded cowbells. Give us some cheer! Unless I missed the memo, we're all here because we love swimming, so cheer with pride!
