Is It Time Preliminary Relay Swimmers Get Their Olympic Medals On The Podium?

Jul 27, 2021; Tokyo, Japan; Lydia Jacoby (USA) holds her gold medal during the medals ceremony for the women's 100m breaststroke during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: USA TODAY Sports-USA TODAY Sports

Commentary by Dr. Buky Chass

Why do water polo, team handball, football, basketball and other team sports award all of their medals, including the reserve players (some who never even play due to a coaching decision or injury) on the podium while the reserve swimmers do not get to be recognized on the podium?

For many years, swimmers who swam during the preliminary heats on relays did not even get a medal if their team went on to win gold, silver or bronze at finals. That changed after a long deliberation by FINA and the IOC when they decided to recognized the value and efforts of preliminary swimmers by agreeing to award them the medals that were achieved by their peers in the finals. Very correct, understandable and worthy decision!

But why do the non-podium swimmers get their medals in a room in front of their team members instead of on a podium during an award ceremony in front of the public like the other team sports?

It is time to correct the injustice done to these dedicated, hardworking worthy athletes (I include track and field athletes as well) who are contributing a lot to the success of the team by allowing them to receive their medals in public.

It’s time to bring the reserve athletes out and have them stand on the podium and be recognized as part of the team, as legitimate part of the team, by the crowd that came out to see their country’s representatives.

Please consider how much more media the sport of swimming and other sports will get if more parents will be there to witness their children being honored for their effort. Consider how much more media coverage we/you/our sport will get if the media from these additional honored athletes will be out there to report, photograph and televise, then send their athletes’ pictures on the podium to their cities around the world.

I plea to you to bring my suggestion to your specific decision makers and take this logical step and make the right change of rule.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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superfan

7 years ago

I disagree. I don’t even think they should get medals at all. I don’t think you can compare a team sport with an individual sport. I know i am in the minority. If you think since reserves on basketball teams all get medals, then EVERYONE on the entire olympic team should get the medal since they are ALL eligible to swim on the relay.
Which is better in your opinion? The slowest person split in the morning or a 4th place in the finals of an individual event.? 4th place gets no award but the 8th person gets a medal!? fair? nope
The mentality to me is like summer league where they feel everyone should get a trophy for participation. The prelim swimmers didn’t ‘earn’ the medal and if they were on it at finals, they might not have gotten a medal at all.

Gary

7 years ago

Reply to superfan

Those who swim in prelims aren’t reserves. Have you noticed that the worst performer on the winning team is rarely better than the best performer on the losing team? And doesn’t that fact obliterate your argument?

Allan Harvie

7 years ago

I think Superfan doesn’t understand what the subject matter is. Take for example a swim relay team. They may have to qualify as many as four times before the finals. So let’s say two of the swimmers swim in every qualifying heat enabling the team to make the finals. Then the coach, for whatever reason, decides to replace these two with other swimmers for their leg in the finals. The team wins and the two swimmers who swam in only one heat, the finals, get the medal on the podium but the two swimmers who swam in four heats in order to qualify the team are not recognized on the podium. Who did more work for the team? The swimmers who swam four heats or the swimmers who swam one? So the point is that the two swimmers who swam the four heats should be recognized on the podium; which is absolutely the way it should be because without them, the team probably wouldn’t be in the finals.

superfan

7 years ago

Reply to Allan Harvie

I understood the point. I just don’t think they should get a medal unless they swim finals. I really don’t think they should get a medal either. Sorry!

Sara

7 years ago

Reply to superfan

But they contributed to the achievement of earning the medal. They swam the race, sometimes more times than those in the final. They made sure the team gets to swim in the final. Why don’t they deserve recognition? Do you really think Michael Phelps would have as many gold medals if he had to swim every prelim of the relays?

All in favor

7 years ago

The preliminary swimmers are just as vital to the relay as the finals swimmers. They need to swim fast too and they are a major help to the whole relay team. It’s unfair to say that they didn’t swim fast enough to be in the finals relay because, especially based on these past Olympics, the coaches have the final say on relays and even if you are in the top four, you still might not swim on that finals relay. Superfan definitely doesn’t understand the situation. It’s not about participation. Prelims swimmers are just as important. If you don’t think so, that opens up a whole can of worms on why we even bring more than four swimmers to swim on those relays.

I am ALL in favor of all relay swimmers getting their moment of glory!

Old Coach

7 years ago

No. On a related matter, what about all of the prelim swimmers from Olympics passed, before IOC changed the custom?

Gil

7 years ago

Agree with All in Favor. Well said.

Prelims swimmers should absolutely get medals and be on the awards stands. Often times prelims swimmers get taken off at night for arbitrary/political reasons. The swimmer who stepped up in prelims should not be punished for coaches incompetence in selecting finals relays swimmers (see Amanda Weir at Rio being taken off for Vollmer). The best swimmers dont always swim on the finals relays. Track and field has the same policy/procedure on relays.

Robbert

7 years ago

I think from an audience perspective, it’s a bad idea. Imagine the US climbing up on the podium for their gold, potentially as many as 8 swimmers standing next to each other. Second place comes up to get their silver with their 4 or 5 swimmers. Third place then comes up with their 4. How ridiculous would it look to the audience? Wow we showed them, we had to have 8 swimmers to beat their 4 or 5.

Sara

7 years ago

I have long thought they should be allowed on the podium. They helped earn the medal and should be allowed to celebrate their accomplishments publicly.

