As noted in "Swim Rant" I was DQ'd in the 100 M BR yesterday,after swimming a really great race for me(unfairly I believe.)I was talking to Laura Val who was DQ'd in the 200 BK after a WR time(unfairly she thought).She thought we should have a thread to ventilate,commiserate,etc.Has it happened to you?How did you cope?
I felt like leaving the pool and not competing any more,for about 5 minutes,then I felt really sad for about an hour. Then I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and had a terrible time going back to sleep.Finally I decided to focus my emotions on my next swim.Fortunately for me that worked and I swam a 50 M BR that I was really happy with.If I had swum a lousy 50 I suspect I'd still be in a funk.
So what about you?
By the way,we don't need to limit this to DQs,any meet disappointments that you want to vent about are fair game as far as I'm concerned.
I respect S&T judges a lot, but sometimes they seem to think they have to call something. My son was DQ'd twice in the summer championship meet last year for different infractions -- both bogus in my mind -- and in both cases he swam the same stroke he had done all summer (not to mention all year with USA-S) without getting DQ'd. That upset me more than my own DQ's because my son was so upset by it; one case was a relay where his team won first place at champs, and he was in tears b/c he felt he let his team down.
So I guess I respect S&T judges less than I used to...at least the ones that seem a little too trigger-happy...
I've been a S&T for a long time and those that have the attitude that that they have to find something in every heat or they're not doing their job really irritate me. When I've been training new officials I stress to them that if they have any doubt at all, it is not an infraction. I can recall several instances where another official has asked me for an opinion on a swimmer's stroke and even if I clearly see an infraction, I will tell that official that if they are not sure, it is not a DQ (the swimmer was not in my jurisdiction or I would have called it).
And if the official could not tell the referee at which point in the the swim the infraction occured, then the ref was wrong by not overturning it. That line "I have to back my official" is pure BS.
I respect S&T judges a lot, but sometimes they seem to think they have to call something. My son was DQ'd twice in the summer championship meet last year for different infractions -- both bogus in my mind -- and in both cases he swam the same stroke he had done all summer (not to mention all year with USA-S) without getting DQ'd. That upset me more than my own DQ's because my son was so upset by it; one case was a relay where his team won first place at champs, and he was in tears b/c he felt he let his team down.
So I guess I respect S&T judges less than I used to...at least the ones that seem a little too trigger-happy...
I've been a S&T for a long time and those that have the attitude that that they have to find something in every heat or they're not doing their job really irritate me. When I've been training new officials I stress to them that if they have any doubt at all, it is not an infraction. I can recall several instances where another official has asked me for an opinion on a swimmer's stroke and even if I clearly see an infraction, I will tell that official that if they are not sure, it is not a DQ (the swimmer was not in my jurisdiction or I would have called it).
And if the official could not tell the referee at which point in the the swim the infraction occured, then the ref was wrong by not overturning it. That line "I have to back my official" is pure BS.
