There is nothing more challenging for an official than having to DQ a swimmer for a false start: either a dual confirmation done after the heat has been started or for the lone swimmer who goes in all by themselves.
It is a shame that starting early and only gaining, at most, .5 seconds results in the entire race being nullified. I would hate to be the 400 IMer or the 1650 swimmer if that were to happen.
So, instead of nullifying the entire swim, consider a time penalty assessed for a False Start. In either situation that I mentioned in the first paragraph, the swimmer incurs a 5 seconds penalty when the False Start is dual confirmed. The swimmer gets the benefit of the race, albeit with a time penalty.
This could be managed quite easier with a software change in Meet Manager or whatever meet software is being used.
Paul
Hi Jeff -
Good to ask the question. I am suggesting that most DQs have a time penalty instead of an absolute "negate the swim" result. Personally, I think 2 handed touches on breaststroke and fly should go the way of the hand touch on freestyle and backstroke turns, but the converse argument that one hand touch violates the symmetry of the stroke wins out - for now.
To your specific example, I think a second dolphin kick should be a 5 sec penalty vs a complete DQ. The hard part of this thought process is administration. You could end up raising your hand for everything you see and it becomes impossible to manage. This is why I used 5 seconds. BUT, it could be 5 secs in 50 races, 10 secs in 100s, etc.. The specific amount is not the key part of this discussion. The key is the concept of penalty to encourage correct swimming vs a complete DQ.
Paul
Hi Jeff -
Good to ask the question. I am suggesting that most DQs have a time penalty instead of an absolute "negate the swim" result. Personally, I think 2 handed touches on breaststroke and fly should go the way of the hand touch on freestyle and backstroke turns, but the converse argument that one hand touch violates the symmetry of the stroke wins out - for now.
To your specific example, I think a second dolphin kick should be a 5 sec penalty vs a complete DQ. The hard part of this thought process is administration. You could end up raising your hand for everything you see and it becomes impossible to manage. This is why I used 5 seconds. BUT, it could be 5 secs in 50 races, 10 secs in 100s, etc.. The specific amount is not the key part of this discussion. The key is the concept of penalty to encourage correct swimming vs a complete DQ.
Paul
