Editorial Coverage Sponsored By FINIS
The move to a 10 p.m. start time for swimming finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics has caused an uproar among coaches and athletes. The concern, many feel, is that the start time will greatly influence the level of performances in the pool, mostly not for the better.
But some teams are getting ready for the change. Bob Bowman, in speaking to the media after being appointed head men’s swim coach of the U.S. Olympic team, said he’s going to start the second workout of each day with his elite group in Arizona later and later as the season progresses. Soon, his athletes will be training late at night to get their bodies used to the adjustment.
Andrea Di Nino is planning a similar strategy for his athletes at the ADN Project in Caserta, Italy. For 15 days at a time, athletes will adjust their entire day around being at their best late at night. They’ll also plan their schedules around the 1 p.m. start time for prelims at the Olympics.
This is likely to include sleeping at unconventional times, moving eating schedules around and altering body clocks. Di Nino and his staff won’t simply take the words of the athletes to judge how they feel. A team of medical specialists will analyze biomechanical feedback to help the athletes make the transition easier as the Olympics approaches.
The medical team will measure mental and physical feedback, including how the body reacts to eating at a different time and how the brain functions.
The ADN Project, like Bowman’s elite squad at Arizona State University, have a few athletes training there full-time or part-time who could win medals in Rio. Among those athletes is 50 freestyler George Bovell.
- OFFICIAL SITE FOR RIO
- RIO COMPETITION SCHEDULE
- WHERE TO WATCH LIVE VIDEO OF OLYMPICS
- USA MEN'S SWIMMING TEAM
- USA WOMEN'S SWIMMING TEAM
- USA DIVERS GOING TO RIO
- USA WOMEN WATER POLO TEAM
- SWIMMING MEDAL PREDICTIONS
- FULL DAY 1 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 2 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 3 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 4 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 5 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 6 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 7 RESULTS
- FULL DAY 8 RESULTS
- WOMEN'S 10K OPEN WATER RESULTS
- MEN'S 10K OPEN WATER RESULTS
- FULL OLYMPIC SWIMMING RESULTS
I can’t believe any amount of TV sponsorship can justify putting finals at 10pm. Unbelievable .
Remember in Beijing the finals were at 10:00 AM….
Matthew Brown, the team we were talking about last time!