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.
Our most recent polls asked SwimSwam readers what their reaction was to the announcement that stroke 50s would be added to the Olympic program:
Question: How do you feel about stroke 50s being added to the Olympics?
RESULTS
- Love it – 42.0%
- Hate it – 31.2%
- Not sure – 26.8%
The 50 backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly were officially added to the Olympic swimming program beginning in 2028 last week, and the announcement was met with a wide range of reactions.
Current swimmers who specialize in the sprints were excited, while the greatest Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, said stroke 50s at the Olympics had a “summer league” feel.
Among fans, the general sentiment seemed to be a positive one, with the biggest gripe being the possibility of an expanded schedule to an already lengthy competition.
We took it to the SwimSwam poll to get a clear picture of where readers stood on the change, and the results couldn’t have been more split.
On one hand, 42% of readers said they love the addition of stroke 50s to the Olympic program.
On the other hand, 58% don’t love it—just over 31% said they hate it, and just under 27% aren’t sure where they stand as of yet.
There are certainly arguments both ways.
Some, likely including Phelps, feel that adding the 50s dilutes the value of an Olympic medal, with swimming already giving out medals in 35 events, and now that number climbs to 41.
It was only in 2017 when the men’s 800 free, women’s 1500 free and the mixed 4×100 medley relay were added to the Olympic program, meaning in Los Angeles (41), there will be nine more medal events than there was 12 years earlier in Rio (32), an increase of 28%.
There are also questions on how this will impact the swimming program, as it was only prior to Paris that the schedule was expanded from eight days to nine. Having the stroke 50s fit into the nine-day lineup should be doable considering the World Championship schedule is only eight days and includes stroke 50s (and an extra relay), but Olympic medals simply mean more and there is a general push to have events spread out a little bit more once every four years so athletes don’t have to pull crazy doubles and triples.
There have been calls for the removal of semi-finals in the 200-meter events, something we see at the Short Course World Championships, to free up the schedule, but there has been no indication that’s on the table.
On the other side, bringing in the stroke 50s adds some more excitement to the Olympic program. They’ve been on the LC World Championship schedule since 2001, so there’s a real “it’s about time” feel from many athletes and fans.
It will also help extend some swimmers’ careers. We’ve already seen Adam Peaty confirm he’ll swim through 2028 with the 50 breast being added to the Olympics, and several more back, breast and fly sprinters who maybe don’t have the back-end to compete with the best of the best over the 100-meter distance in long course meters in the twilight of their career but can still be elite in the 50s will stick around.
The stroke 50s at the World Championships will also have a little bit of extra juice, beginning this summer in Singapore.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: What will be the next super-suited record to fall?
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I would much prefer to see three swimmers per nation per event than adding the other 50m strokes. How many awesome swimmers have missed out on a place in an individual event over the years due to the two swimmer per nation per event rule? Track and Field has three. So should swimming.
Hard no to both
Is there any other sport in the Olympics that have as many events as swimming?
There are a lot of medals in swimming and now the addition of 50s for each stroke is over the top.
Track
That’s not true. Swimming has more events than track.
If you’re counting all of athletics, counting field events, then it has more than swimming. But if you do that you need to include all of aquatics, which then has more medals than athletics.
I’m sure athletics (track and field) has more events than swimming. But it’s specialization all over the place with far less room for doubling or beyond.
Swimming added the stroke 50s to the world championships a long time ago and also the mixed relays. Athletics didn’t have that type of clarity. That’s why they’ve been forced to rush things toward IOC approval. The 4 x 400 mixed was added to world championships just before Tokyo. Now likewise the 4 x 100 mixed will be in the world championships before Los Angeles.
The only other “new” track event is 300 hurdles. Sebastian Coe made that an official event 2 months ago and it will be the feature concluding event at… Read more »
Who cares.
68.8% don’t hate adding 50s. That sounds like a marketing win.
Just out of curiosity is it possible to know the percentages of people who vote for or against the 50’s from the US and the rest of the world?
It really seems that the 50’s whould appeal to almost everybody outside america, the most of the votes against it being an american thing.
For what it’s worth I’m not American and I’m against stroke 50’s
Ceccon was the only European swimmer I found not celebrating this decision. Other than him, the biggest name against it is Phelps. The Americans don’t reallly care about the 50 of stroke. That’s why I asked. But all over the world the decision is being celebrated, Mcevoy, Sjoestroem, Peaty, Kolesnikov, Govorov and many more.
Australia have not used 50 stroke events as qualifying event for WC either. I dont think they have embraced those events any more than US. Even Sam Williamson had to make the team in the 100 Breast to get a chance to swim the 50.
Not true at all. Ceccon from Italy doesn’t like the addition. Also, America is the one that pushed to add the 50s to the games
he said ‘not celebrating this decision’.
Yes US cares about 50s especially Michael Andrew no ?