At a pentathlon last year a friend of mine who is an ace backstroker made an interesting error in the 100 IM.He came into the wall on the BK/BR turn and flipped on to his stomach.Realizing his mistake he flipped on to his back and as his head came back up exclaimed"Oh S:censor:" loud enough for everyone at that end of the pool to hear.Amazingly he wasn't DQd.Another friend laughingly told him"the turn judge is the only one in the building who didn't see that."
I swear, it's the reaction of the parent that makes a DQ so horrific in the eyes of the young swimmer. If every coach just explained to the swimmers that DQ's are a part of the learning process and that it's not something to be afraid of, it would go a long way. Might as well teach the kids to do it right from the start!
