I read the following PDF regarding the updated rule and interpretation for the freestyle portion of the IM:
www.usms.org/.../20150911_fina_im_interpretation.pdf
My question is regarding the freestyle flip turn. When you turn, you flip onto your back, push off and start twisting to the proper position for freestyle. It usually happens fairly fast so you're not completely on the back for any more than one kick worth at the most and by then you've begun rotating to the side. Honestly, I still flip slightly diagonally, so my feet land a bit off-horizontal but I've been working on correcting it to what has been shown to me as a more proper technique.
But I know as soon as I post this notice for my masters team on Wednesday, they are going to ask the same questions. I would assume that this position of being on the back is normal in freestyle and wouldn't constitute backstroke swimming but I've been wrong plenty of times in trying to interpret rules. But it gets me into wondering, what's going to be the line between a normal freestyle flip turn and too much time on your back? Obviously, no SDK-ing on your back down the length of the pool but exactly how fast does that twist need to be? Is there a standpoint from the officials on this yet?
Thanks in advance!
If FINA actually does their job at the World Cup stops over the next few weeks (not holding my breath), there will likely be a rash of DQs in the medleys.
If that's the case, and people at the world level start complaining about the rule, hopefully FINA will update the language to address the continuous turn.
I think they should add" when the feet leave the wall , the swimmer must be past 90 to be on their stomach"
Would this solve the new ruling?
Nope, that's actually the exact issue with the new ruling.
The ruling just says pushing off on your back is illegal, which in effect says you must be at/past 90 towards your stomach when your feet leave the wall. Your proposal is just different language for the same thing the new ruling mandates.
Quite a few people are *not* at/past 90 towards their stomach when they leave the wall on a flipturn. From the Masters and kids I coach, the folks who haven't done lazy or sloppy turns and are not already past 90 towards their stomach are generally somewhere between 100-110 towards their backs at the time their feet leave the wall, but have rotated past 90 within maybe half a second.
That's the crux of the issue.
I see a ton of the type of flipturn you see in this video (and that's the type of flipturn I do).
www.youtube.com/watch
That type of turn is no longer legal in the IMs or the medley relays. If FINA had said you just need to be in the process of a continuous rotation towards your stomach when your feet leave the wall in the IMs/medley relays, then it would still be legal.
The following statement comes from USA Swimming in interpreting the rule. Do you think it gives officials a bit more leeway?
Not at all. "sufficient distance" is totally arbitrary.
I agree that the "continuous turning..." language would have solved this. This would probably require a revision to the rules, though, rather than just a interpretation.
It would have been much less arbitrary if FINA had come up with a rule that said something to the effect of "during the turn in the freestyle portion of the individual medley and medley relay races, the swimmer must be in the process of a continuous turn towards their stomach."
This would have been much more specific. Still can do a flip turn but prevents someone from dolphining on their back down the pool. Which was all they were trying to prevent.
The following statement comes from USA Swimming in interpreting the rule. Do you think it gives officials a bit more leeway? It would be an officiating nightmare to decide whether or not a swimmer was more toward his *** when leaving the wall. I totally agree with habu above that, as long as this illogical rule remains ineffect, if there is continuous motion toward the *** when leaving the wall it should not be a DQ.
"When a swimmer has traveled a sufficient distance that the official can with certainty judge
that the competitor is swimming in the style of butterfly, breaststroke or backstroke, then a
disqualification is appropriate."
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I foresee lots 'n lots of DQs at all levels of the sport as a result of this.
And what's worse is I have a feeling it will be somewhat arbitrary. You are going to have turn judges who will interpret this strictly and others who will be more lenient.
