Swim Rant

I never though it would happen, but I'm agreeing with Geek! Doing S&T for summer league needs to be a bit more relaxed. When watching the peanut-league swimmers (non-point scoring heats), I make sure to "look away" at the start of *** & fly. When I watch these little guys fall off the block, feet entering the water before hands, I KNOW that they'll be flutter kicking and dog paddling for their lives to get to the surface. There are not enough DQ slips in the box to write up all the infractions. Instead, I give them a chance to get to the surface and start swimming. Then, if the fly/*** looks more like free/side-stroke, the hand goes up for the DQ. Yes, they need to learn. I know the coaches pretty well (they coach ou winter league too). They know which kids will never be legal, which kids are on the verge of being legal, and which kids try to get away with breaking the rules. They will look over at me during a race, and I'll give them a nod or a hand signal to let them know what I'm seeing from a judges perspective. I also talk to the opposing team's coaches when there's a kid in the "maybe" category. The coaches appreciate the feedback. I even had one coach ask me to "Please write the DQ slip (for this swimmer). This kid doesn't listen to me when I try to correct his stroke. I need him to get DQ'd so I can prove a point." That was an exception though.

I never though it would happen, but I'm agreeing with Geek! Doing S&T for summer league needs to be a bit more relaxed. When watching the peanut-league swimmers (non-point scoring heats), I make sure to "look away" at the start of *** & fly. When I watch these little guys fall off the block, feet entering the water before hands, I KNOW that they'll be flutter kicking and dog paddling for their lives to get to the surface. There are not enough DQ slips in the box to write up all the infractions. Instead, I give them a chance to get to the surface and start swimming. Then, if the fly/*** looks more like free/side-stroke, the hand goes up for the DQ. Yes, they need to learn. I know the coaches pretty well (they coach ou winter league too). They know which kids will never be legal, which kids are on the verge of being legal, and which kids try to get away with breaking the rules. They will look over at me during a race, and I'll give them a nod or a hand signal to let them know what I'm seeing from a judges perspective. I also talk to the opposing team's coaches when there's a kid in the "maybe" category. The coaches appreciate the feedback. I even had one coach ask me to "Please write the DQ slip (for this swimmer). This kid doesn't listen to me when I try to correct his stroke. I need him to get DQ'd so I can prove a point." That was an exception though.