I have looked through the rules and either they have changed since I looked at them a couple of years ago or I am remembering wrong. Anyway here's my problem.
I have been told my flip turns are bad, I haven't seen this but that's not the point. I reciently changed my free style turn. Now instead of turning over near/around the wall I stay on my back until I break the water then turn over with my first stroke.
The rule as I remembered it was that you have to do Fly, Back, *** and then anything except the other three strokes. I did not find anything like this in the current rules but am worried that it may look like I am doing a backstroke when I am not.
I talked to my coach about it and he looked it up as well but could find nothing saying that I couldn't do it. Also will I have a problem under the FINA rules, I will be swimming in Ireland in a few weeks and do not want problems there either.
It's not clear to me whether you're talking about intermediate turns within a single stroke, or transition turns from one stroke to the next. But assuming you're talking about intermediate turns, USMS rule 101.5.2 states:
In an event designated freestyle, the swimmer may swim any style, except that in a medley relay or individual medley event, freestyle means any style other than butterfly, breaststroke, or backstroke.
So if you push off on your back and then turn over, I'd say there's a very good chance an official will deem that you are swimming backstroke and disqualify you for swimming backstroke during the freestyle leg.
It would also depend upon how long you stay on your back before you flip over onto your stomach. I would have to see your turn before I could say whether I would disqualify you or not.
It's not clear to me whether you're talking about intermediate turns within a single stroke, or transition turns from one stroke to the next. But assuming you're talking about intermediate turns, USMS rule 101.5.2 states:
In an event designated freestyle, the swimmer may swim any style, except that in a medley relay or individual medley event, freestyle means any style other than butterfly, breaststroke, or backstroke.
So if you push off on your back and then turn over, I'd say there's a very good chance an official will deem that you are swimming backstroke and disqualify you for swimming backstroke during the freestyle leg.
It would also depend upon how long you stay on your back before you flip over onto your stomach. I would have to see your turn before I could say whether I would disqualify you or not.
