Spoiler--Men's 200 backstroke

Originally posted by susanehr I replayed it myself several times. His arm/hand was still moving. I am a bit confused about the the term "continuous kick." What, are you supposed to take a huge, spread your legs two feet apart, kick going into the turn to make the "continuous kick"? Maybe this silly rule should be changed or more clarification. P.S. I'm not an official either, I've just been backstroking for 25 years and trying to keep up with all the crazy rules the stroke/start/turns have had over the years. There is nothing in the rules about a "continuous kick". What the rules say is that: "During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the *** after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. Once the body has left the position on the back, any kick or arm pull must be part of the continuous turning action. The swimmer must have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall. When executing the turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer’s body." So the only requirements concerning kicking is that any kick "must be part of the continuous turning action." In practice, this has been interpreted to mean that any kick that occurs during the continuous turning action is okay. So as long as the arm pull begins immediately after the swimmer has rolled past the vertical toward the *** and as long as it proceeds continuously into the turn, any kicks will be considered "part of the continuous turning action."

Originally posted by susanehr I replayed it myself several times. His arm/hand was still moving. I am a bit confused about the the term "continuous kick." What, are you supposed to take a huge, spread your legs two feet apart, kick going into the turn to make the "continuous kick"? Maybe this silly rule should be changed or more clarification. P.S. I'm not an official either, I've just been backstroking for 25 years and trying to keep up with all the crazy rules the stroke/start/turns have had over the years. There is nothing in the rules about a "continuous kick". What the rules say is that: "During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the *** after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. Once the body has left the position on the back, any kick or arm pull must be part of the continuous turning action. The swimmer must have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall. When executing the turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer’s body." So the only requirements concerning kicking is that any kick "must be part of the continuous turning action." In practice, this has been interpreted to mean that any kick that occurs during the continuous turning action is okay. So as long as the arm pull begins immediately after the swimmer has rolled past the vertical toward the *** and as long as it proceeds continuously into the turn, any kicks will be considered "part of the continuous turning action."