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Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky were not among the top-six finishers in the 100 free for their respective gender at U.S. Olympic Trials last month, but a report from USA TODAY Sports suggests that they will still be involved with the sprint relays in Rio.
The report from Christine Brennan indicates that Phelps will swim in the event’s finals but not in the prelims. That would be Phelps’ first swim of the Games and his fourth-straight Games appearing on that finals squad. In the previous three, the Americans won bronze in 2004, gold in world record-time in 2008 and silver in 2012.
Brennan also reports that Ledecky will swim with the women’s team in prelims, which would also be her first race of the Olympics. Ledecky finished seventh in the event at Olympic Trials in 53.99, seven one-hundredths behind Dana Vollmer. But Ledecky does have the fifth-fastest time in the event this year among Americans, having clocked 53.75 in January.
A source with the U.S. Olympic team told Swimming World that all qualified swimmers on the team are eligible for relay action and that no decisions will be final until the lineup card is officially turned in.
A new rule mandates that all selected swimmers must compete during some point at the Games. 10 American swimmers—Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, Clark Smith, Allison Schmitt, Cierra Runge, Ryan Held, Jimmy Feigen, Blake Pieroni, Amanda Weir and Lia Neal—qualified only for relays and thus must see action in either prelims or finals of the 400 or 800 free relays for their respective gender.
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If this report is true, then the olympic staff is unaware. Phelps is a possibility but Ledecky? Makes no sense. 6-7 others are faster. Would like to know the source from USA Today writer.
Totally wrong. That means some of the swimmers who rightfully earned a relay spot by qualifying at trials won’t be on the relay. Michael and Katie should have had to earn their spots like anyone else.
As indicated above, I have not gotten this report confirmed, but my source emphasized that (a) all swimmers on the team are eligible for relays — which is TRUE, and (b) everyone who was selected must swim. Final decisions are up to the coaching staff. This is not without precedent — see Phelps at the last three Olympics.
But they did earn their spots and qualified…
He is definitely bumping someone. I knew this would happen though.
Marina, no, they did not. Michael didn’t swim the 100 free and the top 6 of that race are the 4×100 free relay team. I don’t think Katie swam it either, I don’t remember now but I think she dropped it. So yes they are taking spots from ones who qualified.
Kristie, Michael even said that. He said even though he wasn’t swimming it he was hoping to get on the relay anyway.
Tammy Lee She swam the 100
Do yall follkw him? Hes pretty dedicated. It’s awesome. Asnd hes sacrificed enough. You never know they may have held an inhouse swim just for it. Saying they dont deserve it is too harsh
Ledecky swam in the trials largely unrested. As noted, she has the 5th fastest 100 among American women. The stated plan is to swim her in the prelims. That should allow the Americans to rest another swimmer for the finals. Instead of just swimming the top 6 in Omaha they will be swimming the top 7, which they are able to do since Ledecky at number 7 was already on the team.
If they decide to use 7 women swimmers, then I don’t have a problem with using Katie Ledecky in the prelims because she did qualify 7th. And, the fastest one in prelims gets to swim at night too so everyone who qualified for the team gets a reasonable chance to swim at night.
Michael Phelps was granted an exception in 2004. I didn’t agree with it, but he had won the 100 at Nationals the year before and the potential publicity of his winning 8 gold medals made the exception understandable. In the 2008 Olympic trials, Michael Phelps swam the 100 in prelims fast enough to make it clear he should be on the relay. Plus, his leadoff time the year before at World Championships was faster than the time that won the 100 so that was fine with me.
But, it’s not 2004 or 2008 anymore, it’s 2016, and he hasn’t swum a really good 100 free in years. His performance at trials suggest that age is catching up with him in his best events. In addition, let’s keep in mind that his relay starts have never been the equal of the guys who swam at least one pressure packed relay every week in the high school or college . So, if he’s not leading off like he used to, his best flat start time would have to be a couple tenths faster than the fourth best swimmer for his relay leg to be faster.
