#FantasySwimming – A Different Spin on the Pick ‘Em

Here at SwimSwam, we are big fans of the prediction. We love making our own predictions, and we love giving prizes to you for making predictions.

A group of swim fans have taken the prediction game and added a twist to it by setting up a format similar to fantasy football or fantasy baseball, with each player “drafting” athletes in different events. As compared to our pick ’em contest, only one participant can choose each swimmer per event, and the goal isn’t to pick the athletes in the “right” spot, rather it’s to pick the athletes that you think will perform the best, then you get more points based on the better they perform.

The participants are part of “that group.” I don’t know if they have a formalized name, but anybody in swimming who spends enough time on Twitter knows the group. They all have varying levels of personal experience in swimming, but they’re all huge fans, and they’re the core of many of the Twitter conversations on the web. The idea was started by Holly Wittenberg (@hollywoodindc), with Loretta Race (@rettarace) and @TheKaseyS serving as commissioners.

The embedded Google Doc below has three tabs. The first lays out the rules of the game. The second shows the rosters. The third is blank now, but come Wednesday will show the scoring for each team. This is a fun format, and we here at SwimSwam are definitely keeping an eye on how it plays out – perhaps this can be rolled into a bigger contest down the line.