A points system was devised to turn an individual sport into a true team sport, modeled on the NCAA college dual meet. In individual events, teams get five points for a first-place finish, three for second, and one for third. Winners of relay races pick up seven points. A total of 62 points wins the meet. This came after South Africa's Penny Heyns and Holland's Inge de Bruijn helped the World Team top Germany, 64-58.
Swimming normally is a sport where everyone swims for themselves.
Now the team is the most important thing. Others do not like the format. Swimmers from China, the country often accused of using performance-enhancing drugs since an unprecedented run of records four years ago, looked lethargic in their first meet. No one really tried that hard. We were not prepared.