Swimming is hardly a Niche/minority sport.

 

Just because BBC and ITV are too busy showing men running up and down a pitch after a ball to show it doesn't mean it's unpopular or not participated in.

 

Swimming is one of the most participated in sports in this country. FACT.

 

In fact for school age girls it's the most participated in sport and it's second behind football for boys of the same age.

Shockingly in fact it receives one of the lowest amount of money from the government all the sports councils (eg. SportScotland) yet this country wins a ridiculously high amount of medals at the olympics. In fact GB was 3rd in the swimming table

Just because you and the rest of this country are far to ignorant to notice the existence of swimming as a competitive sport outside of Olympic/commies years doesn't mean it's a niche sport. And nor does it mean the Becky is undeserving of her nomination

 

Outside of Olympics and so on what is the typical attendance of a swimming national or regional championship mate ? say for example the regional championships in Scotland ? I would guess pretty small but compare that with 30,000 attending a BTCC race, 100,000 attending an F1 GP, 100,000 attending Superbikes and Moto GP, 40,000 or so attending a typical Premiership game, you just can't compare, attendances are tiny for swimming and cycling championships.

 

Swimming and cycling are niche sports mate doesn't matter how many schoolkids splash about in a pool at school very few swim competitively per head of population and fewer still watch them

John Cena :rofl:

Edited December 2, 200816 yr by funmaker11

Outside of Olympics and so on what is the typical attendance of a swimming national or regional championship mate ? say for example the regional championships in Scotland ? I would guess pretty small but compare that with 30,000 attending a BTCC race, 100,000 attending an F1 GP, 100,000 attending Superbikes and Moto GP, 40,000 or so attending a typical Premiership game, you just can't compare, attendances are tiny for swimming and cycling championships.

 

Swimming and cycling are niche sports mate doesn't matter how many schoolkids splash about in a pool at school very few swim competitively per head of population and fewer still watch them

You are aware that it is impossible to get a hotel room in Sheffield during the British championship week?

 

Much attendance of swim meets is low as they are generally only attended by the parents and family of the swimmer. The general rule of thumb is, Younger kids = more family. Almost all of swim meets in this country involve children under the age of 18 in swim wear it wouldn't look very good for people to pop along to a meet that aren't cheering on relatives (Child Protection is a very large part of my sport.)

 

It is the only sport where attendance is low because of Child Protection issues.

 

 

F1 drivers aren't wearing a tiny pair of speedo's are they?

I am biased because we were born in the same hospital but I hope Lewis wins, he was lucky but he deserved some luck after getting penalties at every turn some might say unfairly. To be fair they all deserve it but the sports personality that has provided most excitement is Hamilton for me.

:wacko:

 

Well seeing how he won in an inferior McLaren car compared to the Ferrari.

 

Historically the truest indicator of the fastest car has always been the fastest lap in a race:

 

Lewis Hamilton achieved that just once this season in the Chinese Grand Prix; whereas the superior Ferrari cars managed this 13 times (Kimi Raikkonen 10 times, Felipe Massa 3 times), but their greater inconsistencies (remember Traction control was abolished for this season) eventually gave the title to Lewis.

 

He also became the youngest ever World Champion in the 58 year history of the sport; winning in just his 2nd season the year after being the most successful rookie in his debut season in the history of F1.

 

Indeed one could argue his consistency over a season is of greater merit than peaking in performance for a one off event.

 

I don't think the McLaren was an inferior car - Fastest laps usually completely depend on drivers' strategies and Lewis would never get one as he destroys his tyres before he burns off any fuel.

 

For sure he is a very very good driver - no one can deny that, but I don't think he was the best driver in his sport this year as Massa was, more often than not, faster and Alonso pulled out better results in a far insuperior car. Whilst in other sports, Chris hoy and Rebecca Adlington were undoubtedly the best.

Swimmers and cyclists and so on should not be in the frame, by all means give Team GB the team award but I don't think that people from niche/minority sports should be up for the award, it it should be going to people from mainstream sports like football, F1, tennis, cricket, boxing and so on,

 

Going on this theory, the two most likely candidates for the Overseas Award shouldn't be considered - despite one smashing three athletics world records in Beijing, and the other winning eight gold medals in swimming - because neither events are mainstream sports.

