Introduction

Game based on the next Bejing 2008 olympic games. The following events will be available for playing:

• 1.500m freestyle (M)
• 100m backstroke (W)
• 100m backstroke (M)
• 100m butterfly (M)
• 100m butterfly (W)
• 100m breaststroke (W)
• 100m breaststroke (M)
• 100m freestyle (W)
• 100m freestyle (M)
• 10km marathon (M)
• 10km marathon (W)
• 200m backstroke (W)
• 200m backstroke (M)
• 200m butterfly (M)
• 200m butterfly (W)
• 200m medley (W)
• 200m medley (M)
• 200m breaststroke (W)
• 200m breaststroke (M)
• 200m freestyle (W)
• 200m freestyle (M)
• 400m medley (W)
• 400m medley (M)
• 400m freestyle (M)
• 400m frestyle (W)
• 4x100m medley relay (W)
• 4x100m medlay relay (M)
• 4x100m freestyle relay (W)
• 4x100m freestyle relay (M)
• 4x200m freestyle relay (W)
• 4x200m freestyle relay (M)
• 50m freestyle (W)
• 50m freestyle (M)
• 800m freestyle (W)

How to play

Each user can "partecipate" and "make a selection" in every discipline. In most of the disciplines a qualification round is scheduled; in that case, it is necessary to pass "it" to reach the final.

In each round of each discipline the user must select an SWIMMER and guess his MARK ("meaning" time or measure).

In case the MARK PREDICTED by the user for the selected swimmer is IDENTICAL or WORSE ("meaning" higher time or lower measure) than the REAL MARK achieved by the swimmer in the competition, then the FANTASY MARK assigned to the user in the game is equal to the MARK PREDICTED by the user.

Otherwise, in case the MARK PREDICTED by the user for the selected swimmer is BETTER ("meaning" lower time or higher measure) than the REAL MARK achieved by the swimmer in the competition, then the FANTASY MARK assigned to the user in the game is the REAL MARK achieved by the swimmer increased by the DIFFERENCE between this and the MARK PREDICTED by the user.

For example

100m freestlye: user Bob selects Damiano Lestingi guessing his time will be 53.00.

• In case Lestingi's time is identical or better than 53.00, then Bob's fantasy time is 53.00
• In case Lestingi's time is worse than 53.00 (e.g. 53.10), than Bob's fantasy time is Lestingi's time increased by the difference between declared time and real time (i.e. 53.10 + 0.10 = 53.20)

How to select

In each race the user can select one S among those available in our list, with only one restriction.

It is not allowed to select the same swimmer for more than one race throughout the "competition".

This is a general rule. For example if an swimmer takes part in both 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly, he is available to be selected by the user only for "one of the two races".

In addition, an swimmer can be selected only for one race between heat and final of the same discipline.

In Relay races, the user must select an swimmer and guess the mark of the national team the swimmer belongs to. The swimmer will have to be among the relay runners to prevent an elimination.

Please note that the order of the runners in the relay is relevant for the fantasy standing of the race in accordance with point 4 of the next section.

Fantasy standings of the race

After the fantasy mark is calculated for each player having a valid swimmer's selection, the race fantasy standings are "drafted" according to the "following criteria, in strict order":

1. Best fantasy mark (lowest time or highest measure)
2. "Smallest" error between predicted mark and real mark
3. Worst predicted mark (highest time or lowest measure, "in order to award the users more conservatives in their prediction" - se ho capito bene l'italiano)
4. Best final position of the selected swimmer in the race (in relay races, relay runners in the same team are not considered as having identical position, runner in fourth leg is considered first, runner in third leg is considered second and so "forth")

"Given that only four discriminating criteria are used it is possible to have more players sharing the same position in the fantasy standings."

Qualification

In every race where the swimmers need to pass a qualification round, the same will apply for our game. If there is more than one qualification round, only the last one will be considered for our game. (In general they will be called Semi-final). Therefore our qualification round will always match the qualification round necessary to enter the final.

The users will be split ex-post in heats (fanta-heats).

The swimmer selected by each user will be the relevant criteria. If there are three heats, then also in our competition the users will be split in three fanta-heats, and each one of them will compete against all the users that selected swimmers running in the same heat.

Each fanta-heat needs to have at least 10 users in it. Otherwise the users will be re-assigned to the first valid fanta-heat with the lowest number of participants.

Every fanta-heat has its own rankings and the first 25 users will compete in the final

If a user failed to qualify for the final, the swimmer already chosen for the final will be “freed”. The user can then select it again in a different competition.

Only 25 users will qualify for the final in every event where there are qualification rounds.

The finalists will be made up by users coming from the different heats and the repechage in equal numbers according to the following criteria:

• 2 Heats (or semi-final): the finalists will be the first eight users in each heat and the best nine fantaresults of the runners-up.
• 3 Heats (or semi-final): the finalists will be the first six users in each heat and the best seven fantaresults of the runners-up
• 4 Heats (or semi-final): the finalists will be the first five users in each heat and the best five fantaresults of the runners-up

If in one or more heats there are not enough participants compared to the possible finalists, the number of “repechaged” users will be increased accordingly.