At the U.S. Trials there was one official in every lane looking at the turns, so now that we're in Athens, how does Kitajima get away with that dolphin kick on his turn? It seemed clear to me from the above water shot, then was confirmed with the underwater. Other breaststrokers care to weigh in?
Former Member
They missed NOTHING...the judge saw it...he simply chose to look the other way....Heck, Hellen Keller and Stevie Wonder could have seen that dolphin kick BOTH on the start...AND...on the turn....
The guy got robbed.....and he wasn't even in the bank or standing behind the counter at 7-11....
I spent my swim this morning stewing about this issue, and
I think even the casual viewer could see THROUGH the water, even at the start. And, as someone said above, everyone KNOWS he does that kick - I had heard about it, but it sure was hard to watch that swim beat Hansen (he really was classy about it, though), when I think my high school swimmers would have been DQed for the same thing in a basic dual meet. It's too bad that this has been let go at this level!
I'm usually one to say bending the rules or pushing the envelope is ok. Heck, I've even been known to drink hot coffee from McDonalds.
But (and TiVO is the best thing ever) there is such a major difference in Kitajima's turns from the 100 versus the coverage I watched today in the 200. It's astonishing the difference. Makes me wonder why he so dramatically changed his turns if there was nothing wrong with the 100 turns as he states.
Maybe the kick (Kosuke's) isn't considered a true dolphin kick because it comes from just below the knees and not the the hips. It's not a complete undulation of his legs from what they showed of the race. It's very hard to deny the obvious when he swam it. Only the referees can answer that question. It would be interesting to hear their take on it.
Matt, first a PR for Hansen would have been a time below 59.30 (his own world record) second, did you see the race? I watched it from beginning to end...he cheated...without the dolphin kick he would have lost! I would suggest watching the tape before opening your trap and referring to us as "out of control soccer parents" Anyone with at least one eyeball in their head could see he cheated! Next!
I wonder what the response from Americans would have been if the kick had been on the other foot so to speak. As a neutral observer it sounds suspiciously like sour grapes to me. In most elite sports competitors will push the rules as far as they can and then some more. It's up to the umpire, referee etc to make the call. In this case I suspect the kick was observed but the official chose not to act. Get over it and enjoy the rest of the swimming.
He didn't cheat. The judges missed the call plain and simple. Sour grapes, don't think so and I would hope if one of our athletes did an illegal move that it would be called. This is suppose to be a fair competition it is not Kitajima's fault if the judges suck!
I saw the dolphin kick and i was the first to point it out on this forum at the world championships when katijama did it there.
Even the British commentators saw it, and their swimming knowledge is quite poor.
Yes, he got away with it, twice here and also 2 years ago. It is very unfair to other swimmers.
You do have to be a brave official to call it, but that is there job.
:(
