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 about the qualifying standards from Canada’s Olympic Trials:
RESULTS
Were Canadian Olympic selection standards too difficult?
- Yes, they were unfair – 29.3%
- No, swimmers need to raise their standards – 41.1%
- Indifferent – 29.7%
Earlier this month, Canada announced its 2016 Olympic Games roster, featuring 19 women and 7 men.
The nation found itself under some level of criticism during the Olympic Trial meet, though, for its tough selection standards, which (like many other nations around the world) went above and beyond the criteria required by FINA for entry into the Olympics.
Though Canada’s Olympic team could have featured more event entries with less strict selection standards, almost half of our poll respondents expressed support for Canada’s selection criteria.
41.1% said that Canada’s selection criteria were fair, and that swimmers only needed to swim “up” to the standards required of them, while 29.3% said the selection standards were not fair. That’s about the same amount of voters as the group that found themselves indifferent to the controversy as a whole.
Ultimately, Canada’s federation leadership left itself enough wiggle room within the standards to add swimmers who may have otherwise been snubbed under the selection process. Most notable among them is Taylor Ruck, the young phenom who may have overextended her event lineup at Canadian Olympic Trials, but did wind up making the Olympic roster as an alternate on the 4×200 freestyle relay.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks SwimSwam readers to weigh in on their emotions regarding world record-holder Cesar Cielo missing out on the 2016 Olympic Games to be hosted in his home nation of Brazil:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
A3 Performance was founded in 2004 and is based in Wisconsin. A3 Performance was founded on the ideals that great products could be made and offered at great prices. Innovation and purpose is the focus of all product development. The swimmer is the focus of everything we do.
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Swim Canada handed Taylor Ruck a gift. While standards are tight, the system overlooks older athletes in favor of youth. In the development of men, there is no support into their twenties, the time frame they can most use it. This is a repeating cycle. Swim Canada keeps selling the swim community on the idea that today’s youth are the key to our future medals. They support for a few years then drop them and move onto the next group of kids, particularly men.