Why 1650 is not 1750?

I was told that the 1650 was the total yards of a H S swim meet ??!! Actually this statement is true if you graduated from High School in 1965 or before. The events that add to the 1650 are as follows: 50, 100, 200, 400 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Back, and 100 ***, 200 IM and 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay. This statement would not be true in 1966 because HS Federation replaced the 200 Free Relay with the 400 Free Relay. In 1974, the 400 Free was replaced with the 500 Free. The 200 Free Relay, which was dropped in 1966 for the 400 Free Relay was added back in 1991. Jeff is correct in that NCAA swam the 1500 meter Free and finished with a rope at the measured distance. They did this up until 1962 and 1963 was the time they swam the 1650 Free. The 1500/1650 was not the only race that the NCAA changed distances from 1962 to 1963. The middle distance freestyle events of 220 and 440 were changed to 200 and 500 yard distances. There were no more races where finishes were determined by swimming under a rope. All finishes in swimming were determined by a touch at the wall. I believe the next five to six years or so manual timing was still used. The AAU was the governing body of swimming until 1980 and when the Amateur Sports Act passed in 1978, all Olympic Sports had there own NGB and were no longer administratively under the AAU. So USA Swimming or USS as it was called in the early days had nothing to do with the set up of the 1650 Free.

I was told that the 1650 was the total yards of a H S swim meet ??!! Actually this statement is true if you graduated from High School in 1965 or before. The events that add to the 1650 are as follows: 50, 100, 200, 400 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Back, and 100 ***, 200 IM and 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay. This statement would not be true in 1966 because HS Federation replaced the 200 Free Relay with the 400 Free Relay. In 1974, the 400 Free was replaced with the 500 Free. The 200 Free Relay, which was dropped in 1966 for the 400 Free Relay was added back in 1991. Jeff is correct in that NCAA swam the 1500 meter Free and finished with a rope at the measured distance. They did this up until 1962 and 1963 was the time they swam the 1650 Free. The 1500/1650 was not the only race that the NCAA changed distances from 1962 to 1963. The middle distance freestyle events of 220 and 440 were changed to 200 and 500 yard distances. There were no more races where finishes were determined by swimming under a rope. All finishes in swimming were determined by a touch at the wall. I believe the next five to six years or so manual timing was still used. The AAU was the governing body of swimming until 1980 and when the Amateur Sports Act passed in 1978, all Olympic Sports had there own NGB and were no longer administratively under the AAU. So USA Swimming or USS as it was called in the early days had nothing to do with the set up of the 1650 Free.