I asked this in another thread but got no reply:
SW 5.3 Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except it shall be permissible for the swimmer to be completely submerged during the turn and for a distance of not more than 15 metres after the start and each turn. By that point, the head must have broken the surface.
Is modern wave breaststroke, which can involve periods of being completely submerged in each stroke cycle, legal freestyle? Or does it violate "Some part of the swimmer must break the surface throughout the race"? Some people's butterfly might also break this rule.
Parents
Former Member
Hi Mary, most people here seem to agree that in freestyle you are not allowed to completely submerge once you are beyond the 15m mark on each length, whether this is a problem for your 800IM depends on the style of breaststroke your swimmers swim, if they break the surface with their heads at all times during their stroke cycle they should be fine, if they submerge they could be disqualified. Actually, I've been watching video of butterfly, and I think many swimmers could be disqualified for submerging during the fly, especially longer distance fly as in the 200fly and probably even more so in 800IM. I noticed that the terminology for fly is different "The swimmer must remain on the surface until the next turn or finish." for butterfly versus "Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except..." for freestyle.
If you are able to get enough people to fill an entire heat you might inquire with the meet organizers about making an 800IM event. This would avoid the ***/fly DQ issue and have the added advantage that the turn judges could enforce the IM turn rules, under freestyle rules you would have to go on the honour system about doing legal IM turns. It would also ensure that your swimmers got to swim together which is hard to ensure otherwise.
I believe that the rule about finishing with the stroke you started with has been done away with, I have heard it several times, and seen it in older swimming books, but I couldn't find any reference to it in the current FINA rules.
Hi Mary, most people here seem to agree that in freestyle you are not allowed to completely submerge once you are beyond the 15m mark on each length, whether this is a problem for your 800IM depends on the style of breaststroke your swimmers swim, if they break the surface with their heads at all times during their stroke cycle they should be fine, if they submerge they could be disqualified. Actually, I've been watching video of butterfly, and I think many swimmers could be disqualified for submerging during the fly, especially longer distance fly as in the 200fly and probably even more so in 800IM. I noticed that the terminology for fly is different "The swimmer must remain on the surface until the next turn or finish." for butterfly versus "Some part of the swimmer must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except..." for freestyle.
If you are able to get enough people to fill an entire heat you might inquire with the meet organizers about making an 800IM event. This would avoid the ***/fly DQ issue and have the added advantage that the turn judges could enforce the IM turn rules, under freestyle rules you would have to go on the honour system about doing legal IM turns. It would also ensure that your swimmers got to swim together which is hard to ensure otherwise.
I believe that the rule about finishing with the stroke you started with has been done away with, I have heard it several times, and seen it in older swimming books, but I couldn't find any reference to it in the current FINA rules.
