So, I watched some of the Australia meet events tonight and I have a question concerning breastroke.
I watched in slow-mo about 10 times and I swear the breastrokers are taking two dolphin kicks on the dive entry before the now-legal one big dolphin kick. Is this now legal also, the two small little dolphin kicks?
Former Member
Just for reference purposes, the actual FINA rule wording is:
A single downward dolphin kick followed by a breaststroke kick is permitted while wholly submerged.
fina.org/.../swimming.php
Perhaps this is the kick FINA needs to initiate use of underwater video in judging. With the commercialization of webcam technology it shouldn't be expensive to do relative to the cost of timing pads.
It might actually be good thing for underwater cameras to become "standard equipment" in pools, in terms of making video analysis more widely available.
I don't like allowing breaststroke kick in butterfly, although I would hesitate to eliminate it for the older age groups, but I can't see any justification for removing it from backstroke which is not back crawl but freestyle with the added restriction that you have to stay on your back (except for the turn exception, which I think was one of the biggest rule blunders ever). It would be like banning dolphin kicks from free and back, what would the justification be?
I don't think imposing the 15 meter rule in *** would help. It'd just make it hard on the breaststrokers. While they go farther with the kick, a good pullout alone could send you way past 15 meters.
Any chance you could show me how to send me "way past 15 meters" with "a good pullout alone"? If I could learn that, it's look out Mr. Hansen!:lolup:
