USA Swimming to Use Flyover Starts at Trials

As the US Olympic Trials have grown in entries (just shy of 1,800 qualifiers according the last official release on April 1 that could grow toward 2,000 by the time Omaha arrives), USA Swimming has had to alter their meet procedures to keep up.

The latest change is that prelims heats will be raced in 10-lanes, and using flyover starts, to try and cut down on the massive length of the event. This move should cut down the number of preliminary heats by roughly 25%. With the majority of events likely to fall between 80 and 180 events, that will be a reduction of somewhere between 2 and 6 heats per preliminary event.

The effect of flyover starts at this level could have an even bigger impact, as more elite athletes are notorious for taking more time behind the blocks than age group athletes. Overall, the two moves could cut around half-an-hour off of each preliminary session.

All semi-finals and finals sessions will be run in a traditional 8-lane format, with standard starting procedures.

This move highlights the importance of scaling back the size of these Olympic Trials. Primarily for the purposes of freeing up pool space during warmup and cooldown periods, but also to keep early sessions to a reasonable length and keep the integrity of the meet as an Olympic Trial.

I really liked what Great Britain did at their Olympic Trials – they employed different qualifying standards from different age groups, which allowed the future of British Swimming to gain valuable experience while retaining the elite feel of the meet.

I think that one of the major hallmarks of Frank Busch’s tenure as the National Team head coach will be scaling back these national events that are supposed to be the showcase of our sport blasted out to the mainstream masses. He’s already shown that by declaring that qualifying times for this summer’s U.S. Open be done in the same long course that the meet is raced in.

 

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Calbearfan
11 years ago

Too. Many. Qualifiers. Should be less than 800 total.

ChestRockwell
Reply to  Calbearfan
11 years ago

I’m with you. I’m pretty sure the Men’s 200 breast had about 34 entries in 2004. This has become a circus.

Question on Gender %
11 years ago

Question on the increase in percentage of athletes, by gender. Is it primarily more women qualifying than men, or the other way around?

I ask because the percent of athletes at Trials and bigger events always seems to be a more predominantly women than men ratio. Maybe they should bump up the women’s time standards a shade to cut down?

I feel as if they should alter time standards so there’s an equal ratio of athletes, I know I’m not the only male athlete that sees the absurdity in the comparisons of qualifying times for meets like Trials, Senior Nat’s, Junior Nats, etc.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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