Ok, so the more they email me, the more I get nervous about the water temp. Last year it was 69 which stung to get in, but it made for a nice swimming temp. By the end, though, my fingers and toes felt a little numb, but that could have been tired (??).
But this year, it could be up to 10 degrees colder?! What to do when the coolest water I can find here in Cincinnati is 80?
If people like Chris get DQ'd for going past 15 meters in a race, then OW swimmers should be DQ'd for missing buoys.
The rules do require a DQ for missing a mandatory buoy, if (1) the responsible official notices, or (2) someone else notices and protests (or self-reports after realizing later that s/he missed one).
Someone also may once have gone past 15m in a backstroke race without being DQ'd, because (1) the responsible official did not notice, and (2) nobody who did notice protested. A rule violation (15m, false start, etc.) could even have happened at Nationals.
These examples illustrate how much our sport relies on self-policing, and is vulnerable to normal human error, but they just don't persuade me that USMS needs to "clean up its act." Using the types of technology and officiating standards that apply to, say, the Olympics would raise entry fees and reduce the number of competitions rather substantially. Personally, I figure that if no one cared enough about the outcome of Big Shoulders to protest at the time, I am in no position to get worked up about it now.
If people like Chris get DQ'd for going past 15 meters in a race, then OW swimmers should be DQ'd for missing buoys.
The rules do require a DQ for missing a mandatory buoy, if (1) the responsible official notices, or (2) someone else notices and protests (or self-reports after realizing later that s/he missed one).
Someone also may once have gone past 15m in a backstroke race without being DQ'd, because (1) the responsible official did not notice, and (2) nobody who did notice protested. A rule violation (15m, false start, etc.) could even have happened at Nationals.
These examples illustrate how much our sport relies on self-policing, and is vulnerable to normal human error, but they just don't persuade me that USMS needs to "clean up its act." Using the types of technology and officiating standards that apply to, say, the Olympics would raise entry fees and reduce the number of competitions rather substantially. Personally, I figure that if no one cared enough about the outcome of Big Shoulders to protest at the time, I am in no position to get worked up about it now.
