Counting board pacing - illegal?

No there are none. Most people shake the hell out of that thing near the end of someone's race to send a message to get the swimmer to swim faster... I have been told that it is permitted to "display splits" on the counting board, namely, your counter holds "13" in the water at each x25 of your swim to let you know you've been holding 1:13s for your 100s... granted, this gets a bit confusing for the counter, the swimmer and the timers, but its legal.

There is no issue about “wearing a pacing device.” It is illegal to wear a pacing device. Now if you wanted to wear your lap counter, this would be an issue. In USMS rules as long as your counter is counting either up or down, there is no prohibition against any lap counter movement. FINA and other swimming organizations have other lap counting rules.

There are no counting cards used in the olympics... But those folks are used to doing 16 lengths or 30 lengths at length and with lots of repetitions. We mere mortals need some help with counting, especially since not all our meets have automatic timing. I can certainly understand why have counting cards.

I'd say using the counting numbers for anything other than the intent (the lap#) is wrong. I'd hate for them to come out and say that you can't use a counter at all... When we did 400s the other day, I kept losing track, anything over a 200 and I kind of just zone out. I have made some agreements with counters in the past to move towards the left or right side of the lane, based on my pace (to speed/slow), and in the true essence even those are probably wrong.

There are no counting cards used in the olympics.????In the Olympics for the Women’s 800 and Men’s 1500, the “inspector of turns” at the turning end of the pool shall record the number of laps completed by the swimmer in his lane and keep the swimmer informed of the remaining number of laps to be completed by displaying "lap cards". Semi-electronic equipment may be used, including under water display. Even the best of the best sometimes need help counting to 30.:fish2:

????In the Olympics for the Women’s 800 and Men’s 1500, the “inspector of turns” at the turning end of the pool shall record the number of laps completed by the swimmer in his lane and keep the swimmer informed of the remaining number of laps to be completed by displaying "lap cards". Semi-electronic equipment may be used, including under water display. Even the best of the best sometimes need help counting to 30.:fish2: Hmm, well I guess I stand corrected. I've never seen them used at that level at all... perhaps the TV coverage hasn't shown it... perhaps I should go to Omaha this year :fish2:

Are you talking about "shaking" the board? See it all the time in HS swimming.......

Geek, you misspelled bowel and while not specifically banned, it would be in bad taste to incorporate this in your race strategy.:mooning:

So if that is permitted, then why the issue about wearing a pacing device on your wrist?

I would say that the fact that it is illegal makes it an issue, but whatever. My post was primarily directed towards Blackbeard's comments about having heard that displaying splits on the lap counter is permitted. Were that permitted, it would seem that any sort of watch being used for pacing would also be permitted.