Rick V

7 years ago

The medals are won and awarded based on the finals. No final swim. No medal.

Sara

7 years ago

Reply to Rick V

But that’s not entirely true. If you don’t excell in the prelim, you can’t get to the final (such as Worlds last year). Switch your rule around, no prelim swim, no medal. It is equally ridiculous.

superfan

7 years ago

Reply to Sara

Then maybe they would be in the same situation as the other countries would have to swim prelims and finals. USA is just a deep country so they have this ‘luxury”. I am pretty sure all our relays qualified first (or maybe second) easily qualifying for finals. …..and this with our B lineup.

Sara

7 years ago

Reply to Sara

Superfan: not at Worlds last year. The men failed to qualify for one of the finals.

Do you also think that Michael Phelps deserves one less Gold? One of his is from swimming a prelim.

superfan

7 years ago

Reply to Sara

Sara, I do think it is much easier for Americans to get multiple medals because of his rule. Sarah Sjorstrom had to swim prelims and finals of every relay…no subs for her.

My point exactly about last year Worlds relay. If they had used the top 4, they would have made finals in that one.

Michael probably wouldn’t have given up his spot that year if he knew he wouldn’t have gotten a medal, so point isn’t valid.

Do you think a person on prelims relay for USA and has the slowest split earned a gold medal vs someone who got 4th in an individual event but gets nothing?????

Sara

7 years ago

Reply to Sara

superfan: Michael didn’t give up his spot in the final. It was 2004 in Athens for the 4×100 medley and he was not in the upper echelon of the sport yet and was not put in the final. He never would have been included in it if you had your way, so my point does stand.

Also, the relays are a team event, and since the slowest split is a member and contributer of the team, they deserve their medal. You can’t compare it to an individual event’s standings.

superfan

7 years ago

Reply to Rick V

Do you research a bit more. Michael won the 100 fly and beat Ian by .04, so he did give up his spot on the relay. I just don’t think the 7-8th fastest American in the 100 or 200 free should be given a medal just because he or she is an American. Breastrokers are home crying because they got 3rd at Trials. The second place swimmers at Trials don’t even get on the podium on the night they make the olympic team, so why should the alternates get up there at the Olympics.

Gary

7 years ago

Reply to superfan

You liken it to getting a medal because one “is an American” and you compare with what happens at the trials! Those arguments suck.

If one earns a medal, they should be honored in the ceremony. Obviously. Prelim laps count and can be just as important as the last laps.

Barry Lewis

7 years ago

Allan Harvie wrote “Take for example a swim relay team. They may have to qualify as many as four times before the finals.”

That’s not true. Is it? There are just heats and finals. Fastest eight teams in the heats make it to finals. Right?

Gary

7 years ago

Reply to Barry Lewis

How does a country qualify to be in a heat in the first place?

Barry Lewis

7 years ago

Reply to Gary

Each Olympic relay event features 16 teams, composed of:

– the top 12 finishers at the previous World Championships in each relay event, and
– the 4 fastest non-qualified teams, based on times in the 15-months preceding the Olympics.

However, it’s not necessarily the same swimmers. For example, the USA could finish first at World Championships – in 2015 – using swimmers A, B, C, and D. Then, at the Olympics – in 2016 – they may use swimmers E, F, G, and H. I don’t think ANYONE is suggesting that swimmers A, B, C, and D should get medals too; but that DOES follow the same logic as some of the arguments here!

Gary

7 years ago

Barry – Thanks for the info on qualifying for entrance into the relays. I had already been wondering how it worked, hence my question.

During the Olympics, at nbc.com, I tried to stream some swimming heats that I thought I had missed. To my surprise, I accidentally encountered and watched prelim heats where some of the swimmers were HALF as fast as others. They would have gotten lapped if that would have been possible! [I found it was very difficult to watch anything at nbc.com-olympics. Very badly done. Treacherous or impossible to fast forward – labeling events was bad. Even now, try to watch the 100m butterfly final – nbc.com-olympics (whatever the url I don’t know). NBC is the only place (other than a worthless blurry youtube video) to see it, and it can’t be paused or slowed. After the video finishes, it moves on to their next crippled video. A million times more shameful than what Lochte did.]
Basketball, for example, with professionals, shouldn’t even be in the Olympics (and otherwise how can we not give everyone on a winning team a medal?) Million dollar players, many of whom are spoiled and primarily interested because of their vanity. How many of them are ok with a player not standing for the national anthem? I believe it was an NBA player who first pulled that stunt. I’m watching World Cup hockey the other night, and the ESPN commentators, including the moron Brett Hull, were criticizing the USA hockey coach for saying he would bench any player who didn’t stand for the national anthem. And pro hockey is another that should not be in the Olympics, especially since they get to interrupt their super high paying jobs, with full pay, and risk injury for their employer. Forget their paying teams and fans, being a hero is more important. How many of them would skip the Olympics if it was in their offseason, during the summer instead of winter? Many.
I watch hockey and tennis in the Olympics because it’s interesting, but those are the people that do not need medals. Shouldn’t be there. Personally, I think there are many sports that should either be removed from the Olympics or be organized without players in highly professional leagues.
A few off the top of my head are synchronized swimming/diving and beach volleyball. I’m blown away by the talent of the “synchronized” athletes, but these are exhibition sports to me. Governments should be spending money on many such things either.