SW 10.15 No pace-making shall be permitted, nor may any device be used or plan adopted which has that effect.
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?
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
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
