The DQ thread got me thinking about swimming rules I'd like to see repealed. Here's my list:
15M rule on freestyle -- You're allowed to do virtually anything you want in a freestyle race provided you touch the walls, don't push off the bottom and don't pull on the lane lines. Why is going beyond 15 meters doing SDK not "freestyle?"
15M rule on backstroke -- Again, the rule seems arbitrary as I could go 15M underwater SDK, pop up and then kick the rest of the way still doing SDK on my back and be perfectly legal. What's so magical about 15M?
Dolphin kick off the wall on a breaststroke pullout -- just have the guts to DQ Kitajima back when he should've been DQd and this whole :worms:wouldn't have been opened.
Rollover backstroke turns -- go back to the bucket turn (touch on your back, turn, push off on your back) and you save a whole bunch of DQ hassles for swimmers & judges. Yeah, times will be way slower, but we banned tech suits, so clearly the swimming purists should be lined up behind this one.
Standup backstroke starts -- what's so magical about starting with your toes / feet in the water when we get to start with our feet out of the water on all other races? Let's stop the discrimination against backstrokers!
For the record, with the exception of #5, I would derive no speed benefit from any of the above rule changes as a competitor (I can't hold my breath in a race for 15M and my doplhin kick on the *** pullout is weak at best). As an S&T judge, though, all of these would make my life easier and, I believe (#5 possibly excepted), be more consistent with the overall rules for the strokes.
I think we are...
I believe that what you and other anti-SDK types would like is a return to backstroke as practiced by the likes of John Naber and Rick Carey. What is ironic about that stance is that, according to the rules in effect when those two backstroker greats swam, we had:
-- stand-up starts (in SCY, anyway)
-- bucket turns
-- unlimited SDKs on your back, if you so choose
What you object to (extensive SDKs) were the result of an *innovation* popularized by David Berkoff, not a rules change. SDKs have *always been legal* in backstroke and in all other strokes except breaststroke.
But I notice that the "abolish the SDK" is often promoted by people who either can't/won't kick or seem to believe that swimming is only an upper body sport.
Since I can't seem to have a conversation on what the rules should be without getting into a discussion about what the rules are or were (neither of which is of interest to me) or being accused of being a weak kicker (which is completely false -- I have far more lower-body strength than upper), I will simply try to state my position on this for one last time, and then unsubscribe from the thread. I forgot that (like tech suits) some topics simply can't be discussed here in a useful way.
My view is simply that it would be nice to be able to see who is better at the above-the-water part and who is better at the below-the-water part. A person who is weak at SDKing might blow away others on the above-the-water part, whereas a person who is super strong at SDKing might really be able to shine in an SDK-only event, not hampered by the above-the-water parts. Of course, someone could also be good at both, in which case, they could shine in both events.
Again, that is just my opinion, and I recognize that others may find value in the rules and practices as they currently stand.
I'm sure that qualifies me for all sorts of abuse and instruction on what the rules are and were, but alas, I won't be reading them.
I think we are...
I believe that what you and other anti-SDK types would like is a return to backstroke as practiced by the likes of John Naber and Rick Carey. What is ironic about that stance is that, according to the rules in effect when those two backstroker greats swam, we had:
-- stand-up starts (in SCY, anyway)
-- bucket turns
-- unlimited SDKs on your back, if you so choose
What you object to (extensive SDKs) were the result of an *innovation* popularized by David Berkoff, not a rules change. SDKs have *always been legal* in backstroke and in all other strokes except breaststroke.
But I notice that the "abolish the SDK" is often promoted by people who either can't/won't kick or seem to believe that swimming is only an upper body sport.
Since I can't seem to have a conversation on what the rules should be without getting into a discussion about what the rules are or were (neither of which is of interest to me) or being accused of being a weak kicker (which is completely false -- I have far more lower-body strength than upper), I will simply try to state my position on this for one last time, and then unsubscribe from the thread. I forgot that (like tech suits) some topics simply can't be discussed here in a useful way.
My view is simply that it would be nice to be able to see who is better at the above-the-water part and who is better at the below-the-water part. A person who is weak at SDKing might blow away others on the above-the-water part, whereas a person who is super strong at SDKing might really be able to shine in an SDK-only event, not hampered by the above-the-water parts. Of course, someone could also be good at both, in which case, they could shine in both events.
Again, that is just my opinion, and I recognize that others may find value in the rules and practices as they currently stand.
I'm sure that qualifies me for all sorts of abuse and instruction on what the rules are and were, but alas, I won't be reading them.
