Pace-making - the most widely ignored rule?

The rule quoted above (10.15) is the FINA rule that was put in place to prevent private pace information from being transmitted. USA swimming did modify the rule as was mentioned and the initial interpretation was that watches of any sort were not allowed. I believe that the interpretation has since been modified to allow normal watches at the referee's discretion. (I am certain that the interpretation was modified to have the referee ask the swimmer to remove the watch and it may have been modified further as I just stated.) The conveyance of "pace information" in the form of hand signals, shaking the counters, yelling, jumping up and down or standing on one's head has never been illegal in modern times within USA Swimming and USMS (high school swimming is such a different beast that I don't want to claim any knowledge of what they allow.) Leo

I'm going to put my officials cap on and give you my interpretation. The key word is device. A coach standing on deck waving and yelling or the lap counter shaking the counting board in the water is not considered an infraction of the rules at any meet that I have been involved in since I've been an official. And only on a few occassions have I seen a swimmer on the blocks with a wristwatch on, and in each of those cases the referee asked the swimmer to remove it before the start of the race. When working a meet as a starter, if I see a swimmer not conforming to the rules prior to the start of a race I will alert the referee before the race is turned over to me so the swimmer can be given the chance to correct the problem and avoid disqualification. The topic of having someone give you feedback on your pacing during a race came up in the 1500 Test Set thread. My impression is that pace-making is very common and the rule against it largely unenforceable, but that the rule is there and quite clear. Swimmers may not use devices which help them pace their race and they may not adopt a plan that allows someone on deck or in another lane to help them pace their race. In the other thread an interpretation was posted, my interpretation of the interpretation was that it dealt specifically with using devices, but that it didn't say pace-making was ok if it didn't involve a device (watch or radio). Outside of using a device, has anyone ever been DQed for pace-making? If having someone else give you pacing feedback is ok, what is wrong with using a device? Should the whole rule be thrown out? I am not in any way intending to criticize anyone who has had pacing help, I would love it if it turned out that this was legal, I mean who really wants to swim 60 lengths at what one thought was goal pace only to find out that one has swum a stinky time?

I had my girlfriend as my counter in the 800 free at Nationals and all she would say is yes or no and I knew what that meant. Yes=pace; no=off pace. And quite frankly, no device is going to help me very much in going faster or staying on pace if I am off pace to start with (training problem). Wow, I never knew there were so many distance freestyle "cheaters.":rofl: I guess one remains naive when one never swims those events ... And of course I already have a volunteer counter for my 50 fly at zones. ;) I think the watch rule is utterly stupid. Who cares if someone is wearing a watch? Although I will say that I have seen people train with them who are very efficient at peeking at their splits. Not much lost time. And I've heard a lot of piercing whistles at USS meets. In fact, our head coach routinely uses one.

The use of the scoreboard - I think that is fair, as everyone has access to it. Sure, some can't see it from the other side of the pool and whatnot. I've used the scoreboard to see how i'm doing for lots of races. CUA has a digital clock on the wall right after the flags on the starting end, mostly used as a pace clock. However, during meets, it is counting time during the events. Unfortunately, it took me about 500y before I figured that out in my 1650 last December. Being in Lane 1 next to it, I was able to see off each turn how I was doing and it sure as hell helped toward the end when I realized I needed to haul burro on the last 100 if I wanted any shot at making it under 19 min. Another note on counters. I've had people provide my hundred splits with the counter cards during my 500.

I use a watch in practices, but never at meets. Wasn't aware of the rule, just didn't find that a watch served any purpose in the events that I swam (nothing more than 100 free so far). I figured that since someone was providing timing services, and since I don't look at my watch except after a repeat, it wouldn't be of any use in a race. Even with open water, where there's a longer distance, I haven't used a watch, except for an aquathlon where I needed the watch for the run leg. But even when wearing it, I really didn't look at it, since I was too focused on trying to sight, swim, sight, swim, etc. To look at my watch seemed to require stopping and holding my wrist close enough so the watch face was visible through my goggles (which definitely don't qualify as reading glasses). And while shark scares don't worry me... really! honest! (heh!)..., I'd heard that it wasn't a good idea to wear jewelry or watches in areas where a shark or three might frequent. Soooo watches=fine for practices and solo pool swimming... not really all that useful for racing. I think what I need is a motor, but that would come under "device." ;)

Lindsay, this is a VERY interesting question. I like distance freestyle races and mostly do open turns. At most pools, I can easily see the lane clock which stops when I touch the lane pad. I ALWAYS use this to decide whether or not to give it more energy or less for the next 100. Is there going to be someone looking at me to decide that I'm unfairly using the clock while my competitors who are doing flip turns don't know how they are doing? Maybe we'll all have to use virtual reality headgear to make sure we don't peek at the clock. I used to count laps for a top freestyler and he had a system for pacing. He knew the pace/100 he wanted and, when I got a signal from the person timing his race, I would put the counter board in the middle if he was on pace or to one side or the other if he was either ahead or behind pace. This is a pretty silly rule, in my opinion. And, as you point out, it is hard to enforce. -- mel

You might want to point out that the rule you reference is the Fina rule. Here are the rules from the USMS site. 102.10.6—Counters A A swimmer in any individual event of 16 lengths or more, except the individual medley, may appoint one counter to call lengths or indicate lengths by visual sign. B Verbal counters shall be limited to one per swimmer and shall be stationed at the end of the course opposite the starting end. They may use watches and signal intermediate times to the swimmer. C If visual counters are used, they may be stationed at the end or either side of the pool beyond the halfway point toward the end of the course opposite the starting end. Visual counters may be lowered into the water at the end of the swimmer’s lane, provided that, in the opinion of the referee, they neither physically aid the swimmer or interfere with another competitor or present any safety hazard. D The count may be in ascending or descending order. E In the event of official or counter error, it is the responsibility of the swimmer to complete the prescribed distance. Also 102.15.9—Swimmers are not permitted to wear or use any device or substance to help their speed, pace or buoyancy during a race. Goggles may be worn and rubdown oil applied if not considered excessive by the referee.

Why not an under water time clock at the far end of the pool? Surely such a thing exists...at least that would be fair to all.

Well, at least we are getting closer to the truth and rule here. But I have a question: why can't a swimmer wear a watch? The reason I ask is I can't hear the darn thing ringing anyway. And unless a swimmer has great hand/eye coordination and can take a peek at the watch on a turn, the watch is harmless. Unless you all know of a watch that really chimes off. Shoot, I have had people holding up boards with my split times on them and no USMS official said squat. (yet anyway). I had my girlfriend as my counter in the 800 free at Nationals and all she would say is yes or no and I knew what that meant. Yes=pace; no=off pace. And quite frankly, no device is going to help me very much in going faster or staying on pace if I am off pace to start with (training problem). But if one can train accordingly, you will "feel" the pace and need no devices.

But if one can train accordingly, you will "feel" the pace and need no devices. I agree to this...learn your pace as bet you can. We all have an internal metronome.