SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which of the recent major international meets they found most exciting:
RESULTS
Question: Which National Championship or International Meet Was Most Exciting?
- Australia – 33.3%
- China – 27.2%
- Canada – 15.7%
- Sweden’s Stockholm Open – 14.1%
- Italy – 6.7%
- Russia – 3.0%
Exactly one-third of SwimSwam voters picked Australian nationals as the most exciting international meet in early April. With exactly 900 votes cast, 300 went towards the championship meet Down Under.
Certainly national loyalties played a factor here, and swimming’s immense popularity in Australia, combined with SwimSwam’s sizable Australian readership, tipped the balance in favor of the Aussies.
On the other hand, it’s not entirely driven by readership, as SwimSwam actually has more readers from two other countries on this list: Canada and Italy. Italy finished surprisingly low in this poll considering how well their national meet went – perhaps a sign that many fans followed the swimming nations they already know more closely than those nations trying to break into the top swimming tier.
China always seems to poll well despite not making up a huge chunk of SwimSwam readership. But Chinese nationals was one of the world’s faster meets, and with how well China’s top swimmers tend to do domestically, it’s no surprise they were one of the biggest headline-grabbers of the month.
We started this poll on April 12 and only included international meets that had started at that point. That’s why Japan and Great Britain don’t appear on this poll.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters whether Ryan Lochte should be allowed to compete at Masters Nationals:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner