olympic selection - a difficult puzzle
Pullbuoy used to make a habit of predicting who would be selected for Britain's team at major championships, but that was when selection was a significantly clearer process to understand and in recent years, the selection policies have become increasingly complex. We take a look at the Olympic Selection policy and try to determine exactly what our swimmers need to do at the trials to guarantee their seat on the plane for Athens.
It all used to be so simple; turn up at the trials, win your event in a time faster than that required by the selectors and Bob was your proverbial uncle, you were off to a major championship. In the last few years though the selection game has become more and more difficult to understand, with often ambiguous wording and several different meets counting towards the final team selection. This came to a head last year when it wasn't clear how many of the 34 strong team that set off to the Barcelona World Championships had actually satisfied the policy as written.
Thankfully, this year's Olympic selection policy is rather more straightforward, but that doesn't mean it's entirely simple, particularly when it comes to relays. So here's how we think the team will be made up, following the trials.
Perhaps ironically given that this year's selection policy will pick the most important team in Bill Sweetenham's reign so far, it's also the simplest to have emerged from the big Australian, at least as far as individual places are concerned. To get on the team you simply have to finish in the top 2 at the trials and beat the stipulated 'A' qualifying time. It's as simple as that, the only possible variation to this is if swimmers are injured or ill when they can attempt to gain selection by swimming the required time at the European Championships instead, but that opportunity is only open to those ranked in the world's top 12 last year.
Even the issue of additional swims is less confusing than in recent years. Provided there are unfilled spaces in the relevant events and selection has been obtained for an individual event or, in an interesting addition to this year's policy, for a relay team, swimming the slightly easier 'B' qualifying time at the trials may give the opportunity for additional individual swims. This inclusion opens the door for a far wider British representation in Athens than might otherwise be the case.
Everyone will be fighting to be in this position - Britain's 2001 world championship winning 4x200 relay team. Photo: SWPix
This is where things start to get really interesting as far as selection goes. Thanks to some sterling performances in Barcelona last year, Britain has a full complement of relays qualified to Athens so there are a minimum of 24 relay places up for grabs, plus a few more squad spots as well. These are, as always, going to be keenly contested, even more so as they may offer a back door into an individual event.
There are two aspects to relay selection; firstly the team itself has to meet a qualifying standard, based on the summation of individual performances at the trials with a relay takeover allowance. So the winner's times for the 4 form strokes, or the first four finishers in the 100 and 200 freestyle events added up must equal or better that standard for a team to be selected. In reality, it's almost a foregone conclusion that this condition will be fulfilled and that the relay squads will be off to the games. Additional swimmers can then be added at Sweetenham's discretion based on a complicated formula for qualifying times.
So getting on to a relay squad is a process fraught with uncertainty. Even if you do make it into the squad, unless you were the winner of an individual event at the trials, your place is not guaranteed and you are fair game for a challenge from another member of the British squad. This was the background to the selection of backstroker Jo Fargus and butterflyer Georgina Lee to the Commonwealth Games winning 4x200 relay squad as they ousted incumbents Janine Belton and Nicola Jackson form the team. It is a move designed to maximise the potential of the relays and will certainly keep everyone on their toes - no one is going along for the ride. With so many factors to consider, it's altogether possible we won't know the make up of a relay team until they take to the blocks in the games themselves!
Of course, policy or otherwise, it's impossible to know exactly who will make the team and, having been selected, exactly what events will be swum, in particular when relay squad members are subsequently offered individual swims. That said, there's little doubt that Bill Sweetenham and his selection team have got it right more often than not in the last three years and hopefully that will translate to a successful Olympic games.