As a result, there is no reason to believe that he is going to swim fast enough to make the relay any better. Swimming him in the finals is not only wrong but it’s also foolish.
The Phelps report does not surprise me. He had a very quick time trial the other day at training camp.
Also Phelps has history on his side. He is flat out a great relay swimmer. In 2012 he swam great in the 4×100. Even after doing the 400 IM which he had no business being in really. Of the four swimmers in that really he was the only one who really brought it, if I am remembering it right. Lochte was dead. The other two guys were good but got better as the meet went on and swam their best to get gold in their individual events and kill it in the Medley. So even at this late stage I would want Phelps in the relay as long as his time trial suggests he can go fast. Our 4,5,6 guys definitely leave some question marks.
I actually think Katie Ledecky rested could put up one of the fastest splits on the relay – in the final. Although I think that relay is swimming for silver at best. But she swims faster with a race under her belt. So its a good move to get her in the water. But after that I am interested to see how she handles the 400 free prelim and 200 free prelim and semi. Will she conserve energy for the final? If she ends up swimming two 100’s will it take away a few hundredths or a tenth from the 200 free final that she might need?
Why do you think Phelps is such a great relay swimmer? His lead off times in the 4 X 200 in Athens and Beijing were considerably slower than his times in the final of the 200? And, his fly splits in the medley relays have only been a few tenths quicker than his time in the 100 fly finals at both the Olympics and Worlds. I think one of the reasons not to swim him is that he’s not that good a relay swimmer even though he is the greatest swimmer of all time. He should be worrying about beating the South African flyer, not about swimming on the relay.
In a sport that is measured in hundredths of seconds the best 4 swimmers will be different every day – based on how Phelps and Ledecky rise to the occasion as the competition gets better it’s not unreasonable to believe that they will be in the top 4 at the time of competition – this is about winning and the best 4 swimmers on the Olympic Team for that relay that day should be the swimmers to compete- a performance 5 weeks ago earned the right to be on the team, it’s the performance’s starting next week that earn the right to swim on the future relays
This is true, but given the fact that the USA must use everyone it named as being on the relay, if the US starts allowing additional swimmers to swim on the relay, it is putting untested swimmers in the final. In the past, the US generally picked the two fastest prelim swimmers to join the top 2 swimmers from Trials (who happened to be the individual event qualifiers) in finals. This meant that the fifth or sixth place finisher from Trials had a chance to earn a spot on the relay in finals, if he/she out swam those swimmers who beat him/her at Trials. If more swimmers swim at night without having swum in prelims, there’s an increased chance that the prelim swimmers will have swum faster than the finals swimmers and really should have earned a place in the finals. If things go poorly and the US loses out on a medal, it’ll increase the criticism of the coaching staff if there were prelims swimmers who were better than some of the finals swimmers. It’ll also lead to tension on the team if there are swimmers who feel cheated out of an opportunity to swim. This is a risky situation.
Of course, if Ledecky and Phelps don’t swim, there will also be criticism that the coaches didn’t put the best possible swimmers on the relay. This is a tough situation for the coaching staff. There is a lot that could go wrong. I hope they put a lot of thought into doing the right thing.
If Ledecky swims the relay , the Americans will lose to the Australians in the finals and she’ll get her first non-gold medal at an international meet
I don’t know about that!
Ask Phelps. It’s nice to have 1 or 2 other colours to balance out 18 (+ Rio) Golds?
I suppose. But it’s also kinda bad when the fate of that streak is in other American sprinters who have no chance against the Australian powers. If she wasn’t in it, all she needed to do was beat Pelegrini and Sjostrom in the 200 and then she was basically guaranteed all gold
Ledecky will not swim in the finals unless she posts a really amazing time during the semi-finals and earns it.
So… 2 questions.
1) Which of the top 4 men who actually put the effort into swimming 3 rounds of 100 free at Trials to earn a spot is going to be relegated to prelims?
2) How much say did NBC have in this decision?