Even though Phelps was the most discussed thing about the Olympics :rolleyes:

That is different, Phelps is a global superstar, he is an Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods type figure who has dominated his sport like no one has before so it is right that he gets hype but would 99.99999% of people recognise the UK swimmers, cyclists and so on if they saw them in the aisle at Tescos ? no whereas they would Hamilton, Calzaghe etc etc

 

 

That is different, Phelps is a global superstar, he is an Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods type figure who has dominated his sport like no one has before so it is right that he gets hype but would 99.99999% of people recognise the UK swimmers, cyclists and so on if they saw them in the aisle at Tescos ? no whereas they would Hamilton, Calzaghe etc etc

 

http://www.olympics.org.uk/beijing2008/images/athlete/RebeccaAdlington_350x350.JPGhttp://www.thisisbigbrother.com/gallery/albums/userpics/Helen_Adams_Big_Brother_2.jpg

 

Well in Rebecca Adlington's case she probably does get recognised in Tesco's and asked for her autograph with the message "I thought you were amazing in Big Brother 2, much better than that Brian Dowling..." :lol:

Adlington FTW.

 

Seriously, how often do 19 year olds go to the Olympics for experience for the next one, and come back with two gold medals, breaking the world record in both of them? (And could have won a third gold medal if the swimming chiefs had a clue with the selection for the relay.)

 

EXACTLY! that feat alone makes her the most deserving competitor in what is a year of very high standards. 2 olympic golds, 2 world records... end of.

The World Records at the Olympics were pathetic though. The pool was designed so the World Records could be broken, when well over half of world records fall it makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing really.

 

If it's going to an Olympian then it should be Hoy, THREE Golds rather than just the two in events which differ in more than just distance!

The World Records at the Olympics were pathetic though. The pool was designed so the World Records could be broken, when well over half of world records fall it makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing really.

 

If it's going to an Olympian then it should be Hoy, THREE Golds rather than just the two in events which differ in more than just distance!

 

Out of the two I agree, because Hoy maintained his dominance in his field throughout the season/year whilst Adlington got her training to peak just at the right time for those two weeks, when she has been beaten before and since by other swimmers in those events.

The World Records at the Olympics were pathetic though. The pool was designed so the World Records could be broken, when well over half of world records fall it makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing really.

 

If it's going to an Olympian then it should be Hoy, THREE Golds rather than just the two in events which differ in more than just distance!

The two distances are totally different.

 

The way you prepare and then swim the two distances is completely different. The 400m is more of a sprint than the 800m and you need to work on 50m pacing and keeping that time for many reps

 

(20 * 50m holding fastest time possible sets in training)

 

The 800m however you have to train on a 100m base. It's too long to keep a quick 50m pase up, so you train for a quick 100m that you can hold.

 

($h!t loads of 100m's at a target time, based on your desired 800m time divided by 8) although in reality your first and last 100's will be faster in the actual race.

 

 

 

I train for both 400m and 1500m. It's not the easiest thing to juggle.

The two distances are totally different.

 

The way you prepare and then swim the two distances is completely different. The 400m is more of a sprint than the 800m and you need to work on 50m pacing and keeping that time for many reps

 

(20 * 50m holding fastest time possible sets in training)

 

The 800m however you have to train on a 100m base. It's too long to keep a quick 50m pase up, so you train for a quick 100m that you can hold.

 

($h!t loads of 100m's at a target time, based on your desired 800m time divided by 8) although in reality your first and last 100's will be faster in the actual race.

I train for both 400m and 1500m. It's not the easiest thing to juggle.

 

Then why can the likes of Michael Phelps and other swimmers in the past end up with a near clean sweep of events over differing distances and types of strokes in Swimming compared to say Athletics or other comparative sports?

Then why can the likes of Michael Phelps and other swimmers in the past end up with a near clean sweep of events over differing distances and types of strokes in Swimming compared to say Athletics or other comparative sports?

I wouldn't say phelps won a variety of strokes. Fly, Free and IM suggests he's a highly talented IMer

 

The 200m and 400m IM would come from doing dedicated IM sets. 400m comes from overall fitness combined with the sprint abilities required for the 200m. The IM sets would in turn would help the 100m Fly, through all the sprinting. Doing some number1 work on Fly would bring on the 200m as thats just about keeping the pace from the 100m going. There are very few swimmers who can't swim Freestyle quickly at 100m and 200m. A lot of general training is done on freestyle, aerobic sets tend to be freestyle but sometimes can be IM just depends on what type of swimmer you are and what distances are involved. They are also the two of the most contested events at Competitions.

 

The Scottish nationals had the most entries in the 100m Free where there was over 200 entries for the men alone. The 200m was not far behind.

 

 

 

50m/100m/200m are easier to train for as a block, they all have a sprint base. 200m requires some basic level of fitness to prolong the sprint.

