Does anyone know the rule on underwater dolphin during the freestyle starts and turns? The 15m rule doesn't apply, does it?
Freestyle is freestlye, most people don't go that far because it is slower, except Phelps/Leveaux. Just wondering though, if I went 40 meters on the first 50 of a 400 free LCM, that would be allowed, right?
Is there documentation to verify this, in case of dispute?
Unless you submerged well before the finish, this is not cause of disqualification. Every stroke allows the swimmer to be fully submerged just before the turn or finish. It's that 'just' before that can be difficult to distinguish. What I brief to officials is that if you have changed your attention from the swimmer to the wall, then you can not call the swimmer as being submerged as you are not focusing on the swimmer any more.
Your advice to officials on the practicalities is very clever. I was going on the text of the rules in the USMS rule book. The only difference in wording between the freestyle and backstroke rules on this point is that the backstroke rule calls out "the finish" as a part of a backstroke race in which a swimmer may be totally submerged, whereas the freestyle rule does not. It would seem to me that the text wouldn't be different if the intent were the same, although I agree with you that a real-life official probably wouldn't be able to judge them differently if s/he were paying attention to hand meeting wall.
Unless you submerged well before the finish, this is not cause of disqualification. Every stroke allows the swimmer to be fully submerged just before the turn or finish. It's that 'just' before that can be difficult to distinguish. What I brief to officials is that if you have changed your attention from the swimmer to the wall, then you can not call the swimmer as being submerged as you are not focusing on the swimmer any more.
Your advice to officials on the practicalities is very clever. I was going on the text of the rules in the USMS rule book. The only difference in wording between the freestyle and backstroke rules on this point is that the backstroke rule calls out "the finish" as a part of a backstroke race in which a swimmer may be totally submerged, whereas the freestyle rule does not. It would seem to me that the text wouldn't be different if the intent were the same, although I agree with you that a real-life official probably wouldn't be able to judge them differently if s/he were paying attention to hand meeting wall.
