Disqualified???

Before directly answering your question, the real question is - why are you afraid/concerned about getting disqualified? First, it is not the end of the world to get disqualified. I completely understand being afraid and concerned, but really, it is not going to change how anyone thinks of you. As a novice, getting DQ'd is a good thing. It is immediately feedback that you are doing something really wrong - that you clearly didn't get the benefit of a doubt (say, 50%), and that the stroke/turn/start judge was looking at you (argueable, 25% as they cover 4 lanes). So even with a 12.5% blended chance that you would get Dq'd, you did, so it shows something you really have to work on. Second, if you are concerned, then you should be going back over what you do day after day, and what you don't do right that is causing you to now, on the eve of racing, to worry about whether you can do it right or not. Third, try always go into a meet with the following mantra: "I know i'm going to do well, the only question is how well?" You never want to be asking yourself, will I swim legally, can I finish a race, will I get disqualified, etc etc. If you do, then you haven't been executing the important elements in practice. And now, to answer your question, I agree with nearly all the posts above. I don't think you will have need of Fort's 15 meter post just yet, as that is a very advanced thing. Simply as a factoid, the 15 meters refers to your HEAD, not the tips of your hands, and by your head, that means your chin. So if you have really long fingers, hands, and arms, and a long face and pointy chin, you are great luck as you can essentially pick up like, 3 extra feet further! I credit chowsh for explaining this to me. I am not sure if you open your mouth really wide and drop your jaw if you can pick up 3 more inches, but that may only be for someone like Fort. Yes, 2 handed simul touches on ***/fly. The trickiest turn IMO is backstroke, as you have no going-backsies option (free) or the relatively easy 2 handed double touchyness (***/fly). The back turn has to be timed perfectly as the rule states it is a continuous motion, so if you are too far, you can't backpedal and get away with it. One way to eek out and save a back turn that is too far is to keep that 1-handed free turn arm in front of you, and not pull back right away, or else you are stuck kicking head first and that's an easy dq to spot. Hoever, with the hand up in front, you could arguably say you were in motion, continuous motion, so save yourself a dq if not a very clean turn. In free, you simply have to touch the wall with any part of your body, so if you are too close and do a head cram, with body parts both on the wall and in the gutters or up in the air, as long as any part of your body, hopefully not your face only, are on the wall, somewhere on the wall, that's still ok. Or if you miss it completely, you can go backwards yell oh crap and still be legal. Google fixing optional, but yes, legal. A total bummer for our poster who only went 1600. However, even an elite may miscount and do extra in free and you won't be dq'd, since you just have to touch with any part of your body, including your feetsies as you miscount another 50 or 100. Finishes, like turns, have to be a legal finish for that stroke, so you have to 2 handy on ***/fly and finish on your back and have some part of your body not submerged on the back. Butterfrog is legal in masters. It is a mirror image kick (each leg doing the same as the other leg), not limited to the traditional thinking of the dolphin action only. Someone else may want to comment more on the UW *** pullout. And last, my advice to any novice is to have a coach and your closest swim buds give you a "challenge event" in workout. Have them simulate what it would be like in a race. Have them walk you through a meet, from the warm up to doing the event in front of them, and then even do the warm down. Then it won't be so foreign when you actually go to a swim meet.

Before directly answering your question, the real question is - why are you afraid/concerned about getting disqualified? First, it is not the end of the world to get disqualified. I completely understand being afraid and concerned, but really, it is not going to change how anyone thinks of you. As a novice, getting DQ'd is a good thing. It is immediately feedback that you are doing something really wrong - that you clearly didn't get the benefit of a doubt (say, 50%), and that the stroke/turn/start judge was looking at you (argueable, 25% as they cover 4 lanes). So even with a 12.5% blended chance that you would get Dq'd, you did, so it shows something you really have to work on. Second, if you are concerned, then you should be going back over what you do day after day, and what you don't do right that is causing you to now, on the eve of racing, to worry about whether you can do it right or not. Third, try always go into a meet with the following mantra: "I know i'm going to do well, the only question is how well?" You never want to be asking yourself, will I swim legally, can I finish a race, will I get disqualified, etc etc. If you do, then you haven't been executing the important elements in practice. And now, to answer your question, I agree with nearly all the posts above. I don't think you will have need of Fort's 15 meter post just yet, as that is a very advanced thing. Simply as a factoid, the 15 meters refers to your HEAD, not the tips of your hands, and by your head, that means your chin. So if you have really long fingers, hands, and arms, and a long face and pointy chin, you are great luck as you can essentially pick up like, 3 extra feet further! I credit chowsh for explaining this to me. I am not sure if you open your mouth really wide and drop your jaw if you can pick up 3 more inches, but that may only be for someone like Fort. Yes, 2 handed simul touches on ***/fly. The trickiest turn IMO is backstroke, as you have no going-backsies option (free) or the relatively easy 2 handed double touchyness (***/fly). The back turn has to be timed perfectly as the rule states it is a continuous motion, so if you are too far, you can't backpedal and get away with it. One way to eek out and save a back turn that is too far is to keep that 1-handed free turn arm in front of you, and not pull back right away, or else you are stuck kicking head first and that's an easy dq to spot. Hoever, with the hand up in front, you could arguably say you were in motion, continuous motion, so save yourself a dq if not a very clean turn. In free, you simply have to touch the wall with any part of your body, so if you are too close and do a head cram, with body parts both on the wall and in the gutters or up in the air, as long as any part of your body, hopefully not your face only, are on the wall, somewhere on the wall, that's still ok. Or if you miss it completely, you can go backwards yell oh crap and still be legal. Google fixing optional, but yes, legal. A total bummer for our poster who only went 1600. However, even an elite may miscount and do extra in free and you won't be dq'd, since you just have to touch with any part of your body, including your feetsies as you miscount another 50 or 100. Finishes, like turns, have to be a legal finish for that stroke, so you have to 2 handy on ***/fly and finish on your back and have some part of your body not submerged on the back. Butterfrog is legal in masters. It is a mirror image kick (each leg doing the same as the other leg), not limited to the traditional thinking of the dolphin action only. Someone else may want to comment more on the UW *** pullout. And last, my advice to any novice is to have a coach and your closest swim buds give you a "challenge event" in workout. Have them simulate what it would be like in a race. Have them walk you through a meet, from the warm up to doing the event in front of them, and then even do the warm down. Then it won't be so foreign when you actually go to a swim meet.