A Few More Thoughts

Having seen all of the discussion generated over the Swimmer of the Year choice, as well as some of the other comments, I thought I would add something to the discussion. First of all, keep in mind that a similar situation arose a few years ago between Chris Brady (who recently broke one of Mark Spitz's final collegiate records, without the aid of a new technical suit - article) and Grady Carter, with Carter winning the 50 and 100 Freestyle, and Brady taking 2nd in the 50 Free and winning the 100 Fly. Chris Brady came away swimmer of the year that year, due to the closeness of the 50 Free and his power point score in the 100 Fly. Is the system flawed? Probably. Now, many people have offered some suggestions, and I think that one of the best ideas is to somehow incorporate times from the rest of the season, or points scored at dual meets, or some other way to make it truly the Swimmer of the Year, not just of the State Meet. If they want to recognize both, I would see no issue, but basing the year's award on two days of a meet seems unjust at times (and the same goes for the rest of the All-State selections, but they tend to be pretty logical as it is). By all means, continue talking about this, maybe somehow a better idea can evolve from enough different people putting their thoughts together. A few notes though...try to keep comments on topic, and don't sign in as someone who you are not, it makes people sound bad who aren't trying to act the way you portray them. Also, one other comment about one of the more recent posts, regarding Curtis Ramsey's not swimming against Tanner or some others. He did in fact go home sick the day of the Brandywine meet, however, McKee swam the IM and Back, 2 events that Curtis most likely would not have swam. And he asked to go to practice on the day of the DMA meet, although he most likely wouldn't have raced Tanner, because he would have been in the 50 and 100 Free. And over the summer, Curtis swam the 50 and 100 Free, those are his two events, Tanner swam other events (Fly and IM) so Curtis was certainly not shying away from the competition in that respect either.
As for the future of this blog, I have certainly enjoyed writing the posts that I have, and watching it grow from me writing the first post to a home to discuss Delaware Swimming. I will be graduating from Charter in May, and I think no matter where I go to college, I will try to maintain the blog next year, getting what information that I can from the Internet as well as everyone who I will still know in Delaware Swimming. So unless something really interesting comes up, or I see a comment that sparks my attention, this will probably be the last post for the year. For those who still have meets for other teams left this year, good luck, and I hope everyone has a safe end of the school year and summer.

States Wrap-Up

Another year of high school swimming has ended, and the state meet was very fast and very exciting. We saw three records fall, two in the morning, one at night, and countless others close calls with records that may be broken in the next few years. In the days to come, we will learn of the official all-state selections, as well as the swimmers of the year. Nicole Vernon is the obvious choice for the girls, but the boys decision is not as easy. Based purely on the NISCA power points, Tanner Kurz should be the Swimmer of the Year, but he only won one event, while Clifton Gordon won both of his events, including a win over Tanner. Looking at the tables, it seems to me like the breaststroke power points are a little "higher" than some of the other events, and the 500 seems a little lower. Now, it is hard to judge, and is based a lot on perception, but I agree with one of the comments on the last post that it is tough to determine the all-state swimmers based only on two races at the state meet. I think if they were to use the power points as a "guide" but still took into account some sort of vote by the coaches that it would lead to a better choice of swimmers. Also, I still think they should take into account somehow the swimmers in the Consolation Finals. They can score points for the team, so why not for themselves in the all-state race? Even if they were counted at something like 3/4 value, it would still give them an opportunity to earn some more points, and give the advantage on who makes those last few spots on second team to whoever scores the most points in their second event.
On another note, I wanted to throw in a comment regarding the new controversy over the latest "technical" racing suits. The two most advanced suits these days are the LZR Racer by Speedo and the Nero by blueseventy. The LZR has been shown to set many records at the Olympics and throughout other top level competitions, and costs $290 for the jammer, $350 for the legskin, and $550 for the full body at speedousa.com (women's suits range from $425-$550). The blueseventy suits look like they cost something like $395 for the full suit. For those swimmers and teams who can afford to buy these suits, they certainly are given an edge over those who cannot. Blueseventy is a wetsuit company, meaning their suits are going to be more buoyant (one rumor I have heard is that it takes 50 lbs. to submerge one of those suits), giving wearers extra buoyancy and the ability to float on top of the water. There has been talk of disallowing them by FINA, but for the time being they are perfectly legal. From what I have read though, by next year, some tighter restrictions may be in place, and swimmers may lose the advantage of the latest technologies.