Day 7 - 11 May 2018

What a day! Start and Finish all on the same day. And straight away, everything is well mixed up again. Due to the action at Swimming as well as at the Sprint and the resulting consequences in the Overall Standings, I’ll leave the Marathon to one side today as that’s moving along nice and quiet at the moment. As expected, the teams have naturally moved their focus elsewhere because in the next few hours the decision is expected at:

Swimming
Claiming victory in the end spurt? We are expecting a great Finale. The spectators have jumped up from their seats. Anybody not on their feet needs to seek medical attention. Just now, SUSA once again regained the lead after P3D (#2) had earlier managed to overtake the Americans. What power can both teams still unleash?

The fight over Bronze is no less exciting. The last time AF (#3) managed to stand on the podium in a discipline was in 2015 and they seem highly motivated. TC (#4) must lick their scales as they were unable to counter the angry attack of the last few hours und had to relinquish the Bronze rank. However, I’m certain that the fire breathing dragon from the Far East has not yet set off all its fireworks.

SG (#5) continue to put distance between [H] (#6) but the margin isn’t yet substantial enough to ward off a potential last minute bunker attack. We’ve just seen TAAT launch such an attack. They shot past OCN (#8) and CNT (#9) with a mighty push and thus claimed #7. If there’s enough juice in the tank, they could potentially still attack Rank 5! That almost put the spurt of the Czechs in the shade but not so fast. Here too the powerful interim spurt has led to considerable improvement.

Losers of the last few hours are BOINC@Poland (#10) und RKN (#11) which doesn’t mean that both are giving up. There’s no obvious danger behind. The margin is comfortable and BOINC@AUSTRALIA (#12) aren’t making a move to attack. Rank 13 seems to be the maximum that Meisterkühler could potentially reach. They still call this rank their own, but Crunching@EVGA (#14) have already begun to lay claim to it. Even BOINC.Italy (#15) are still a contender despite just having had to forfeit a place.

Chinese Dream (#16) and USA (#17) appear content with their rankings, also LTT Forums who are looking smart at #18. But behind, #19 is far from spoken for. Ukraine (#19), LTOMYSL (#20), BOINCstats (#21) and even AMD Users (#22) are all making a powerful play for it. Rank 23 has not yet been fortified by Das Kartell as SETIKAH (#24) keep coming to take a closer look. Advice to the two is not to let 2ch (#25) out of their sight.

BOINC@MIXI have good chances to bring in #26. On the other hand, BOINC Confederation (#27) have found themselves under immense pressure. Crystal Dream (#28) are powering forwards and have moved past UK BOINC Team (#29). BOINC@Pfalz (#30), U.S. Army (#31) and SETI.Bitola (#32) appear content at the end of the field.

Sprint
It’s not much of a surprise to see SUSA (#1) be the first to get out of the start blocks. Behind, TC have settled at #2 but only just ahead of P3D (#3). SG got away much better than usual. Rank 4 is a good starting position to allow them to stay in the fight for the medals. TAAT (#5) are running along just a fraction behind the Germans and are currently able to keep OCN (#6), CNT (#7) and [H] (#8) behind them.

We are not surprised to see RKN at Rank 9, followed by BOINC.Italy who have had a great start. Swimming must be taking it out of AF as only #11 on the scoreboard for them. Behind, the margins are wafer-thin. For that reason we anticipate many place changes in the next few hours. Nevertheless, LTT Forums can currently be happy with #12 followed by Crunching@EVGA (#13), USA (#14), MK (#15), BOINC@AUSTRALIA (#16) and UK BOINC Team (#17).

Further along, a (really) very small gap is opening up. SETIKAH (#18) are leading this part of the field followed by BOINC@Poland (#19), AMD Users (#20), 2ch (#21), BOINCstats (#22) and Chinese Dream (#23). Behind, the gaps are miniscule: BOINC Confederation (#24) only just ahead of Ukraine (#25). BOINC@MIXI (#26) and Crystal Dream (#27) are separated by only a cell.
As you can see, there’s still a lot of variation to come. Time’s short and margins are small. All ingredients for a fascinating Sprint are right here.

Overall
The Overall Standings have been modified with the start of the Sprint. Though SUSA continue to lead ahead of P3D and TC were able to consolidate #3, there’s been a lot of activity behind them. SG now lay claim to #4, a paper-thin margin away from [H]. TAAT have improved and moved up to #6, past AF (#7). OCN (#8) are gaining lots of points through the Sprint and are thus putting pressure on AF. CNT (#9), RKN (#10), MK (#11) and BOINC.Italy (#12) were able to hold on to their rankings for the time being. The Italians gained points and managed to break loose from Crunching@EVGA (#13), USA (#14) and BOINC@AUSTRALIA (#15).

Even LTT Forums (#16) leapt forward on account of the Sprint and are thus able to profit from the current Sprint weakness of BOINC@Poland (#17), AMD Users (#18), Chinese Dream (#19) and Ukraine (#20). The good interim Sprint result also benefits UK BOINC Team (#21) who together with 2ch (#22) and SETIKAH (#23) sprinted further ahead. Boincstats are holding on to #24 which is a result of the short track weakness of Das Kartell (#25), LITOMYSL (#26) und BOINC@MIXI (#27). At #28 we find BOINC Confederation ahead of Crystal Dream (#29), U.S. Army (#30) and BOINC@Pfalz (#31).

Do you know what you need to do today? Find the answers!
- Who will win at Swimming?
- Will AF at long last be able to claim a medal?
- What can we still expect at the Sprint?

As you can see, it remains exciting at the BOINC Pentathlon.

Jeeper

[Based on stats at 09:00 UTC]