Ever hear of 'buoys'?

I wonder if van Dijk will think of coming out of retirement for the race. Be nice to see her finally get to swim at the Olympics after so many years as the world's best in open water.

She hopes to be there, but not as a swimmer,maybe as a trainer.

It doesn't seem that any of the main swimming events will be getting cut (FINA were lobbying for 3 MORE events). Does anyone know why swimming seems to get away with this and cycling doesn't?

Competitive swimming is a very popular sport from a participation standpoint. USA Swimming currently has over 270,000 registered competitors. Contrast that with USA Cycling which has about 35,000 liscence holders. And swimming at the Olympics draws big TV audiences, particularly in the US. In fact, swimming is one of the top events along with basketball and track as far as US TV ratings for Olympic coverage.

Since there is no "pro" swimming, the best athletes show up at the Olympics and FINA pushes very hard to make sure swimmers are showcased. They have been after this open water thing for decades. Amateur cycling organizations don't have anywhere near the power FINA does in the Olympic arena.

Ever hear of 'buoys'?

so, you don't know what the course layout will look like either?

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kangaroo -- please do not read or respond to any of my posts

It's all about ratings. NBC wanted more diving, hence they added "synchro diving" (which wasn't even a real sport in the diving community) and didn't cut anything. Swimming gets good ratings, cycling doesn't. Thus, they'll add open water swimming. I'm just surprised they didn't add the 50's stroke. NBC has an amazing amount of pull. They (NBC) chose the date for the Sydney Olympics in September of 2000 even though it's a crappy time for weather in Sydney, they wanted to use the draw of the Olympics to promote their fall lineup. $758 million dollars for a couple weeks of TV rights will buy you a lot.

I get the feeling that they didn't add the 50s because USA swimming isn't overly fond of them. Result- Fina offers the IOC the event additions as seperate line items- stroke 50s as one entry, open water 10K as the other rather than add all events or no new events package deal like they've put to the IOC in the past.

I'm not overly fond of the stroke 50s myself- entirely too random and depending too much on luck. I'd much rather see them add the women's 1500M and the men's 800M instead.

I don't think FINA or the IOC gives a damn about what USA swimming wants. All international governing bodys are anti-USA hate-fests. I do agree that a mens 800 and womens 1500 would be a much better addition then the 50's.

Cool. Finding clean open water near Beijing is going to be a challenge, though..

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview