FINA banned the shiny suits partially because they gave some people an unfair advantage.Then they turn around and OK adding the fins to the blocks.They supposedly make starts 0.2-0.4 faster.That is not a trivial amount especially in a 50.Being able to practice with them before a meet that has them is undoubtedly beneficial.Very few swimmers will have access to them on a regular basis.Is this fair,what say you?
This has nothing to do with fin blocks,but this is a starting block issue.Great pains are taken to make sure the walls are at least 25 yd apart in a 25 yd pool and if there is a bulkhead they are measured twice at all USMS meets.At the vast majority of older pools I have been at, I have noticed that the front of the block is not exactly parallel to the wall.I didn't really think that much of it,but at workout Weds I took a close look at one of the blocks and the block was rotated so that the right side was about a cm forward of the wall and the left side 1 cm behind.This means that someone using a track start with right leg forward has an advantage over someone with left leg forward.I don't want to :worms:,but results of meets have been thrown out for TT and records due to the pool being too short by 1 cm. Does anyone measure the blocks to make sure they don't extend past the wall?
This has nothing to do with fin blocks,but this is a starting block issue.Great pains are taken to make sure the walls are at least 25 yd apart in a 25 yd pool and if there is a bulkhead they are measured twice at all USMS meets.At the vast majority of older pools I have been at, I have noticed that the front of the block is not exactly parallel to the wall.I didn't really think that much of it,but at workout Weds I took a close look at one of the blocks and the block was rotated so that the right side was about a cm forward of the wall and the left side 1 cm behind.This means that someone using a track start with right leg forward has an advantage over someone with left leg forward.I don't want to :worms:,but results of meets have been thrown out for TT and records due to the pool being too short by 1 cm. Does anyone measure the blocks to make sure they don't extend past the wall?
