sports.yahoo.com/.../maryland-swim-team-retroactively-loses-county-title-because-153508295.html
A Maryland girls swimming team has had its county championship title retroactively stripped for one of the more bizarre retroactive punishments to come down in recent years: It was deemed that improper shaving had occurred.
That's right, improper shaving. Not shaving points mind you, but shaving of body hair. And, as it turns out, if the unnamed player implicated had only shaved a couple hours earlier, she and her teammates would still have their county title.
As reported by a number of Maryland news outlets, the Baltimore Sun and Annapolis Capital among them, the Broadneck (Md.) High girls swimming squad lost its Anne Arundel County title after it was determined that one of the team's swimmers shaved on-site just before the start of the event. National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rules for swimming, diving and water polo stipulate that athletes can not shave before, during or after a meet once a team is on-site.
The reason why the NFHS institutes a no shaving on-site policy is to protect the swimmers themselves from possible blood transmission or, in general, doing full body shaves in high school locker rooms, which would maximize the possibility of unsafe practices like sharing razors. Still, the rule can seem quite a bit over the top when one considers generally acceptable practices for other sports; after all, no one is telling football or basketball players that they can't shave after a game or practice.
Because of the violation, Broadneck lost all points won by the swimmer implicated, dropping the Bruins from first to third place in the final standings. Severna Park (Md.) High was later declared the county champion after Broadneck's lost points were redistributed.
Meanwhile, the Annapolis Capital reported that Broadneck swimming coach Colleen Winans was suspended for the Class 4A-3A Regional Championships which were held on Saturday because of her swimmer's violation. A release from the Anne Arundel School District cited the failure of Winans' squad to abide by "the rules of the game and promote ethical relationships among coaches and players," as the reason for the discipline taken against Winans, which included the one-meet ban.
...and the article keeps going and going...
I wonder who ratted her out?
Yes, you should follow the rules, but this punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime, especially suspending the coach from the next meet.
Too many pansy rules these days...
Former Member
Another reason to use the hair remoaval cream.
Anyone ever try it? Does it work?
There's a strange fellow who used to hang out in the hottub shaving his back and other regions. Evidently someone complained because they put up signs saying "No Shaving In The Hottub!" and now he stands near the sinks rubbing creams over his body. I had suspected he was moisturizing, but...hmmm! I could ask him for you?
The no-shave rule is a national rule for high school swimming. It's been on the books since at least the mid-90's (if not earlier). There's no reason the coach shouldn't have known about it. And in reading the 2011 interpretations of the rules, it sounds like the admin ref has the ability to review "unusual incidents" that happen during the meet. That's probably how the team was able to be striped of their title retroactively.
It sucks for that school, but this isn't a new rule.
The no-shave rule is a national rule for high school swimming. It's been on the books since at least the mid-90's (if not earlier).
Earlier, I think. I am pretty sure no shaving at meets was the rule when I was in HS in the early 1980s. We could shave in the shower after practice if we wanted to but not at a home meet. (Earrings also were taboo.)
Former Member
My first shave was at 14 (I was a relatively new swimmer at that point), and my crazy coach found me an unused razor from one of the girls on the team and told me to get to the showers and shave. This was USS though.
I was never the most patient of shavers in high school...even if I shaved the night before, the cuts on my legs usually made it look like I had just shaved!