All-Time Swimming Fantasy Draft

Column by John Lohn, Swimming World senior writer

BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey, February 13. OVER the past week, Swimming World has conducted an all-time fantasy draft for the sport, designed to present a collection of the greatest athletes the pool has seen. Basically, I was interested to see how a historical draft would play out, and what strategies would be adopted in the process of assembling a team of legends.

To fill out the five-team field, I was joined by some regular contributors to the commentary sections on the Swimming World website. The names should be familiar to those who routinely check in with us, as those accepting invitations were David Rieder, Nadador, Aswimfan and Paddles. Yes, we're keeping everyone under their website handle.

At the beginning of the process, each individual was charged with selecting a squad of eight men and eight women, for a total of 80 draft picks. Eventually, and due to the enjoyment we were having, the draft was expanded to 10 men and 10 women per team. Otherwise, the rules were left open to interpretation for each participant, in order to allow individual strategies to emerge. It was suggested, however, that each event be covered on both the male and female side.

Below, you will see a list of the teams which were assembled via the draft, which utilized a snake format. That means if a person drafted first in a particular round, he/she would draft last in the subsequent round. Initially, the plan was to include which events each athlete could handle. However, I think we'll hold off on that decision and allow the readership and participants to weigh in.

As the week progresses and discussion ensues, I'll throw out questions and thoughts concerning specific events. I believe we'll have a great give and take over the next several days, and it will be interesting to see and hear what others have to say. For starters, here are a few thoughts I gathered during this process.

**It was interesting that Michael Phelps, while being the first man chosen, was the No. 2 pick overall. Paddles opted to take Shane Gould with the first pick, immediately strengthening his freestyle corps. Not surprising, I was very happy to take Phelps in the No. 2 slot.

**A key during the draft was taking versatile performers who could perform in a number of events and, therefore, give each team manager some flexibility. As we got deeper into the draft, more of the specialists went off the table.

**It is a personal opinion that there was more depth among the men than with the women, especially in the breaststroke events. I'm curious to see if others agree on this notion.

**There was no ruling on selecting East German swimmers, but to the credit to those involved, not a single member of the doping regime was picked. That fact says a lot about the importance of a clean sport to the fans who love their swimming.

**Was shocked that Murray Rose dropped to the final few picks. It was simply connected to people having other distance stars and not needing to go heavy in that department.

Here are the teams.

Paddles: Shane Gould; Kosuke Kitajima; Penny Heyns; Kirsty Coventry; Dana Vollmer; Denis Pankratov; John Naber; Kieren Perkins; Gary Hall Jr.; Debbie Meyer; Claudia Kolb; Jonty Skinner; David Wilkie; Tom Dolan; Anthony Ervin; Karen Moe; Amy Van Dyken; Jodi Henry; Tracey Wickham; Rick DuMont.

John Lohn Michael Phelps; Janet Evans; Aaron Peirsol; Dawn Fraser; Matt Biondi; Leisel Jones; Grant Hackett; Petria Thomas; Brendan Hansen; Melissa Belote; Gunnar Larsson; Donna de Varona; Don Schollander; Libby Trickett; Victor Davis; Missy Franklin; Martin Zubero; Lorraine Crapp; Johnny Weissmuller; Catie Ball.

David Rieder Tracey Caulkins; Ian Thorpe; Alex Popov; Inge de Bruijn; Susie O'Neill; Michael Gross; Rebecca Soni; Lenny Krayzelburg; Rebecca Adlington; Domenico Fioravanti; Diana Mocanu; Daniel Kowalski; Sippy Woodhead; Laszlo Cseh; Ian Crocker; Therese Alshammar; Dave Berkoff; Mike Barrowman; Otylia Jedrzejczak; Katie Hoff.

Aswimfan Krisztina Egerszegi; Mark Spitz; Mary T. Meagher; Roland Matthes; Tamas Darnyi; John Hencken; Galina Prozumenshchikova; Jenny Thompson; Vladimir Salnikov; Shirley Babashoff; Britta Steffen; Rowdy Gaines; Laure Manaudou; Stephanie Rice; Jim Montgomery; Bruce Furniss; Tom Jager; Sarah Sjostrom; Federica Pellegrini; Murray Rose.

Nadador Ryan Lochte; Natalie Coughlin; Sun Yang; Yana Klochkova; Norbert Rozsa; Amanda Beard; Pieter van den Hoogenband; Dara Torres; Michael Troy; Satoko Tanaka; Michael Klim; Kate Ziegler; Steve Lundquist; Samantha Riley; Jeff Rouse; Jessicah Schipper; Rick Carey; Anita Nall; Gary Hall Sr.; Emily Seebohm.

Follow John Lohn on Twitter @johnlohn

Here is how the draft unfolded from start to finish.

