In another thread I read that an unnamed USS coach was teaching using 2 dolphin kicks in breaststroke pullout,sneaking the first one in after the dive (like Kitajima did.) I had previously heard coaches teaching dolphin kick on the pullout before it was legal saying "I'll keep teaching it until they DQ it." What do you all think of this? I think the refs should watch for this and DQ the swimmers of course,but I think the coach should be flogged I don't care how many Olympians the might have trained.
Former Member
I heard once that rules are meant to be broken.
In breaststroke I don't think the rules were broken by the over the water recovery. When butterfly was first used they followed the rules of breaststroke.
I have watched the film from the 2004 Olmpics and I am still not sure whether his kick could have been called illegal. Maybe his feet were forced up by the second wave the water filling in the void left by his body.
Should coaches teach cheating?......ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
I'm a swim coach and consider my job a lot more than teaching swimming! I think coaches are to mentor their swimmers and model good behavior. Call me corny but, I consider my job coaching not only for swimming but for life.
Should coaches teach cheating?......ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
I'm a swim coach and consider my job a lot more than teaching swimming! I think coaches are to mentor their swimmers and model good behavior. Call me corny but, I consider my job coaching not only for swimming but for life.
I agree with you and I think I said so earlier in this thread. But do you, as a coach, sometimes interpret the rules more liberally than an official? My wife is the coach of our age group club and I am an official and we have some interesting discussions regarding rules interpretation. And most of the time one ends up convincing the other that their interpretation is the correct one. But there are times when it ends with a "I think I'll ask Joe (LSC Officials Chair) and see what he says".
Coaches should NEVER encourage cheating and should be removed from their position if they are doing so. It is downright harmful for it leads to poor character development. Cheating is stealing you know. And what does that one "extra" underwater kick get you? a 10th of a second?
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but cheating also leads to other bad behaviors. What's wrong with a young swimmer just taking a little more time and more hard work to become a faster and more proficient swimmer? Patience and hard work can get you to the finish wall just fine.
I don't swim the breaststroke unless forced to so I do not need to worry about this thread :-). However, I can see how two dolphin kicks might be used. When you dive in,the swimmer with flexibility in his back arches in at dive causing a natural first initial dolphin kick, however minor it is. The second one, is the obvious one when your streamline out past the flags getting ready to break your streamline from the dive and do your first pull.
I also realized this morning at practice why my breaststroke stinks. When swimming breaststroke I am concerned about the age groupers in my lane or next to me so when one is on side of me, I always do a dolphin kick. I would hate to bust a kids rib out on my kick. So I determined my breastroke kick is weak because of that (good excuse huh). As a result, I will stick with fly and just smack the age groupers in the head with my hands :rolleyes:
Greg
