Did or did not his dolphin kicks happen BEFORE he started his arm pull on both the start and the turn? Because I sure saw that it happened before his hands started to move. Is this legal under FINA rules? Because it sure as heck isn't under USA swimming rules.
What exactly does "interpretation" mean in the context of the fina rule book anyway? It seems like an odd way to clarify or fix the rule, shouldn't they just change the wording of the rule itself? Maybe that process is much harder to do than tack on an "interpretation". Just looking at the base rule it seems what he does is legal. Of course with the "interpretation" what he does is not. Although if I was just reading the base rule I wouldn't interpret it to mean the kick must be during the pull.
I wonder two things though. How exactly the timing of his dolphin/pull looks to the official standing next to his block at the start and how much advantage putting the dolphin there provides. I can't imagine that it's as clear that his kick is prior to his pull from above and behind him as it is to us looking at the underwater footage. Also it seems to me that putting a kick in front of and completely detached from the pull is kind of an awkward place to put it. But I'm still trying to get used to putting a kick into my pulldown at all so what do I know.
He's still an insanely fast breaststroker. You take away his dolphin kick altogether and he's still going to be right up there at the front.
What exactly does "interpretation" mean in the context of the fina rule book anyway? It seems like an odd way to clarify or fix the rule, shouldn't they just change the wording of the rule itself? Maybe that process is much harder to do than tack on an "interpretation". Just looking at the base rule it seems what he does is legal. Of course with the "interpretation" what he does is not. Although if I was just reading the base rule I wouldn't interpret it to mean the kick must be during the pull.
I wonder two things though. How exactly the timing of his dolphin/pull looks to the official standing next to his block at the start and how much advantage putting the dolphin there provides. I can't imagine that it's as clear that his kick is prior to his pull from above and behind him as it is to us looking at the underwater footage. Also it seems to me that putting a kick in front of and completely detached from the pull is kind of an awkward place to put it. But I'm still trying to get used to putting a kick into my pulldown at all so what do I know.
He's still an insanely fast breaststroker. You take away his dolphin kick altogether and he's still going to be right up there at the front.
