The FINA rules say no but not considering the rulebook, should Libby Lenton's 52.99 go in the record books. There has been alot of debate on this in the other thread. What do you think?
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I don't understand the total lack of generosity in the whole NO RECORD!!!! brigade. Is it only a WR if you were ahead the entire race? Is it only a WR if you are the top seed, so you didn't use your underdog fire? Is it only a WR if you swim alone? Why are you so interested in saying no? There is some ambiguity--maybe she was hurt, maybe she was helped--so why not take the generous interpretation? There is no way to be certain.
Generosity should have no place in record books in my opinion. There is obviously some mixed opinions about the legitimacy of this "record" and I don't think I would want my name on such a thing. It would be much better to have a record with no strings attached. Take for example Barry Bonds. His records will always be associated with his BALCO affiliation and quite frankly, meaningless to the purist.
If a fast swimmers wake has the ability to pull along a slower swimmer in an adjacent lane then the slower swimmer had an advantage they would not otherwise have. If the race were between Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay, Vanderkaay may have very well benefitted from the wake of Phelps but there is no way he could have used that advantage to make a WR time because Phelps would be ahead of him. In order for Vanderkaay to make a WR he would eventually have to overtake Phelps and lose the benefit of the wake he had been enjoying. If they are going to make these mixed relays WR capable then they need to have rules about lane separation.
I don't understand the total lack of generosity in the whole NO RECORD!!!! brigade. Is it only a WR if you were ahead the entire race? Is it only a WR if you are the top seed, so you didn't use your underdog fire? Is it only a WR if you swim alone? Why are you so interested in saying no? There is some ambiguity--maybe she was hurt, maybe she was helped--so why not take the generous interpretation? There is no way to be certain.
Generosity should have no place in record books in my opinion. There is obviously some mixed opinions about the legitimacy of this "record" and I don't think I would want my name on such a thing. It would be much better to have a record with no strings attached. Take for example Barry Bonds. His records will always be associated with his BALCO affiliation and quite frankly, meaningless to the purist.
If a fast swimmers wake has the ability to pull along a slower swimmer in an adjacent lane then the slower swimmer had an advantage they would not otherwise have. If the race were between Phelps and Peter Vanderkaay, Vanderkaay may have very well benefitted from the wake of Phelps but there is no way he could have used that advantage to make a WR time because Phelps would be ahead of him. In order for Vanderkaay to make a WR he would eventually have to overtake Phelps and lose the benefit of the wake he had been enjoying. If they are going to make these mixed relays WR capable then they need to have rules about lane separation.
