(08-12-2016, 05:31 AM)Lods link Wrote:McEvoy's apparently crook...has a bug.It's worked for us for years with trial in Feb. Actually be harder for the Americans having their trials then holding that for 6 weeks. We get the chance to reload. Our results for our population show that. Peaking 6 months apart from Trials to championships isn't too hard.
Wouldn't be surprised if a few others aren't also a bit off colour.
But it has been a bit underwhelming in terms of expected performance vs actual performance.
On a larger issue though...Do we give our swimmers the best opportunities by having our selection trials so far away (in terms of time) from the actual Games?
The Americans seem to have little trouble reaching that double peak in a short space of time.
Our Track and Field folk also have the selection trials well away from the games but they've been able to sharpen up with races in the northern summer and some have been able to reach late qualifiers to make the team.
(The official line is that he's not ill..he and Campbell didn't handle the pressure...... these are experienced international athletes I find that really hard to believe.)
Be a bug for sure. If they had lost, missed a medal being a little down on time, then the occasion got the better of them. But when 3 swimmers are down over a second over 100m in just a few days then something's amiss. McEvoy went 47.00, Bronte 52.15 and Cate 51.97, admittedly on a changeover fly. In their finals 48.12, and 53's. That's huge and unusual, even if you choked. Generally we are good at peaking our swimmers as the world champs have shown.
I picked Chalmers to win as he was getting stronger every race, McEvoy was looking flatter each race as if each one was taking alot out of him. I'm thinking now there was a good reason why he didn't do the 200m or the 4 x 200 as he wouldn't normally have done well in both of them. Today couldn't even qualify for the 50m final. No chance he would've withdrawn normally as he was a huge chance. I said to my mother today that I was worried about Bronte as similarly she seemed to struggle more and not finish strongly though the heats and semi. Was dying, which is unusual. Seebohm, who's usually as tough as anything and always peak well, can't move an inch and first ever today missed a final. If she hasn't got a bug then i'll be surprised.