THEMA

There was a lot of loud cheering this week when news broke of the inclusion of six more 50m sprint events in the Olympics come Los Angeles 2028, when backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly dashers join the Games program 40 years after freestylers were new to one-length title chasing at Seoul 1988.

Understandable that those who see their chance would feel only joy and that any shift in the way swimming sells itself to the wider world sets pulses racing in a realm where a great deal has changed since the the 1980s and yet, schedule and presentation wise, the casual viewer might think not much has changed at all barring the bolt-on diet of an ever larger number of events.

Here are two ends of spectrum on those 50m races:

I get both of those views - and also know them to be arguable positions. 'Best ever news' from a sprinter who could emerge from motherhood to make her sixth Olympics even more medalled than her phenomenal success at a fifth games in Paris last summer, is the point I'd argue most strongly with. But then perspective is everything and my job is not her job and vice-versa.

So, here are the first 10 in a list of 50 thumbs ups and thumbs down on Olympic 50m boom time that I'll roll out in the coming week. I start with a couple off overlaps just to point out that the same thing can, of course, be more obviously be perceived as a pro or a con...

Plus -

• Timeline: the saga and sorrow of Kornelia Ender as we enter a weekend that marks the anniversary of the East German's first solo World record; and the saga and sorrow that meant for Shirley Babashoff and the lessons yet to be learned from the American's autobiography;
• "History of swimming in 100..." series: its 1875 and Captain Webb is about to take a giant plunge for swimkind ...