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?
Parents
Former Member
George, I assume the event was sanctioned, however to clear up what appears to be a misconception, FINA does not as a rule ban swimmers who compete in non-sanctioned events. In the USA a majority of USA Swimming and USMS members who compete in events have at one time or another participated in a non-sanctioned event (YMCA, Rec, Senior Games, AAU, …) and to my knowledge none have been baned for their participation. It may be different in Canada.
FINA rule GR 4 seems pretty explicit, you seem to be suggesting that FINA ignores its own rules, at least when it comes to the US, except they did say they would apply it to US swimmers in the LatyCar incident. Presuming that the organizations you list are not affiliated with FINA why doesn't GR 4 apply?
I personally believe that masters should be explicitly exempt from GR 4, as they seem to be in practice in the US. As a general principle I don't believe that organizations or countries should have draconian laws that are selectively enforced. It is an offense against the principle of equality before the law.
On the other hand, FINA should have mechanisms to ensure that its members don't give sanctions to events with improper names, for example a sanction should not be given to an event calling itself the Masters World Championships of Swimming if that's not what it is. That, in my mind is the principle on which LatyCar went wrong.
George, I assume the event was sanctioned, however to clear up what appears to be a misconception, FINA does not as a rule ban swimmers who compete in non-sanctioned events. In the USA a majority of USA Swimming and USMS members who compete in events have at one time or another participated in a non-sanctioned event (YMCA, Rec, Senior Games, AAU, …) and to my knowledge none have been baned for their participation. It may be different in Canada.
FINA rule GR 4 seems pretty explicit, you seem to be suggesting that FINA ignores its own rules, at least when it comes to the US, except they did say they would apply it to US swimmers in the LatyCar incident. Presuming that the organizations you list are not affiliated with FINA why doesn't GR 4 apply?
I personally believe that masters should be explicitly exempt from GR 4, as they seem to be in practice in the US. As a general principle I don't believe that organizations or countries should have draconian laws that are selectively enforced. It is an offense against the principle of equality before the law.
On the other hand, FINA should have mechanisms to ensure that its members don't give sanctions to events with improper names, for example a sanction should not be given to an event calling itself the Masters World Championships of Swimming if that's not what it is. That, in my mind is the principle on which LatyCar went wrong.