 

 

400m/800m/1500m aren't as easy. 800m and 1500m can get lumped in together they have the same style of training, the 400m however has a sprint base (when you look at it from a distance perspective) yet requires a lot of stamina and fitness to swim well.

 

 

 

Mark Hughes for keeping City where they belong.

Hate to break it to you but Adlington only broke the 800m world record which was a fine achievement but very much overdue given it had stood for 19 years. The "fast" pool and swimsuits have helped obliterated the previous landmarks and the 800m was the latest waiting to be plucked from the tree.

 

I'd pass over the track cyclists and the swimmers as it is much easier to win multiple events in these sports. The strength is depth in each individual event isn't that high.

 

My pick would be Nicole Cooke the road cyclist. Road cycling is by far and away the pinnacle of the sport and because of the huge fields, team tactics and distances they have to travell is one of the hardest medals to win. Not only did Cooke win the Olympics in a monsoon, riding through floods up at the Great Wall Of China but 6 weeks later went to the World Championships in Italy and won the title there as well in what many consider to be one of the finest races in many years.

 

By winning in Varese Cooke became the first cyclist in history, male or female, to complete the Olympic/World double in the same year. In fact only once before has a cyclist won the Olympic gold and then medalled at the worlds.

 

It's just the pinnacle of her career which has seen her win the world cup twice, been ranked world #1, won the Tours of France, Italy and Germany, one day stage races galore etc a truly expectional athlete.

Interesting stuff here. I hate the fact Formula 1 is even considered a sport. There's little notable athletic achievement, constant corruption claims and, as Martin Prince once put it best in The Simpsons, the driver is essentially ballast. Yet F1 drivers make up a considerable percentage of former winners...even in Olympic years. What an anti-climax it was when Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell had to flank the most boring man in the world in 1992 because their considerably more impressive achievements split the vote.

 

If darts is constantly overlooked due to not being 'a sport' then why include Motor Racing?

 

As for Chris Hoy only winning it due to the 'Leon Jackson' vote - don't forget Andy Murray is also (quite rightly) nominated - which will prevent jingoism from ruining it. I agree that, despite his success, track cycling is a little easier to win multiple golds in that on other sports.

 

Nope, from reading through this thread I'm starting to put my support behind Rebecca Adlington. Swimming IS a big sport - think how many people know who Michael Phelps is around the world, a lot more than those who know about Lewis Hamilton.

But those people, by and large, only know Phelps because of ONE event! How many Phelps' (or Bolt, Hoy or Adlington for that matter) supporters are going to be following him over the next four years? Especially in comparison to Lewis Hamilton?

 

Most people only watch these sports because of one event, the Olympics, and even though there's plenty of opportunity to follow these Sportsmen over the years the majority of people, no matter how overwhelmed by the sporting achievement, won't bother. A lot probably won't even HEAR about these people for another four years! Whereas people who've taken an interest in F1 because of Hamilton (of which there are many millions throughout the world) will continue to follow him.

 

Oh, and your average Formula 1 driver has to be far fitter and stronger than people who partake in most other sports, especially ones which are considered sports (rugby, football, cricket...)!

Interesting stuff here. I hate the fact Formula 1 is even considered a sport. There's little notable athletic achievement, constant corruption claims and, as Martin Prince once put it best in The Simpsons, the driver is essentially ballast. Yet F1 drivers make up a considerable percentage of former winners...even in Olympic years. What an anti-climax it was when Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell had to flank the most boring man in the world in 1992 because their considerably more impressive achievements split the vote.

 

If darts is constantly overlooked due to not being 'a sport' then why include Motor Racing?

 

As for Chris Hoy only winning it due to the 'Leon Jackson' vote - don't forget Andy Murray is also (quite rightly) nominated - which will prevent jingoism from ruining it. I agree that, despite his success, track cycling is a little easier to win multiple golds in that on other sports.

 

Nope, from reading through this thread I'm starting to put my support behind Rebecca Adlington. Swimming IS a big sport - think how many people know who Michael Phelps is around the world, a lot more than those who know about Lewis Hamilton.

 

F1 involves huge amounts of SKILL, speeds up to 220mph on straights, incredible levels of fitness, on some tracks a driver can lose 10kilos of body weight in a race through sweat, incredible levels of upper body strength as some corners are 4G and would snap the neck of the average man in the street, they also need incredible bravery given the number that have died over the years

 

While I dislike Hamilton the guy is an incredible athlete and man of bravery, all F1 drivers are