« Geek is loose! | Main | Scared. »
April 26, 2004
Swimming Scandals.
I think it was very sportsmanlike of Stevens to offer up his position in the 400m freestyle event to Thorpe.
I'm in the UK, so the Australian Media doesn't really reach this far over the globe, and thus, doesn't really affect my own personal opinion of the matter. I've heard that it's been quite the circus of late...
As a swimmer, I can see how it'd be totally humiliating for Thorpe to crash out of his pet event. It's a silly mistake that has absolutely no bearing on his talent or rankings in the event. If it had've been Stevens who crashed out, the Media wouldn't have blinked. But, that wasn't the case. Thorpe was the dickhead who goofed, and it's equally humiliating for him to accept the charity of another swimmer for his own stuff up.
The "One Start Rule" is outdated and doesn't really help the sport in any way. Take track events: they get 2 false starts per competitor! In Swimming, you don't even have to plop into the water; A small movement/twitch on the block is enough to have Australian Swimming crashing down on you and dq'ing you after the event has been swum!
In 1996, I did EXACTLY the same thing, in a national qualifiying event for 200m Fly, expected to go through to the semi's - DQ. I know first-hand how humiliating it is...
Stevens doesn't deserve to miss out on his spot in this event, granted, just like Thorpe didn't deserve to be DQ'ed for such a silly, innocent mistake.
Posted by Jacqui at April 26, 2004 02:00 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.squashedfrog.com/cgi-bin/MT/mt-tb.cgi/166