The DQ thread got me thinking about swimming rules I'd like to see repealed.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.
They don't have the 500 for 11-12? If they do, then only meets for 10&U wouldn't require counters now. I guess there are some, but my feeling is most facilities already have counters.
Reading is fundamental :angel:
40% of the meets that have 12&U sessions do not offer distance (500 or longer) events for 12&Us. And no, not every pool in PVS that hosts meets has lap counters.
But no one has answered the question asked by Geek.
Why should a 200 (and is it only 200 Free that needs one???) require the use of counters? I don't get it myself but maybe I'm missing something.
So, repeal the rule about lap counters for less than 16 lengths.
To Paul and other official-types: what is the purpose of this rule? To save time? (I'm really asking, not trying to pick a fight or anything.)
I don't know if this is a rule or not, or a "best practices" kind of thing. But I get annoyed about the way announcers are not allowed to give the event number except on heat 1. So for example they'll say "Event 12, heat 1" and from then on "heat 2" and "heat 3" and so on. So if you miss the number on the first one, you don't know what event they are on. They did this at the NE Championship (USMS) meet this past weekend as well, but it wasn't a big deal b/c the scoreboard displayed the event and heat number.
But at our facility, there are a lot of seating areas without a direct view of the pool so you can't see the heat in the water to know what they are swimming. I seriously doubt saying "event 12, heat 4" is going to add significant time to the meet. When I asked the officials about this, they said the reason they do it is because the practice (ie, purposefully withholding information) encourages people to pay closer attention.
That's the kind of...well, idiocy...that makes people see red. And while I really, truly, whole-heartedly admire the volunteer officials and their dedication -- and think that 99% of them are regular folk who roll their eyes at that sort of thing -- USA-S officiating can sometimes seems to be full of nit-picky practices like this. I saw an official pull a 11-yo girl off the blocks for a delay-of-meet DQ. She was maybe 5 sec late getting on the blocks -- TOPS -- and the DQ and resulting melodrama probably took 5 min.
And don't even get me started on the uniforms.
But just because you think it's stupid, doesn't mean it's not in place for a very valid reason.
I agree that the opinions on the relative usefulness or not of various rules and regs will differ.
It seems that the official didn't meet your standards of decorum, and hurt your feelings.
Or,
And,
Plus,
I trust you didn't "lose it" in front of children. Hopefully your child is proud of a 3:30. I wonder who is more upset about the DQ, you or your child?
I suggest you stay in the bleachers and read the rule book.
Comments noted, and accorded the respect that they deserve...
Why should a 200 (and is it only 200 Free that needs one???) require the use of counters? I don't get it myself but maybe I'm missing something.
I guess because some kids have ADD/ADHD, AC-DC, etc and aren't (yet) able to focus. Or because their coach decided to enter them in the 200 at age 7 (or 6), and they have some anxiety about losing count.
Back to my original post, this is not Senior Nationals or Olympic Trials, but a local B/A meet. Not that the type of meet should be an issue. If the reason for "no counters" is that brings too many people onto the deck and could hinder the officials, fair enough. But I don't see how counting for a little kid either hinders the other kids in the heat or aids the one being counted for (unless you consider helping them keep count "aid").
That's the kind of...well, idiocy...that makes people see red. And while I really, truly, whole-heartedly admire the volunteer officials and their dedication -- and think that 99% of them are regular folk who roll their eyes at that sort of thing -- USA-S officiating can sometimes seems to be full of nit-picky practices like this. I saw an official pull a 11-yo girl off the blocks for a delay-of-meet DQ. She was maybe 5 sec late getting on the blocks -- TOPS -- and the DQ and resulting melodrama probably took 5 min.
And don't even get me started on the uniforms.
You've made my point much more eloquently and succinctly than I ever could...
I absolutely lost it .
The stuff you cite might be irritating, for sure. But it seems like small stuff. "Bush league," indeed.
Except for "losing it" on an official. That strikes me as HUGE.
Can officials ban parents permanently from meets? If not, that might be a good rule change.
The stuff you cite might be irritating, for sure. But it seems like small stuff. "Bush league," indeed.
Except for "losing it" on an official. That strikes me as HUGE.
Can officials ban parents permanently from meets? If not, that might be a good rule change.
Several posters have harped on my "losing it" comment. I didn't yell at the guy, embarrass him in front of others, etc - simply made it clear in a one-to-one, private conversation that I thought the rule was a bit OTT for little kids swimming a 200 for the first time, and that it seemed a great way to discourage younger kids from swimming more than a 100. (As an aside, I did not enter my 7 yr old in a 200 - the club coach did, and I was as surprised at this as some of the posters here have been).
FWIW, I have been attending age group meets as a competitor, parent, volunteer and club board member for nearly 40 years. I am not the "prototypical swimmer parent" by any stretch. Again, my issue is not so much with the rule (which I consider a strange one), but with how I was approached by the MD, who I have known for years... and respect.
... made it clear in a one-to-one, private conversation that I thought the rule was a bit OTT for little kids swimming a 200 for the first time, and that it seemed a great way to discourage younger kids from swimming more than a 100.
Oh.
Apologies then. That isn't what I think of when I hear "losing it."