1. 1. Paddles (Shane Gould)
2. 2. John Lohn (Michael Phelps)
3. 3. David Rieder (Tracy Caulkins)
4. 4. Aswimfan (Kriztina Egerszegi)
5. 5. Nadador (Ryan Lochte)
6. 6. Nadador (Natalie Coughlin)
7. 7. Aswimfan (Mark Spitz)
8. 8. David Rieder (Ian Thorpe)
9. 9. John Lohn (Janet Evans)
10. 10. Paddles (Kosuke Kitajima)
11. 11. Paddles (Penny Heyns)
12. 12. John Lohn (Aaron Peirsol)
13. 13. David Rieder (Alexander Popov)
14. 14. Aswimfan (Mary T. Meagher)
15. 15. Nadador (Sun Yang)
16. 16. Nadador (Yana Klochkova)
17. 17. Aswimfan (Roland Matthes)
18. 18. David Rieder (Inge de Brujin)
19. 19. John Lohn (Dawn Fraser)
20. 20. Paddles (Kirsty Coventry)
21. 21. Paddles (Dana Vollmer)
22. 22. John Lohn (Matt Biondi)
23. 23. David Rieder (Susie O'Neill)
24. 24. Aswimfan (Tamas Darnyi)
25. 25. Nadador (Norbert Rózsa)
26. 26. Nadador (Amanda Beard)
27. 27. Aswimfan (John Hencken)
28. 28. David Rieder (Michael Gross)
29. 29. John Lohn (Leisel Jones)
30. 30. Paddles (Dennis Pankratov)
31. 31. Paddles (John Naber)
32. 32. John Lohn (Grant Hackett)
33. 33. David Rieder (Rebecca Soni)
34. 34. Aswimfan (Galina Prozumenshchikova)
35. 35. Nadador (Pieter van den Hoogenband)
36. 36. Nadador (Dara Torres)
37. 37. Aswimfan (Jenny Thompson)
38. 38. David Rieder (Lenny Krayzelburg)
39. 39. John Lohn (Petria Thomas)
40. 40. Paddles (Kieren Perkins)
41. 41. Paddles (Gary Hall Jr.)
42. 42. John Lohn (Brendan Hansen)
43. 43. David Rieder (Rebecca Adlington)
44. 44. Aswimfan (Vladimir Salnikov)
45. 45. Nadador (Michael Troy)
46. 46. Nadador (Satoko Tanaka)
47. 47. Aswimfan (Shirley Babashoff)
48. 48. David Rieder (Domenico Fioravanti)
49. 49. John Lohn (Melissa Belote)
50. 50. Paddles (Debbie Meyer)
51. 51. Paddles (Claudia Kolb)
52. 52. John Lohn (Gunnar Larsson)
53. 53. David Rieder (Diana Mocanu)
54. 54. Aswimfan (Britta Steffen)
55. 55. Nadador (Michael Klim)
56. 56. Nadador (Kate Ziegler)
57. 57. Aswimfan (Rowdy Gaines)
58. 58. David Rieder (Daniel Kowalski)
59. 59. John Lohn (Donna de Varona)
60. 60. Paddles (Jonty Skinner)
61. 61. Paddles (David Wilkie)
62. 62. John Lohn (Don Schollander)
63. 63. David Rieder (Sippy Woodhead)
64. 64. Aswimfan (Laure Manadou)
65. 65. Nadador (Steve Lundquist)
66. 66. Nadador (Samantha Riley)
67. 67. Aswimfan (Stephanie Rice)
68. 68. David Rieder (Laszlo Cseh)
69. 69. John Lohn (Libby Trickett)
70. 70. Paddles (Tom Dolan)
71. 71. Paddles (Anthony Ervin)
72. 72. John Lohn (Victor Davis)
73. 73. David Rieder (Ian Crocker)
74. 74. Aswimfan (Jim Montgomery)
75. 75. Nadador (Jeff Rouse)
76. 76. Nadador (Jessicah Schipper)
77. 77. Aswimfan (Bruce Furniss)
78. 78. David Rieder (Therese Alshammar)
79. 79. John Lohn (Missy Franklin)
80. 80. Paddles (Karen Moe)
81. 81. Paddles (Amy van Dyken)
82. 82. John Lohn (Martin Zubero)
83. 83. David Rieder (Dave Berkoff)
84. 84. Aswimfan (Tom Jager)
85. 85. Nadador (Rick Carey)
86. 86. Nadador (Anita Nall)
87. 87. Aswimfan (Sarah Sjoestrom)
88. 88. David Rieder (Mike Barrowman)
89. 89. John Lohn (Lorraine Crapp)
90. 90. Paddles (Jodi Henry)
91. 91. Paddles (Tracey Wickham)
92. 92. John Lohn (Johnny Weissmuller)
93. 93. David Rieder (Otylia Jedrzejczak)
94. 94. Aswimfan (Federica Pellegrini)
95. 95. Nadador (Gary Hall Sr.)
96. 96. Nadador (Emily Seebohn)
97. 97. Aswimfan (Murray Rose)
98. 98. David Rieder (Katie Hoff)
99. 99. John Lohn (Catie Ball)
100. 100. Paddles (Rick DuMont)

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