Last year I swam at a SCM meet and leisurely swam a 400 IM (had a bad cold and feeling lousy). I had been swimming *** for almost 50 years and was astonished when I was told I had performed an illegal turn. The meet was almost over, I was swimming a relay the very next heat, and the referee gave me a prefunctory reply something like I had not completed a stroke before the turn. He disappeared as soon as the meet was over and email to the meet manager failed to get me a definitive answer. I looked at the rule book online and saw nothing in the breaststroke regs that looked even close to it. I decided to not take any chances and glide into the wall instead of taking a short stroke.
Now I was told that another swimmer was DQd last weekend at the Colonies Zone for the same reason. I have looked at the current rule book online and can find nothing about that. Is this an unspoken rule or an old one that has been removed and officials are still using?
Very confusing!
Rule 102.16.3 does not say that any and every decision made by a referee is final. If that were true, the inclusion of rule 102.16.4 would make no sense. The referee's decision is final only on "judgment decisions" (which makes sense, because no one who didn't see the meet could possibly have any basis for overuling what a judge or referee thought he saw).
If it happens in the water it is considered a judgement decision. This includes but is not limited to sections 101, 102.14, 102.15 and much of 103.
There are many other parts of section one where there are interpetations of the rules- an example - how long does does a 25 meter course have to be to be legal is where 102.16.4 is applicable.
michael
Rule 102.16.3 does not say that any and every decision made by a referee is final. If that were true, the inclusion of rule 102.16.4 would make no sense. The referee's decision is final only on "judgment decisions" (which makes sense, because no one who didn't see the meet could possibly have any basis for overuling what a judge or referee thought he saw).
If it happens in the water it is considered a judgement decision. This includes but is not limited to sections 101, 102.14, 102.15 and much of 103.
There are many other parts of section one where there are interpetations of the rules- an example - how long does does a 25 meter course have to be to be legal is where 102.16.4 is applicable.
michael
