Congratulations 400 IMers. You did it. You’ve been voted the hardest short course yard event by a wide margin. But you still have to swim the 400 IM, so are you really the winners here?
Finals Recap
400 IM (66%) over 200 Fly (34%)
Not a major shocker here. The 400 IM has been the odds-on favorite from the beginning. One of the most universally-feared races, the 400 IM gets points for distance (the fourth-longest event in our poll), but also hits every single swimmer’s weakest stroke. It requires a brutal mix of versatility and endurance, and never got less than 66% of votes in any round of our poll.
Meanwhile the 200 fly got about a third of the total votes in the final, holding up as the #2 event in our poll. The 200 fly also got more votes against the 400 IM in the final than the mile did in the semifinals – that speaks to the 200 fly’s place in the final, despite some chatter that the 1650FR/400IM semifinal was the true championship matchup.
Bronze Medal Match
1650 Free (64%) over 200 Free (36%)
Endurance topped strategy in our consolation match. The 1650 carries the flash of being by far the longest event in our poll. The 200 free made a somewhat surprising run to the semifinals, though, based on its strategic trickiness – many describe the 200 as too long to sprint but too short to pace. The end result is a tough race to approach and a razor-thin margin for going out too slow or too fast. In the end, though, the roughly fifteen-to-twenty minutes of pain in the mile outdid the pain of a 200 free many minutes shorter.
CONSOLATION BRACKET: 5TH-8TH
5th Place: 200 Backstroke (38%)
6th Place: 200 Breaststroke (32%)
7th Place: 500 Freestyle (26%)
8th Place: 50 Freestyle (4%)
CONSOLATION BRACKET: 9TH-16TH
9th Place: 1000 Freestyle (42%)
10th Place: 200 IM (40%)
11th Place: 100 Butterfly (6%)
12th Place: 100 Backstroke (4%)
13th Place: 100 Freestyle/100 Breaststroke (tie – 4%)
15th Place: 100 IM (0%)
Final Bracket
Nothing really to add here. Just want to say as the Dad of a college swimmer who either swims 500FR, 400IM, 1650FR on a three day champs meet or TT, 400IM, then 200FL/1650FR double on day three…. I’ve always known that you were a beast. Looking forward to one last championship in February.
My baby too. Same events. Brutal. Tough cookie. But strong
Next they should do a LCM bracket and compare the results.
LCM next!
Haven’t practiced in years but I could do a 400 IM. 200 fly? I’m not feeling so confident.
I voted 200 fly as any intermediate swimmer can finish a 400IM, but many of those would never finish a 200 fly. Appreciate that’s a slightly different take, as most were assessing based on fairly elite talent.
Still LMAO at the 50 free placing higher than the 1000.
I think people voted for it due to the technical side of the event. Small mistakes in the 50 free can cost you the race. There is very little margin for error
Never raced SCY but based on my SCM experiences: The 200 back deserved more respect here; My quads burn just watching it.
I agree. The 200 breast as well. IMO every single 200 of stroke is harder than the 200 free.
SCM and LCM hands down.
As someone who came to yards first time at college, 2 free might just get it over breast and fly because it is a flat out sprint these days and that hurts so bad (why the 2 back is so awful).
No way the 200 free is harder than the 200 breast though