The US Olympic Swim "Team"

 Is swimming a team sport?

I have debated the answer to this question with several people.  There are various ways to answer the question.  At its core, the answer is no.  Swimmers competing in a pool swim in their own lane, with no assistance from any teammates, staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool, or at some rafter in the ceiling during backstroke (unless you are outside where the sun will be in your eyes no matter what the weather, what direction you are going and what time it is), all by themselves.  When your arms feel like they weigh 100 pounds on the last 50 of the 200 fly, or your lungs feel like they are on fire off that last turn in the 200 back, or you have to swim the last 100 yards of the 400 IM, your teammates can't help.  There is no help defense, no one blocking for you, no substitutes in the middle of the game, no one giving you a perfect pass for a tap in goal.  It is you.  In your lane. All alone.

If you watched the Olympic Trials every day, you would argue the answer is yes.  NBC has shown several scenes of swimmers being embraced by hordes of teammates after earning their trip to Tokyo.  The Florida crowd practically attacked Caeleb Dressel.  We also saw scenes of Clair Curzan and Tori Huske being embraced by teammates.  After going 1-2 in the 200 IM Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh celebrated together, college teammates joining each other in a trip to the Olympics.  And Annie Lazor practically drowned Lilly Kin, her training partner, after they went 1-2 in the 200 Breast.

In a little over 24 hours, the US Olympic Swim team will be final.  Up to 12 of them will be relay only swimmers.  They will have a teammate with them, not while in the water, but in each of their races.  When it comes to relay teammates, the best example is Jason Lezak.  Michael Phelps needed many teammates to win his 8 gold medals in 2008 (he was in three relays, so three teammates each), but Lezak pulled a super-human feat to keep the quest for 8 golds alive in the 400 Free Relay. 

Relays are fantastic, and swimmers, like Lezak, often find that they are able to accomplish something in a relay that they could not do just for themselves.  The relay is a team event, but does that make swimming a team sport?  I would still argue no.

It is not the relay, it is not the celebration, it is not the race.  It's the work.  Swimming is hard.  Yes, all sports and all exercise are, or can be, hard.  But swimming is lonely.  You don't breathe, or at least you don't breathe as much as you want.  Practice is often at un-Godly hours of the day.  there is that black line at the bottom of the pool.  Your teammates are the ones who get up at the same time as you.  They are the ones getting in cold water with you.  They are the ones pushing you to work harder during those long practices.  They laugh and cry with you.  Sometimes, they are the ones who go to breakfast, or for a longer practice brunch, or for those really long practices lunch, with you.  That is where the team is in the sport of swimming.  They can't help you in the competition, but they are invaluable in the preparation.

Predictions results:

Men's 800 Freestyle - Bobby Fink, Ross Dant - so close!
Men's 200 Breast - Nic Fink, Will Licon - This one out of two is a real trend.
Women's 200 Fly - Hali Flickinger, Regan Smith - nailed it.
Men's 100 Free - Caeleb Dressel, Zach Apple - nailed it.

These I did (see below), but didn't publish:

Women's 200 Breast - Lilly King, Annie Lazor - right 2, wrong order.
Men's 200 IM - Chase Kalisz - Michael Andrew - there was a trend developing last night
Women's 100 Free - Abbey Weitzel, Olivia Smoliga - so close.

Predictions:

Men's 100 Fly - Caeleb Dressel, Tom Shields
Women's 200 Back - Regan Smith, Phoebe Bacon (a battle a year in the making)
Women's 800 Freestyle - Katie Ledecky, Erica Sullivan

What to Watch for:

1.  Who gets more Olympic spots - Michael Andrew or Caeleb Dressel?
2.  Does Simone Manuel have one last Olympic bid in her?  (If not this year, she could be back in 2024.)
3.  Could we really get more absurdly close races?
4.  How will the number caps (26 total men and women, 12 relay only swimmers) play themselves out?
5.  What happened yesterday?

I'll answer #5.  Remember that glowing discussion of summer swim a few days ago.  Last night we were enjoying a summer swim social event.  An ice cream social.  Lots of swimming children, eating ice cream and playing.  Teammates, ages 6-18.  At one point, the Wife turned to me and beamed, "I love summer swim."  Then Eldest broke his finger.  Summer...you never know what to expect.