Hopefully the publicity this is receiving will force the AIA to reconsider this ridiculous decision.
Sort of reminds of a story from here in Seattle a couple weeks ago:
rivals.yahoo.com/.../Washington-referees-may-face-ban-for-charity-pin
Gee, you give someone a little power...
Why is it that adults involved in kids' sports seem to forget that it's all about the kids? Instead, it seems all that's important to them are their egos and their own sense of self importance.
Why is it that adults involved in kids' sports seem to forget that it's all about the kids? Instead, it seems all that's important to them are their egos and their own sense of self importance.Agreed. This sucks that a swimmer, any swimmer, gets penalized for an administrative error, especially one that was caught with sufficient time to make changes.
I'm guessing the motivation to keep her out is that for each event she's in, they either have to toss someone else out or add an extra heat.
The statement by the organizers "You want to organize the meet?" is the key to it. I'm not sure if the question is rhetorical/sarcastic. Possibly it's not.
My first year at San Diego State ('63-'64) freshman were not allowed to compete in NCAAs. We had a sophmore, Mark Bruce, who won three events at the College Division Regionals, (200 fly, 500 and 1650 free). The coach made a paperwork error so Mark was unable to compete at the Nationals, where his regional times would have placed him first in all three events. He did get to compete in later years where he won a few silver medals but never a gold.
The rules currently say no exceptions.
First step is amend the rules to allow reasonable exceptions. (Have fun defining "reasonable".) Then if this situation comes up again in the future, the admin people will no longer have their hands tied.
Some people seem to forget that rules are made for a purpose.Once they are made they shouldn't become more important than the purpose.The swimmer made the qualifying time and her swim was even submitted,but the i's weren't dotted and the t's weren't crossed.This is also unfair to the girls who did get to swim.It is going to make their swims seem tainted."Sure you won,but if Erica could have swum you wouldn't have."Thanks small minded people we will never know.
