TeamGB

@Nish Who's right?

I think it's 2 total, 1 Fairweather and 1 Clareburt.

Well she broke the 400m IM WR so she must have tapered somewhat, and she was definitely tapered for Fukuoka.

I would assume the medal for Clareburt would be 400m IM not 200m IM. I'm going to gamble here and say McIntosh doesn't medal in the 400m free (sorry), and so Fairweather would be the likely beneficiary. The past two "taper meets" Fukuoka and the trials, she hasn't really performed that well, whereas she has improved in all of the others.

When are the semifinals?

God those American commentators are infuriating. If this is what watching sports in the US is like all the time I don't think I could cope.

Changes since Tokyo

I tried hard not be be but I guess its difficult not to, just out of interest, where would you say I’m being too hopeful?

I'll give a GB prediction a go, although I'm sure there will be some subconscious bias in there. Artistic Swimming - 1 medal - Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe have really impressed me this year, and I think they could win a medal in the duet. Obviously artistic swimming isn't really my specialist subject, and it's difficult to compare due to the changing scoring systems, but I think they could earn bronze or maybe even silver. Diving - 1 gold, 5 medals - I think GB can medal in all 4 of the synchros (W 3m most unlikely), and there are a few individual medal chances. We always manage to sneak a gold and I'm hopeful, but not confident, it could happen again. Swimming - 3 Gold, 9 Medals - This is an event will plenty of medal chances but few nailed on golds. I think both mens Freestyle relays can win and I think another Gold can come from. Men's 100m Breast,50m Free, 200m Free and 200m IM. Other medal chances include Men's Medley, 100m Back, 400m IM, Women's 400m IM and 4x200m Free. Archery - 1 medal - The women's recurve team have been unlucky so far in terms of qualification, but I think they are up there for a medal if both Bryony or Penny are on form. Athletics - 2 Golds, 10 medals - This sport is in a similar situation to swimming, where we could potentially medal in all track events from 100m - 1500m for both genders, as well as all 5 relays, but similarly come away with a Tokyo sized haul. The contending field events include high jump, pole vault and heptathlon. Boxing - 2 Golds, 4 medals - Again, not really my expertise but I think we may perform slightly worse than Tokyo. Canoe Slalom - 3 Golds, 5 medals - The squad is extremely strong but things can very quickly go wrong in this sport. After missing Tokyo I think Joe Clarke will have the fire in his belly to get 2 golds in Kayak, and I think Kimberly can win the extreme event. BMX freestyle - 2 medals - I think the battle for Gold in the mens event will be between Reilly and Martin. Worthington has not really impressed me in this Olympic cycle, but she may pull something Tokyo-esque out of the bag. BMX racing - 1 Gold, 2 medals - doing the test event double does give my confidence and I think the team will replicate the Tokyo results. Mountain Biking - 1 Gold, 2 medals - Pidcock has to be up there in the Men's event and I think Evie Richards can translate her short track form into a medal. Road Cycling - 1 medal - Josh Tarling in the time trial, and potentially even more in an unpredictable road race. Track Cycling - 5 Golds, 6 medals - The growth of the women's sprint squad had been offset by the decline of the men's but I think we will still see more success than Tokyo. Equestrian - 3 golds, 6 medals - Not really my expertise but I think 3 golds is possible. Field Hockey - 2 medals - Both teams should be up there, but I give stronger chances to the men. Gymnastics - 3 golds, 5 medals - The men's team has grown but the women's is in tatters. I predict GB golds in Men's PH, Vault and Women's Trampoline Judo - 1 medal - Chelsie Giles should medal, but Lucy Renshall is just too inconsistent to be a medal contender. Modern Pentathlon - 1 Gold, 2 medals - Joe can defend his title and Bryson should be in the conversation for the women's Rowing - 6 golds, 7 medals - Reborn after the disaster of Tokyo, British rowing have strong chances to retain all 2023 world titles and add the mens Pair. Sailing - 3 Golds, 5 Medals - Again very difficult to predict but having qualified all 10 boats again, I think we can match Tokyo Shooting - 2 golds, 4 medals - It all really depends on wether Llewellyn qualifies, but I think we are contenders in all 5 shotgun events, and 2 women's rifle events. Skateboarding - 1 Gold, 1 Medal - Sky focusing just on one sport should be enough to win olympic gold. Sport Climbing - 1 Medal - Toby Roberts is definitely a gold contender in the Combined. Taekwondo - 2 Gold, 4 medals - All 4 athletes should contend for gold and I would hope at least 2 of them get there. Triathlon - 2 Gold , 3 medals - The women's team is insanely strong, and I think Yee can go one step further than Tokyo. The mixed relay worries me as we don't have a strong 2nd male athlete. Weightlifting - 1 medal - Emily Campbell is up there for 2nd behind the Chinese athlete. Just counted them up and that makes 40 golds and 90 medals, so maybe my subconscious bias was pretty strong. Nonetheless, I would expect an improvement on Tokyo to 30ish golds and 70 medals.

