Meet of Swim-Offs: Nine Tie-Breakers So Far at Lucas Oil Stadium

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Meet of Swim-Offs: Nine Tie-Breakers So Far at Lucas Oil Stadium

Thursday’s action at the U.S. Olympic Trials featured two of the most intense one-on-one moments ever at a selection meet. First, two-swim offs were required to determine a place in an Olympic Trials final. Hours earlier, an Olympic spot had come down to another swim-off, with Erika Connolly edging out training partner Catie DeLoof for the sixth spot on the 400 free relay.

Those were just the two most recent post-session tie-breakers of the week, but more sessions than not have ended with one, whether that be to sort out advancement to the next round or an alternate position. Here is a rundown of all the week’s swim-offs:

1. Men’s 100 Breaststroke Prelims: After tie for 16th in prelims, Danny Kovac had to race Ben Cono to advance to the semifinals. Kovac clocked 1:00.47 to Cono’s 1:00.50.

2. Men’s 100 Breaststroke Semifinals: Two swimmers who broke 1:00 in the 100 breast semis did not reach the final, with AJ Pouch and Tommy Cope each going 59.86 in semis. Pouch then beat Cope in the swim-off, 59.81 to 1:00.00.

3. Men’s 100 Backstroke Prelims: A tie between David King and Aidan Stoffle for first alternate resulted in King winning, 55.03 to 55.13. Both men went 54.67 in prelims.

4. Men’s 200 Freestyle Semifinals: This was the first swim-off for a spot in the final, and it was dramatic as Aaron Shackell overcame a lead from Daniel Diehl to claim the win in 1:46.95, ahead of Diehl’s 1:47.16.

5. Women’s 100 Freestyle Semifinals: Before Connolly broke the tie with DeLoof Thursday morning, she had to beat Anna Moesch in a late-night swim-off Tuesday to make it into the final. Connolly touched in 53.92 while Moesch went 54.28.

6. Men’s 50 Freestyle Prelims: A tie for first alternate in the prelims of the men’s splash-and-dash nearly resulted in a second tie. Tommy Palmer and Dillon Downing each clocked 22.34 in prelims, and when they returned to the pool later, Palmer touched out Downing by one hundredth, 22.23 to 22.24.

7. Women’s 100 Freestyle Final: DeLoof and Connolly each swam times of 53.86 in the final, and they broke their tie the next morning as Connolly came from behind for a 53.76-to-53.80 victory.

8. Men’s 50 Freestyle Semifinal: First up, Adam Chaney and Jonny Kulow tied for eighth in the 50 free semis at 21.89, necessitating a swim-off. The two men got on the blocks after the session, sprinted down the pool and tied again, both going a tenth faster with their marks of 21.79.

9. Men’s 50 Freestyle Semifinal V2: Twenty-five minutes later, Chaney and Kulow came back, and a large portion of the Lucas Oil Stadium crowd remained to see Chaney secure the finals bid at long last, 21.81 to 21.99.

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Robert Goldbloom

5 days ago

We should not be using swim-offs so routinely. Who in their right mind ever wants to do a swim-off? Even if you win, you’re at a disadvantage in the final for having expended so much additional effort to quality. The only swim-off that I think makes sense is the one that happened for the 6th spot in the 100 free to make the Olympic team. A swim-off after a semi-final is absolutely unjustifiable. The spot in the final should go to whomever had the best prelim time — obviously.
There should be some fair way — even if random — to break the other ties. I’d suggest whoever had the fastest last split of the race (on the theory – and who cares if it’s right! — that they had the most energy left, and are most likely to swim faster in another race). This won’t work in a 50. So, how about a coin toss? It’s used in sports all the time.

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tooshay

5 days ago

Reply to Robert Goldbloom

allow them both in the finals. . lanes 1-9, the exception to the rule. and let ‘er rip

tooshay

5 days ago

the 50M men’s swim-off TIE again should have put BOTH of them IN the finals; lanes 1-9. They HAD earned it! change the rules. .AND add the 4X50M free relay for the Games. That would be OUTSTANDING!