Maritza can only watch as her team takes Silver

[honeywolf7]

http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGB7NORMWXD.html

I really think that the swimming coach did the wrong thing and feel for this young athlete.

 

[CRB#33]

I think this says it all: Correia's club coach, Peter Banks, said he sympathized with the disappointment of Correia and her family. They had traveled nearly 6,000 miles to see her swim in the Olympics and had hopes of watching her stand on the medals podium. But Banks said Correia is enough of an accomplished athlete to know she could have avoided the situation had she performed better in the qualifying heat.

I think the coaches know what they are doing.

 

[honeywolf7]

Correia, the first black woman to make a U.S. Olympic swim team, had been passed over even though she had turned in a lifetime best of 54.74 seconds for one of the two fastest times among the Americans in the morning preliminary round. Typically, Olympic coaches will take those two and combine them with the first- and second-place finishers from the American trials' 100 free to form the finals squad.

That's the part that says everything to me...He only went with Thompson because she was a sentimental favorite and she ended up losing the gold for us.

 

[doxdogy]

I agree with CRB #33. The coach knows what he is doing. I am not trying to make light of her disappointment. I just feel he had the team's best interest at heart when he made the decision.

 

[jennyanydots]

ok, I wasn't familiar with the women's swimming team, but I have to agree -- it's the coach's discretion, and she didn't do well in the qualifying heat. hardly a case of discrimination. I feel for her, but her father's an idiot.

 

[CRB#33]

What does her color have to do with anything?

The coach went with a seasoned olympic athelete.

The phrase "sentimental" favorite does not enter a coaches mind when he is vying for an Olympic gold medal. There is absolutely no way that an Olympic coach is going to say, "Hmmmm. Let's put Jenny in. Everyone loves her." No, he went with his gut as a professional who knows way more than you or me or any reporter who wants to sell a story.

That "sentimental favorite" is a reporters phrase.

Bottom line....The coach wants a GOLD MEDAL, not an opportunity to watch Jenny swim.

Did he make a mistake? We will never know. Who knows how well Corriea would have swam. It doesn't matter now. And there is nothing wrong with a silver medal when it comes down to hundredths of a second in a sport where millions of athletes get dwindled down to the top few. We can be unbelievably proud.

 

[honeywolf7]

I'm not saying her color has anything to do with it....it just happened to be the first sentence in that paragraph. It says that typically he would take the two that did the best in the heats and combine them with others. Jenny Thompson did terribly at the trials for this event (not the heats, but the Olympic trials.)

 

[doxdogy]

I think this paragraph says it all. She IS the reason that we won the silver medal.

"Thompson, however, had the best split for her team (53.77) and was a big reason why it earned the silver medal with an American record of 3:36.39. For swimming in the prelims, Correia also earned a silver medal but was not part of the awards ceremony"

And this paragraph:

Correia, the first black woman to make a U.S. Olympic swim team, had been passed over even though she had turned in a lifetime best of 54.74 seconds for one of the two fastest times among the Americans in the morning preliminary round. Typically, Olympic coaches will take those two and combine them with the first- and second-place finishers from the American trials' 100 free to form the finals squad.

So the "passed over" swimmer had a personal best of 54.74 seconds. The "senitmental favorite" had the best split of team at 53.77 seconds and an American record. So to me it would seem that the coach did indeed make the right decision.

It just seems silly to be trying to second guess the coach. Life is FULL of disappointments. You get over it and move on with your life. Their are lots of atheletes out there that would love just to have a spot on the team.

 

[debster812]

While I can understand Correia's dissapointment, she has been swimming long enough to understand how big meets work. 9 times out of 10, the 4 you swim in prelims are NOT the 4 you swim in finals. She will also get a silver medal, as she helped get them there.

Jenny is not 'just' a sentimental favorite. She DOES have a pretty good track record as a relay swimmer as well. Also, it's possible that Jenny did not LOSE the race as much as the Aussie's WON it. They did turn a WR time.

 

[airhead]

No question in my mind.....

 

[zurgswife]

Coach made the right choice....It was clear by Thompsons split...