Is there still time for new comers to be in the olympics for swimming for 2012????

Question

my swimming club is club wolverine one of the top clubs

give great answers please!!!!!

Answer 1

Well, first off, Club Wolverine is one of the top swim clubs in this country, placing tons of people on the Olympic team. If you work hard and work your way up to their elite level, like Allison Schmitt did then anything is possible. Also, there is always room for newcomers. Nothing is ever set in stone as to who is going to the Olympics. i.e. Brendan Hansen. You could have a great race and find yourself in the top 2. You never know. So good luck and hope to be seeing you at trials in a few years!

Answer 2

Is that SoNoCo at Southern Connecticut State University by any chance? I know a lot of swimmers and coaches there.

Anyways there's absolutely still time to get in! What you really have to do is first you have to get a qualifying time to get to the US Trials (I don't know if it's the top 128 times or what) but then from there you have to be in the top 2 at the US Trials to get to the Olympics. It's extremely difficult to do but by all means there's still plenty of time to train and qualify for US Trials.

Answer 3

No it's not possible to pick up swimming and in four years expect to make the US Olympic Team.

I know club wolverine is one of the top clubs in the country but just try to think of it this way: How many members belong to club wolverine? Somewhere around 250-400. How many are/were 2008 Olympians? I'd say 5-6 but would have to look it up to make sure. Now out of the 394 that weren't I'd say the average number of years they have been swimming would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 or 6, and that's only because of the younger age groupers. What I'm trying to say is that if it were easy to do more people would be doing it. Michael Phelps is a freak of nature and we will never see an athlete like him again in our lifetime, in ANY  sport. I've never seen anyone dominate in 4 different strokes, in the sprints, the middle distances, as well as the distance events.

And as far as what another poster said, No, it's not an easy sport either. That's like saying basketball is an easy sport or the marathon is an easy sport. Can I play basketball? Sure, but not to the point of making the US team. Can I eventually walk 26.2 miles? Sure, but not in 2:07 and make the US squad. Can you pick up swimming and finish the 100 meter freestyle in 4 years? Yes, but not in 47 seconds you can't.

What is possible in four years is to pick up a love of the sport and put a lot of effort into it. You can achieve a great deal in 4 years of swimming but to think you can go from scratch to Michael Phelps over the course of 4 years is unrealistic.

I swam for 12 years. I practiced 11 practices per week in the water for 2 hours per practice. I got up early 6 mornings a week to attend a 30-45 minute stretching and 3 times a week dryland (weights) for 30-45 minutes. I put my heart and soul into the sport (and still love it today) and aspired to be an Olympian. I set a National record and qualified for the Olympic trials. But that's as close as I got. I say this to illustrate the type of commitment this sport takes to compete at the top level.

Now just because I didn't make it doesn't mean you can't. I'm just saying making the US Olympic team is a real long shot to begin with and to try and make it in 4 years (especially without any background) is simply unrealistic.

Now, there's a second way to make an Olympic team in four years though. You should still put in the hard work, time, heart, and soul but it's a more realistic path. The only problem is you'll need to know the right people who can cut some strings for you. You'll need to find a country that participates in the Olympics that currently has no swim team. Attempt to get dual citizenship. After getting citizenship petition the national Olympic committee to nominate you to participate and represent their country in the swimming portion of the games.

Now, of these two choices, the most probable path is the second one. One of my swimmers received dual citizenship because his parents were Turkish Nationalists and he represented Turkey in the Olympics. (However, he was a US National level swimmer that had been competing for 12+ years already).

If you don't think this happens watch the following video of Equatorial Guinea's Eric Moussambani and his Olympic dream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqi2bT_Tq...

I'd like to wish you much success and good luck with your choice.

Enjoy!

Answer 4

I think so, cuz that's four years away.

See the IOC site and the Olympics site for more details.

Answer 5

yes! and no depends on the swimmer

although its only in 4 years which is short for a competitive swimmer becuase of all the training and time and effort needed to be put into a future olympic swimmer but many of my friends already made it into olympic trials just that they didnt make it in finals. but i think that there is already a good chance. Already one of my friend made it into the woman freestyle relay. so yes there is still time for new comers but only if you have been training for this even before this olympics all happened. training for the olympics takes 4-8 years as what aaron peirsol said.