Sophie Pascoe – class will out

Is the number of swimmers in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games seriously lower than previous Games? I thought that question was worth investigating. The number of entries in some events was so low that only a couple of swimmers were going to miss out on a final or semi-final swim. The table below gives some examples of what I mean.

Event	No. of Entries	Qualification Criteria
Men 200 Fly	14	8 to final
Men 400 IM	10	8 to final
Women 400 IM	12	8 to final
Women 100 Fly	21	16 to semi-final
Women 800 Free	11	8 to final
Women 4×100 Relay	5	No heats – straight final

Given that several swimmers in each event enter with very modest times you can see how getting through to a final or semi-final in some events was not too difficult. For example, in the women’s 100 freestyle 10 swimmers had entry times slower than a minute. Last year twenty New Zealand women swam faster than that. The FINA website tells me the 500^th ranked women’s 100m freestyle time in the world last year was 56.97. In the Gold Coast that time would have got you into the semi-final.

But was the impression of low numbers supported by the facts? It seems it is. The table below shows the change in the number of entries in the swimming events between the Glasgow 2014 Games and the Gold Coast 2018 Games.

2014 Glasgow	2018 Gold Coast	Drop	Drop %
426	363	63	15%

Because more Paralympic swimmers are entered in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games the real drop in traditional non-para events is even greater than the 15% shown on the table. Certainly the numbers tend to support the argument that the real challenge in this meet is winning a medal and not so much making a semi-final or final.

As expected Swimming New Zealand led their report on day three at the Games with Sophie Pascoe’s 200IM win. Their report headlined her win and said, “Sophie Pascoe has capped off the night at the pool with a gold medal, winning the women’s SM10 200m individual medley in 2:27.26.” I feel really torn when I see Swimming New Zealand jumping on the Sophie Pascoe bandwagon. Torn because Pascoe is a stunning performer. She has earned every possible accolade, including the praise of Swimming New Zealand. To swim the way she does and record the times she swims with two functioning legs would be good. To do it with effectively one leg is beyond belief. My discomfort is purely based on the uneasy feeling that the master manipulators at Swimming New Zealand have an alternative motive. Is their praise sincere? Or is it simply Swimming New Zealand linking itself to Pascoe in order to benefit financially from the reflected glory?

Paralympics New Zealand is the federation responsible for Paralympic sport. Swimming New Zealand can praise but should never use the achievements of para athletes. My view is that that is exactly the Swimming New Zealand motive in linking itself to Sophie Pascoe.

There were five New Zealand swims in the morning heats on day four. None of the swims (0%) were PBs. Three swimmers progressed to the evening semi-finals. Gichard did not progress to the 200 backstroke final.

There were four New Zealand swims in the evening session. One of these swims (25%) was a PB.

Daniel Hunter placed 8th in the 100 freestyle final in a time 49.30, 0.19 seconds slower than his semi-final swim.

For day four, combining both sessions, New Zealand swimmers completed 9 swims and recorded one PB (11%). No swimmers qualified for the finals.

The tables below show each swimmer’s personal best time and the time swum in the Games.

Bobbi Gichard

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
200 Back	2:11.91	2:17.88	13th	No

Georgia Marris

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
100 Free H	56.98	56.98	15th	No
100 Free SF	56.98	56.48	15th	PB

Carina Doyle

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
100 Free H	56.04	56.27	13th	No
100 Free SF	56.04	56.18	12th	No

Laticia-Leigh Transom

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
100 Free H	55.84	56.32	14th	No
100 Free SF	55.84	56.26	13th	No

Bronagh Ryan

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
100 Breast	1:10.44	1:10.78	17th	No

Daniel Hunter

Event	PB	Comm. Time	Place	PB/Not PB
100 Free F	49.11	49.30	8th	No

New Zealand’s performance in the first four days of competition (excluding Paralympic swimmers) is summarized in the table below. The table also compares where New Zealand is at compared to the Swimwatch predictions made prior to the Games.

Day	Swims	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Finals	PBs	PB %
1	14	0	0	0	0	5	35%
2	14	0	0	1	6	6	42%
3	11	0	0	0	1	2	18%
4	9	0	0	0	1	1	11%
5
6
Total	48	0	0	1	8	14	29%
Prediction	na	0	1	2	15	na	na