Disagree with the McEvoy point, he could easily drop 0.1-0.2 off his best and he may very well not win, and I don’t think you can argue that’s well off his best.

Very impressive and certainly one for the future, potentially even Paris, who knows. Here's an AW article : https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/phoebe-gill-sets-stunning-european-u18-800m-record-1039985776/

Noticed there is no women's team for the European qualifiers starting soon. Hoping it's a mistake but does seem strange.

Crisis, what crisis 😅

We have elections in the UK, this Thursday, so if you are a politics nut like me, I thought I would give a little rundown of what to look out for. Blackpool South By-Election Called after the conservative MP was caught being bribed, the seat will most likely be taken by labour. The reform result will be interesting (if it is high that is bad news for the Tories, as vote splitting of the right could hand a lot of seats of Labour at the general election. Local council elections These elections are only in England, and in 107/153 total councils, with the majority electing just 1/3 of the councillors. These elections were last held in 2021 when the conservatives were having a "vaccine boost", so we could see some large swings in some areas. Although local issues play a part, the general voting trends will likely show how each party is performing. Keep an eye out for the projected national share of votes, which shows how the country would have voted if this was a general election. The conservatives and labour are both defending around 900 seats each, with the Liberal democrats on 405 and Greens on 118. The conservatives are expected to lose around 400 and all the other parties to make gains. In terms of actual councils Labour are defending 45, the Conservatives 18 and the Lib Dems 10. The councils to keep an eye on are - Adur (CON loss) - Bolton (LAB gain) - Brentwood (LDM gain) - Bristol (GREEN gain) - Cannock Chase (LAB gain) - Dorset (CON loss / LDM gain) - Dudley (CON loss) - Gloucester (CON loss) - Hartlepool (LAB gain) - Hyndburn (LAB gain) - Milton Keynes (CON loss) - Portsmouth (LDM gain) - Redditch (CON loss) - Rushmore (CON loss) - Solihull (CON loss) - Tunbridge Wells (LDM gain) - Wokingham (LDM gain) London Assembly election Labour will look to take control of the London Assembly, they need to gain 2 seats to have a majority, but it is certainly not a formality. Mayors 11 regional mayors will be elected with labour defending 6, conservatives 2 and 3 being new positions. Realistically labour could sweep all 11 but Tees Valley will be on a knife edge (47% each on Opinion polls) Police and Crime Commissioners The conservatives are defending 30 seats, labour 8 and Plaid Cymru 1. These elections will now be first past the post compared to supplementary vote which could mean the anti tory vote is split. You would expect labour gains but the scale is quite unknown Overall these elections are a litmus test for the parties, but I wouldn't expect many political shockwaves from them, and the bigger vote will likely be held later in the year.

Yeah thats not happening.

Just seen someone comment on Swimswam that it is possible for the European men to sweep the golds in Paris. Obviously on face value this looks ridiculous but the more I think about it it doesn't seem completely far fetched.

1. M - 400m IM 2. M - 4x200m Free 3. W - Triathlon 4. W - Madison 5. W - BMX Race. 328. M - Breaking 329. W - Breaking

So we will know some quotas soon.

So how many are in the final in total? 4?

Has anyone watched the swimming doping documentary, its on the ARD website but it's geoblocked and in German.

I guess, but behind Marchand the depth is weak and really any of the qualifiers could medal, whereas in the 400m free is insanely strong and there are relatively few athletes who could medal.

Clearly what he is trying to say is that they should never compete again.

No he’s not, all he did was post about the 400m free from 2015 and how Sun shouls have lost his medals. Considering your track record of swimming predictions I’m going to politely ignore your opinion.

This whole situation is a bit of a mess, and I think all sides need to come forward and explain what has happened so a proper investigation can take place.

The think that frustrates me the most is that is has been swept under the rug for so long. I'm sure that many of the Chinese swimmers are clean, and the progression shown by Chinese swimming/swimmers is not improbable, but now that this has happened the perception of many swimmers may have been tarnished (unfairly or not). The fact that it took 3 years for this information to come out indicates some dodgy business going on, and the consequences could be dire and should hopefully stir some debate into large scale doping in sport, where I feel the focus has been on Russia for too long.