mpjmcevoy

The Europeans? ;-)

At the moment, two Irish male swimmers have the OQT. Granted, I don' see Dan Wiffen putting together a couple of quick hundreds (!), but technically, they have two qualified male swimmers, and are entitled to two for relays. so I think include them until and unless they self exclude.

Katie Moon halted at 4.80

Having three big hitters going for the women's 100 back is a major help here, and if Peaty is even competitive (i.e there or thereabouts for a medal) then its plausibly game on. There are some good young sprint breaststrokers coming through (eg Bilbao), but my gut says Peaty will be OK, in that case almost everything turns on 100 fly, and specifically the form of Guy and Peters - Guy looked at the Euro short course (frankly a better barometer, in my view, than this odd Worlds of where GB hope to be) to have found some of his 2015 Mojo - if that's the case, he may step back from the medley relays, at least partially, to protect his newfound 200 free form. I think this event was almost the GB banker last time - this time, I think the banker is the mens 4 x 2 free, and the men's medley may actually be stronger than the mixed. I still think if Peaty is even 95% there (I'd reckon he's about 80% atm but he knows he's gonna get a wildcard if required) then medals in both relays is likely and gold in either/or is possible.

I don't think that 4x200 has the least bearing on Paris, to be honest.

This scenario seems to suit Llewellin and Achillios very well, three spaces still available for direct qualification (2 by World Q, 1 by europe champs) in addition to the rankings spot.

Apparently almost the entire team is untapered; the only real issue was qualifying the men's 4 x 100, and even there, James Guy didn't go, Dean barely did, and both Scott and Richards were basically in heavy training. Peaty apparently sort of half tapered, and his team are apparently perfectly happy with where he is, much as Max Litchfield's team are. Clearly the USA have taken an even more relaxed route if that's possible, while Chinese in comparison are absolutely on it. Stephen's gold today was a complete left-fielder, but its interesting her time was more or less the same as last years worlds, when the worlds were the main event of the season. She's clearly capable of more, but she's unlikely to catch Macintosh, lets be honest. The women's 4 x 200, without Anderson, is seriously impressive , especially Wood. And despite the lack of taper/seriousness, they've still got their 4x1 quota, a women's 4x2 free silver which is actually impressive, and notably 4 medals. some of us recall a fully tapered GB scrounging about for 1 bronze not so terribly long ago. Paris will be a whole new level of tough, but quietly I'd say GBR are pretty happy with where they are. Team Ireland, by contrast, are absolutely ecstatic, notwithstanding the relay disappointment.

Really wish the High Dive outdoors, like open water swimming, was in the Games - doesn't seem a wildly expensive venue - a Scaffolding, steps, temporary stand and a reasonably deep temporary pool., yet its a fabulous spectacle, and requires relatively few competitors for a proper competition.

Perhaps the presumably limited funding for Oceanic championships can be better directed to helping such athletes get to the Europeans/Asians/ etc - Depends on numbers and costs.

Seems a little pattern developing actually, where one event stages another from a different part of the world. The European Weightlifting seems to be operating a link with the USA, not dissimilar to the european U23 Aquatics, while the worlds have 'held' the Commonwealths in weightlifting several times by simply drawing out the CW qualified lifters in the standard competition. not the worst idea in the current climate

It's a fair call - a lot of the picks under Pidcock and Finucance are pretty tight, really, and there are several wildcards beyond these who have a puncher's chance - Pfeiffer Georgi, Charlotte Worthington, Kye Whyte, Evie Richards, Katy Marchant

There's no such thing as a certain gold medal, but in order of likelihood, I'd say: Pidcock Finucane (Spr) Archibald+A.N.Other Men's BMX Free Men;s Team Pursuit Archibald (Omn) Women's team Pursuit Men's Madison Women's Team Sprint Women's BMX Racing Men's Omnium Men's TT

Sporting authorities, never change.

Come to think of it, why don't Canada do their bit for world inclusivity and offer to MERGE the 2031 Jeux de Francophonie and 2030 Commonwealth Game into an all-in-one 2030 Friendly Games/Jeux Amicaux ?

Hey, don't knock it, Ireland are an observer member too. The Commonwealth wishes it has this level of certainty for its next two events

How about a repechage system for the relays: 2 heats of six, top 2 qualify for final regardless of times. The bottom 4 in each heat swim a repechage, top 4 qualifying (or be really cruel and have four head to head swim-offs) for the final.

I do get the impression the level of 'tapering' is rather variable in the squad, even in the 4 x 1 boys who clearly did what they needed, but not much more. To be fair the level of tapering is variable throughout; the chinese, clearly, are on it, the American's not so much. For the Brits, Adam Peaty needed to make a statement for his own confidence - his return to some sort of form will be heartening. This champs however, even more so than the Doha World Athletics, feels like a champs that will be soon forgotten, and in many ways placed in the memory hole - the classic "contractual obligation" album.

Our French Textbooks in school were, as I recalled, called L'Hexegone. Malheureusement, mon francais, c'est encore tres pauvre!

Am I right in thinking that the hexagon has a very specific historical meaning fro sport in France? I vaguely recall a story that a childrens book was published which first described travels around france in terms of the hexagon - and that for many french people it was the first time they had a sense of the size and shape of their country - and this book is strongly linked to the early Tours de France?

That's my assumption too - she's an obvious 'ace in the hole' as back up for the Team Pursuit, while clearly, if she continues her astonishing rate of progress, she's a contender in ITT. In which case we presumably take Annie Last for the MTB. Tarling will perform a similar role for the men. In both cases, the track squad arguably has another card to pay on the road in J Knight and D Bigham if it comes to it.

If GBR kept the second MTB quota, would you bring Backstedt?

Didn't a group fo Romania gymnasts do something like that a couple of decades ago - I recall it being a scandal. Can't say, given the body type typical of gymnasts, that I'd be very comfortable with that.

Not planning... PSA : Do not google carelessly.

?? Edit: !!

Medalist in 2023, or one of best 13 times across 2023 and 2024