Re:Is a 'slow' swimming pool impeding world records?
by eru on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @08:49PM
(#41125158)
The system isn't there to be fair, it's there to be entertaining.
If you wanted a fair system, there would be no qualifiers and no simultaneous racing. You would just have everyone compete at home and mail in times whenever they have a new record. Like eg speedrunning for computer games is done today, or like any world records for fastest time are done.
Re:Is a 'slow' swimming pool impeding world records?
by rascul on Wednesday July 31, 2024 @11:44PM
(#41125961)
> I get it with motor racing like F1 because of the linear nature of the track, plus during the qualification laps they have a clear track and are not jockeying for position.
Track conditions can change throughout qualifying so that the later qualifiers might have a slightly faster or slower track.
My reservation with swimming is that if you were randomly assigned to a middle or side lane in the qualification stages, your advantage or disadvantage is compounded as the competition proceeds. It's not clear to me how lane assignments are conducted for heats; perhaps they use a seeding system.
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/swimming-101-olympic-compet...