Swimming history - flip turns and goggles

This would be a good place to ask when was it approved to allow the head going under water during breaststroke? p 1986. It was also allowed to recover your hands over the surface then(forearms too,not elbows). The hand rule seemed like it would be useful,but it really doesn't make much difference unless you really make an effort to recover your hands over the surface,which is almost always slower.Not having to keep part of your head out of the water all the time totally changed the stroke,for the better in my opinion.

In college 1964 -68 I tried "large contact lenses" They were about the size if a nickel. I swam without goggles BUT after a while they held chlorine gas in and with the body heat made them unwearable!

The flip turn...aka the tumble turn -- en.m.wikipedia.org/.../Tumble_turn But I was thinking...I would bet that the flip/tumble turn was inspired by synchronized swimmers. A racer saw them performing some routine and though "If I did that I could get through the turn much faster than touching with my hands." Dan

I didn't get into masters swimming until 2005, but I would swim laps on and off, through the 70s and 80s, not wearing goggles. But one day, a friend lent me a pair, suggested I try them. I wasn't too eager b/c it seemed as if they'd feel constricting, and I liked the freedom of not wearing them. But that viewpoint changed the moment I put them on and noticed how much easier it was to see who was in my lane, and thus not be so distracted swimming. Ever since, I've always worn goggles to swim. My sister was on a swim team in the 1960s at our Y, but I don't remember if she or her teammates did flip turns. Now it seems as if every kid on a swim team is expected to learn them--I occasionally watch the kids' practice after I'm done w/ my workout, and they pretty much all do flip turns. (And I envy them learning early b/c I still find them a struggle, never seem to get comfortable doing them.)

Goggles weren't worn in the Olympics until '76. We never wore them when I was an AGer in the mid-to-late 60's. We did freestyle flip turns, but with a somewhat different technique than today with an exaggerated pike position and then "flipping" or throwing your lower legs over to the wall. Mark

I was trying to tell someone on my team about doing backstroke without flags (I don't remember them - in HS circa 1986). I remember peeking over the shoulder underwater while looking for the wall, plus we had that strange back flip instead of being able to roll onto the belly like now. Ahh... good times.

1986. It was also allowed to recover your hands over the surface then(forearms too,not elbows). The hand rule seemed like it would be useful,but it really doesn't make much difference unless you really make an effort to recover your hands over the surface,which is almost always slower.Not having to keep part of your head out of the water all the time totally changed the stroke,for the better in my opinion. I remember that. I was DQ'd several times in the 200 especially, before they changed it when I was 13. It made no sense not to allow it, really.

Here's what might be the definitive answer about the goggles: www.usmsswimmer.com/.../splashback.pdf Hope this helps!

I remember wearing goggles as a young age-grouper in community summer league swimming in the late 70's. The gaskets back then were foam, and would come unglued from the lenses fairly easily. I swam through the late 80's, came back to swimming through Masters a couple years ago. I remember the first time I did an old-school backstroke pivot turn, the others on the team (all of whom were either younger or adult-onset swimmers) were like "what the hell was THAT?" Same thing happened the first time they saw my "semi-pike" start technique.

I was trying to tell someone on my team about doing backstroke without flags (I don't remember them - in HS circa 1986). I remember peeking over the shoulder underwater while looking for the wall, plus we had that strange back flip instead of being able to roll onto the belly like now. Ahh... good times. Swimming in the 80's I do remember there always being backstroke flags in every pool I practiced or competed in. As for the turn, I still do the basket turn in backstroke. I stopped competing in backstroke around 87 when it became legal to roll over and flip. I've tried to adjust but find it disorienting still even though I've always done flip turns in free.