One More Olympics Thread -- Swimming Lanes?

[Anonymoose]

Who decides which countries get which swimming lanes? I’ve been watching replays and it seems some of the best-known US athletes got the lanes marked between the yellow ropes. Really made it easy to keep track of the US swimmers (but seemed a bit unfair to viewers in other countries).

Was this just luck of the draw? I know there’s a lot of high-tech “wizardry” available nowadays, but seriously, they wouldn’t color the ropes differently on different countries’ TV screens, would they? Could they? That seems a little too high-tech, even with all the other CGI markers that appear “in” the pool.

[Darkwave]

I’m not a swimming expert, but my understanding is that your lane is determined by your time/placement in previous rounds. The top finishers from the previous rounds get the inner lanes, which are preferable; those that just squeaked in get the outside lanes.

[OldLadyYoungOTTB]

[QUOTE=Darkwave;8819770]
I’m not a swimming expert, but my understanding is that your lane is determined by your time/placement in previous rounds. The top finishers from the previous rounds get the inner lanes, which are preferable; those that just squeaked in get the outside lanes.[/QUOTE]

Yes, that. It’s all based on seed time.

[Highflyer]

Supposedly there was a pretty good current in some lanes this time. I hadn’t even realizes that was possible.

[RPM]

[QUOTE=Highflyer;8819890]
Supposedly there was a pretty good current in some lanes this time. I hadn’t even realizes that was possible.[/QUOTE]

This reminds me of when I swam in the pool at college. I would be in one lane swimming laps just for exercise, and in the next lane someone would go speeding by, doing some serious swimming (butterfly, I think) and churning up so much water I could hardly breathe when I came up for air. It was like being caught in the wake wash of a very small boat! I am a good swimmer, but I can’t imagine trying to swim in the lane next to some of the Olympic swimmers!

[2tempe]

Beginning heats are random placement. Semi finals and finals have the fastest two qualifying times in the middle lanes (#'s 4 and 5) , and next two on either side of those (3 and 6) and so on.
The design of the lane dividers has gone a decent way in reducing the “churn” but its still there. And that is why they stay under water so long after the turns.

[Velvet]

If you get close to the edges of the lane, and are close enough to the other swimmer, you can do some drafting off their wake–not much, but if you’re doing a ton of laps, it can help a bit. But everything people have said about qualifying times giving you lane assignments is true. Thus the reason you rarely see the swimmers on the outside edges win or place. But it can happen! If they had a horrible first heat to get a placing, then they can sometimes still pull out a win. They just can’t see everyone on both sides to always know they’re in the front.

[Anonymoose]

[QUOTE=2tempe;8819999]
Beginning heats are random placement. Semi finals and finals have the fastest two qualifying times in the middle lanes (#'s 4 and 5) , and next two on either side of those (3 and 6) and so on.
The design of the lane dividers has gone a decent way in reducing the “churn” but its still there. And that is why they stay under water so long after the turns.[/QUOTE]

I wondered about that too.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I also thought the “preferred” lanes were in the middle to stay away from “wave” reflection off the sides of the pool… but could be making that whole thing up

[JER]

These charts clearly show how some Olympics swimmers may have gotten an unfair advantage

A really good analysis from the Washington Post.

[Anonymoose]

They should start doing the swimming competitions like dressage tests. One swimmer in the pool at a time, swimming down the center lane, and clock him or her. Fastest time wins, no penalties for style as long as you don’t break stroke like some harness racers.

[Where_sMyWhite]

Those charts are sure interesting in showing what the swimmers do. The “circular” current in the pool also makes sense why the outside lanes appear to have a larger differential in speed between the out lap and the return lap over the inside lanes.

But then where is that current coming from? I would hope the pool would have been constructed such that any drains and input jets are placed for minimal impact.

[netg]

[QUOTE=JER;8825660]
These charts clearly show how some Olympics swimmers may have gotten an unfair advantage

A really good analysis from the Washington Post.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for sharing this! Fascinating, and I hope they study it more to come up with a reason…

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=Darkwave;8819770]
I’m not a swimming expert, but my understanding is that your lane is determined by your time/placement in previous rounds. The top finishers from the previous rounds get the inner lanes, which are preferable; those that just squeaked in get the outside lanes.[/QUOTE]

Yes that’s how our club swim team does it.
Kids times determine their heats, and lanes.
Fastest kids swim in the last heats, and the fastest kids/heat swim in the middle lanes of the pool.

[Angela_Freda]

[QUOTE=Anonymoose;8825817]
They should start doing the swimming competitions like dressage tests. One swimmer in the pool at a time, swimming down the center lane, and clock him or her. Fastest time wins, no penalties for style as long as you don’t break stroke like some harness racers.[/QUOTE]

My son missed his races a couple times last year and they were necessary for qualifying for championships etc.
So he swam in a later race, sometimes a mix of one light heat of one race and a couple other kids who had a make up race to swim in a different stroke.
Honest to goodness, it REALLY helped him swim faster… as he tried to keep up with an easier stroke or older/better swimmer in the next lane.

ETA that actually the rules re what constitutes a disqualification are really complex. DH is an official and I’ve been around long enough and read the book a bit to learn that there are so many little details that matter… when the backstroker can flip over on their stomach to do the turns, how many pulls of your arms you can do while streamlining underwater after the entry or turn in various strokes… clearly I haven’t paid enough attention to give you really good examples But suffice to say that Harness horses have it easy! There is so much minutea involved it’s really hard to believe my kid isn’t always getting DQ’d!

[leighbo009]

The prelim and semifinal heats are what is called circle seated. The final heat has people placed by their semifinal times. The fastest are in the middle and as the times go slower, the father near the edge of the pool you swim. Most prelim final meets are run this way. If there are no prelims, and everything is a timed final, the meet runs with the fasted seated person in the last heat in the most center lane. The 2nd fastest is also in the last heat, 1 lane down from the center. It goes that way, each heat has the fasted seated person of that heat in the center lane. When everything works out right, it should look like an arrow going down the pool.

[Anonymoose]

Seeded?

Angela Freda, Wow, I had no idea it was so complex! Thanks for posting about that. Watching the Olympics this summer I really really started missing swimming. Gotta find a pool!

I was only about half-serious when I posted that about each swimmer competing alone against the clock.