I was told to remove my paddles and bouy today at a swim meet during warm up. 3 swimmers in the lane. I never heard of this rule. I usually never use anything during warm ups. My last meet i was so tight, I decided to do a more involved longer warm up. I was surprised at the rule. :bitching:
102.4.2 Warm-up/Warm-down Procedure—Swimmers must enter the pool feet first in a cautious and controlled manner. Diving shall be permitted only in the designated lanes. No hand paddles are allowed.
No equipment whatsoever is allowed except cap and goggles. No fins, no pull bouys and certainly no paddles. Ever been clocked by paddles? I have. It hurts.
i have never seen this rule violated in usms meets that i have been in.
HOWEVER, i saw it violated many times at '12 WC in italy. and yes fina has similar rules.
Very loosely enforced. Swim meets I have attended are not consistent on this rule.To the best of my knowledge, the only equipment explicitly not allowed in USMS rules is hand paddles. Fins, pull buoys, kickboards, etc are generally, but not always, disallowed by the host/referee, but this falls under safety considerations, not specifically addressed in USMS rules. From the Part 1 preamble “It is not the purpose of the Code of Regulations and Rules of Competition of United States Masters Swimming (the national governing body) contained herein to set standards of care for the safety of the swimmer. Safety considerations should be addressed by the swimmer, the swim coach, and the local public entity or pool owner in whose facility events are held.”
I've never considered bringing any equipment to a meet with me - guess I am too used to having about 20 swimmers per lane. I think most adults who swam any age-group level would feel the same.
It’s interesting to see Worlds is using the U.S. Masters Swimming warm-up rule. My thanks to you and the rest of the USMS Rules Committee for bringing safety, caution and control to the process!
thanks a lot Rob. we sure do try hard!!! we had another 2hr teleconf last night going over "stuff" for convention. it was the followup to the 2hrs from the week before.
honestly hitting paddles dont scare me none. as a kid we used to file/sharpen the corners just for bloodsport. how stupid was that? but never got hurt nor heard of anybody getting hurt every by paddles.
now hitting arms? oh heck yeah! me and gil d. cracked bones one day in a workout. we both got out. crack your ulna on another ulna and tell me how much more you swim that day! yes it was a real crack in the bone.
from the FINA '14 Worlds site:
WARM-UP PROCEDURES
Swimmers must enter the pool feet first in a cautious and controlled manner. No diving or backstroke starts will be allowed except in designated sprint lanes. One or more lanes shall be designated as ONE WAY SPRINT lanes during the pre-meet warm-up sessions in the competition pool only.
No diving or backstroke starts will be allowed in the warm-up pools. No sprint lanes will be designated in the warm-up pool.
Pull-buoys, kick boards, fins, hand paddles and other training aids consider inappropriate are not allowed in the competition pool or warm-up pool, as well as watches and heavy jewelry.
from the FINA '14 Worlds site:
WARM-UP PROCEDURES
Swimmers must enter the pool feet first in a cautious and controlled manner... It’s interesting to see Worlds is using the U.S. Masters Swimming warm-up rule. My thanks to you and the rest of the USMS Rules Committee for bringing safety, caution and control to the process!
In practice once I whacked my hand (my finger) into someone's paddle in the lane next to me. I don't know if it was my fault, the other person's fault, or both, but it really, really hurt. The fingernail later turned black and fell off. So, while this was not the most debilitating injury ever, I still think there is good reason not to allow them during meet warm ups when the lanes are so crowded.
