British Swimming Championships 2024 Road to Paris 2024

[Epic Failure 209]

I mean Guy is our best fly swimmer in theory, so on that front it makes sense.

 

But Whittle is arguably only 6th in the 100 free at the moment. I get Scott dropping it but I'm surprised it didn't go to Dean or Cohoon instead (less so Cohoon with him having the 50). Dean's schedule especially is not heavy this time around without the 200m free.

 

I worry greatly if we put Joe in the freestyle relay. In order of relay safety, I'd say the 200m free is the safest to have him in, then the medley and then the freestyle.

 

 

[Surreal 4]

4 hours ago, Epic Failure said:

I mean Guy is our best fly swimmer in theory, so on that front it makes sense.

 

But Whittle is arguably only 6th in the 100 free at the moment. I get Scott dropping it but I'm surprised it didn't go to Dean or Cohoon instead (less so Cohoon with him having the 50). Dean's schedule especially is not heavy this time around without the 200m free.

 

I worry greatly if we put Joe in the freestyle relay. In order of relay safety, I'd say the 200m free is the safest to have him in, then the medley and then the freestyle.

 

 

Whittle is our 5th best 100 Freestyler out of those going to Paris. Dean likely didn't get the spot after Scott dropped it as the heats and semis of the 100 Free somewhat ridulously are on the same day as the 4x2, I'm guessing GB don't want to hinder the potential Gold opportunity in that relay and asked Dean not to swim the 100 Free.

 

After Litchfield's disaster split in the 4x1 Free in Tokyo I severely doubt they'll put him on that relay again. Imo they'll use 5 swimmers for that relay just like they were planning on doing at Fukuoka Worlds last year with Richards - Cohoon - Whittle - Dean in the heats of that relay with Scott replacing the slowest split for the final. If GB are gonna use a 6th swimmer for this relay it'll be Mr. reliable James Guy.

[Orangehair43 196]

I wonder if they will think about changing the selection rules again so they don’t have to take anyone they don’t want to. Lichfield was a mandatory pick under the rules used. 

[Epic Failure 209]

10 hours ago, Surreal said:

Whittle is our 5th best 100 Freestyler out of those going to Paris. Dean likely didn't get the spot after Scott dropped it as the heats and semis of the 100 Free somewhat ridulously are on the same day as the 4x2, I'm guessing GB don't want to hinder the potential Gold opportunity in that relay and asked Dean not to swim the 100 Free.

 

After Litchfield's disaster split in the 4x1 Free in Tokyo I severely doubt they'll put him on that relay again. Imo they'll use 5 swimmers for that relay just like they were planning on doing at Fukuoka Worlds last year with Richards - Cohoon - Whittle - Dean in the heats of that relay with Scott replacing the slowest split for the final. If GB are gonna use a 6th swimmer for this relay it'll be Mr. reliable James Guy.

I said maybe 6th because Jimmy pulled out of the 100m final at trials, so we don't know where his form is on that, although I take the point that Whittle is the quicker swimmer generally. I still think he's very lucky to get the swim over Cohoon.

 

If they are really going 100% on the 4x2 relay, surprised they didn't ask Richards to drop the 100 as well! He was a DNS in Tokyo in the same situation.

 

Agree that they are likely wary of Joe on the 100 free relay. The 4x2 relay gives the most leeway for him to have a poor swim but they might not risk having both him and MacMillan in the heat. If they put him in the medley, I think that only works if Peaty is in the heat as well. I guess in theory, they have the mixed medley to play with as well.

[RussB 102]

13 minutes ago, Epic Failure said:

I said maybe 6th because Jimmy pulled out of the 100m final at trials, so we don't know where his form is on that, although I take the point that Whittle is the quicker swimmer generally. I still think he's very lucky to get the swim over Cohoon.

 

If they are really going 100% on the 4x2 relay, surprised they didn't ask Richards to drop the 100 as well! He was a DNS in Tokyo in the same situation.

 

Agree that they are likely wary of Joe on the 100 free relay. The 4x2 relay gives the most leeway for him to have a poor swim but they might not risk having both him and MacMillan in the heat. If they put him in the medley, I think that only works if Peaty is in the heat as well. I guess in theory, they have the mixed medley to play with as well.

I think that would be a very tough ask for Matt. I think he goes into the hundred with 8th fastest time in the qualifying period, and would hold genuine outsider hopes of a medal given how tight the event is and hope for progression gives his profile. 

[Orangehair43 196]

To be fair we don’t know if any of our swimmers will get disciplinary action for the inevitable anti Chinese doping protests they will do like they did in 2019 at the worlds. 

[mpjmcevoy 306]

3 hours ago, Orangehair43 said:

To be fair we don’t know if any of our swimmers will get disciplinary action for the inevitable anti Chinese doping protests they will do like they did in 2019 at the worlds. 

Stop. It.

[Epic Failure 209]

4 hours ago, RussB said:

I think that would be a very tough ask for Matt. I think he goes into the hundred with 8th fastest time in the qualifying period, and would hold genuine outsider hopes of a medal given how tight the event is and hope for progression gives his profile. 

7th actually, I believe.

 

But I think you missed my point. I think it is a tough ask for any of them to pull out!

 

I agree that Matt has the best chance in the 100, but Tom is no slouch. And having both of them completely fresh would absolutely be the best thing for the relay. If the coaching was truly 100% laser focused on the relay, it would be doing nothing that might endanger that medal.

 

Just absent minded chatter on my part really though. I'm not actually really critical of the decision.

[RussB 102]

8 minutes ago, Epic Failure said:

7th actually, I believe.

 

But I think you missed my point. I think it is a tough ask for any of them to pull out!

 

I agree that Matt has the best chance in the 100, but Tom is no slouch. And having both of them completely fresh would absolutely be the best thing for the relay. If the coaching was truly 100% laser focused on the relay, it would be doing nothing that might endanger that medal.

 

Just absent minded chatter on my part really though. I'm not actually really critical of the decision.

Agree but there has to be some semblance of balance between individual and relay. The schedule to put 100m semis on same session as the 200m relay final is utterly asinine, really amazes me how schedulers can make errors like this, but will affect the US as well with their lineup from the looks of things.

 

Matt has a medal chance, im not sure that we could stretch expectations to say Tom would also have a medal chance. 

[Epic Failure 209]

27 minutes ago, RussB said:

Agree but there has to be some semblance of balance between individual and relay. The schedule to put 100m semis on same session as the 200m relay final is utterly asinine, really amazes me how schedulers can make errors like this, but will affect the US as well with their lineup from the looks of things.

 

Matt has a medal chance, im not sure that we could stretch expectations to say Tom would also have a medal chance. 

I agree, but my point (which, again, is me rambling more than anything else) is that Tom has a better shot than Jacob, imo. Not as good as Matt obviously but a shot. 

 

Who knows, maybe Tom didn't want the spot either, like Duncan? Lots of moving parts that we don't know about.

 

 

Assuming that Guliano hasn't dropped the 100m - in which case his replacement would be some unknown called Caeleb Dressel! - then he would be the only US swimmer impacted by the 100m/4x200m conflict. The rest of their 4x2 swimmers aren't sprinters really.