I’m offended by the NBC question. Of course they have nothing to do with that. Anyone who has been on an Olympic team knows that the goal is to win the race at any cost. Coaches know who will be prepared and swimmers are prepared for the possibility of not being on the relay.
Listen to Jenny. She has a 4×100 Free Olympic Gold medal from 1972.
Really members have also been determined by coaches for the past few Olympic so good luck with changing that.
Lyne Campbell est une course de plus où on verra notre champion =) bonne nouvelle .
I think that after all the medals he’s earned and Olympics he’s been a part of the right thing for him is to step aside and let the top 4 sprinters that earned their spot race. The squad should trust its 2 young talents aside from the experienced 2. It would seem a bit selfish to accept and take away the chance for one of the top 4 sprinters to be in the finals. It would really do a lot for his reputation and greatly admired if he did not accept.
They had time trials in Atlanta and only Adrian went faster than him
I agree with you Carlos. They can win without him. Don’t bump any of those guys.
The top four finishers in the 100m freestyle are guaranteed spots on the relay, the 5th and 6th spot are not. There are 8 potential spots to swim the heats and final so these two are not bumping anyone off. All this means is that one swimmer who would have swam the semi-final and the final will only need to swim in the final.
This coach is no way better than you or I who should be on relays and who should not and who they might be or who will be there competition. Have faith. Go USA!
So many other talented sprinters on that roster, but whatev…
If they feel they are the best for the anchor spot, then why in the hell would they step aside? Good news i think!
Those two sure know how to race!
Great news!
at whose expense?
YAY!!!
Toni James
Interesting…..
Michael Alexander 😉
Paul Hufschmidt
Come on people. There is very little to debate here. The people who only made relays are still awesome Olympians and are due the utmost respect, but all they are guaranteed is a swim in either prelims or finals. The coaches’ objective is to field the fastest relay in finals and meet the rules requiring participation. They can use anyone on the team to meet that objective. All that is up for debate is how to get the fastest relay performance in finals. This is a team sport.
Agreed Steve, it’s a simple matter of utilising four swimmers in the final to achieve the highest likelihood of a win (or, lbh, silver). This takes into account rules of participation, any necessary individual race consideration for certain members, trial times and prelim times, as well as consistency and experience. There is then the consideration of their respective leg position, and also taking into account unfortunate unforseen situations such as injury. All in all, no guarantees appart from a thrilling race on the night.
The issue I have with this is not with Ledecky – she actually swam the race at the Trials. Phelps did not, so the coaches have chosen to by-pass the rules that should apply to everyone. I hope he swims great, but if he doesn’t…
If they do it once, they can do it again. Why have Trials at all?
Oh – as for trusting the coaches. That worked real well last year when the 4 x 100 relay did not make Finals. Yeah – may not happen again, but…
Paul
While you may not agree with the rule, it has not been broken or by-passed. Here is the relevant excerpt:
All swimmers who are Nominated to the Team shall be eligible for selection to
any and all relays to be held at the 2016 Olympic Games, provided that Relay-
Only Swimmers must achieve the OST for the event within the relay in which
they will be selected to compete. (Example: the Relay-Only Swimmer in the 4 x
200m Freestyle Relay must have an OST in the 200m Freestyle). The National Team
Director, in consultation with the Head Coaches and the assistant coaches, shall select
the swimmers for each relay conducted at the 2016 Olympic Games. In selecting the
relay teams, the National Team Director shall consider all available relevant
information, including but not limited to each Team member’s Qualifying Competition
performances (including preliminary times, time trials, swim-offs and relay lead-off
times), past relay performances, past relay reaction times, relay exchange experience,
2016 Olympic Games performances, personal best performances, 2016 Olympic
Games event schedules, individual workload, other recent results and performances,
consistency of performances, fatigue, health, fitness levels, training preparation,
participation in relay training camps, scientific evaluation, attitude and team chemistry.
According to the FINA-approved qualification methods for the 2016 Olympic Games, all
Relay-Only swimmers must swim in either the preliminary heat or the final of the relay
Event for which they have been selected, otherwise the relay will be disqualified.