College basketball is not the only sport that deserves a bracket that decides the best in the nation. On Thursday, USA Swimming released a Swim Showdown bracket that aims to let the public decide the best male and female American swimmer in history through an elimination-style contest.
The winner in each bracket will advance to the next round all the way to the “Final Four,” where the top two vote-getters in the men’s division and the top two women will square off against each other. The winner will be announced on April 6.
The swimmers in the bracket range from current swimmers such as Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky to legends such as Mark Spitz, Tracy Caulkins, Debbie Meyer and Johnny Weissmuller. Some of the matchups in the first round might be easy to pick (Michael Phelps vs. Tim Shaw), though others aren’t as simple (Rebecca Soni vs. Donna De Varona).
Voting is broken up into two brackets per gender. Sixteen men are grouped into the Beijing bracket, with the remaining 16 in the Munich bracket. As for the women, 16 were placed in the Los Angeles bracket and the others in the Seoul bracket. The winners of each bracket in each gender will square off for the right to call themselves the best American swimmer in history.
One question remains: will President Barack Obama take time from his schedule to fill out this bracket as well? To begin voting, click here!