SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers who Team Krayzelburg should draft as the #1 overall pick in the 2018 SwimSquad draft:
RESULTS
Question: Who should be the top pick in the 2018 SwimSquad Draft?
- Katie Ledecky – 50.1%
- Chase Kalisz – 38.6%
- Other – 6.0%
- Melanie Margalis – 2.8%
- Josh Prenot – 2.6%
Half of voters said Katie Ledecky should go #1 overall in the 2018 SwimSquad draft, topping about 38% who selected Chase Kalisz.
That’s a true testament to name recognition over familiarity with the SwimSquad format, as Kalisz was a slam-dunk #1 pick. The SwimSquad Battles span the length of USA Swimming’s 6-meet Pro Swim Series – a tour that conflicts with NCAA season and will see Ledecky sit out at least the first two stops. In fact, Ledecky is arguably not even the best female freestyler on the draft board. As we noted in our own Mock Draft, Leah Smith could outscore Ledecky by 24 points merely by attending the meets Ledecky doesn’t and then losing to Ledecky in every future swim on the tour.
Team Krayzelburg, headed by U.S. backstroking legend Lenny Krayzelburg, did select Kalisz #1 overall, and Ledecky actually fell to 9th – also to Team Krayzelburg with his 3rd-round pick. The drafters went hard for non-NCAA types, filling the first 8 picks with current pros who are available for more of the series.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters which ‘off-event’ swim was most impressive from the first week of major NCAA mid-season invites:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Where can we find the completed teams, not just the ones from the live draft?
Have ALL the drafted swimmers even agreed to participate? I don’t see the attraction to swimming against the same small group of competiors over and over again. What about the Arena Pro Series? Who plans on attending these events as a spectator?
This is the Arena Pro Series. Tyr is now sponsoring it.
I feel Drabot’s Swim was more impressive than the others simply because we knew Dressel and Ledecky could throw down some nasty IMs but I don’t think anyone expected Drabot to be a 1:51.7 200 Flyer.
She dropped her pr by 8 seconds in less than a months span I think she deserves it btw her best time before this month was a 1:59. Pretty good progression
Someone who probably can’t compete in every meet beat out someone who can in the poll Jesus Christ some people
To be fair, I doubt most people were 100% familiar with the conditions of the format before voting in the poll. Instead, they would just see it as ‘who is the most dominant/overall the best’