Seeing/Knowing Split-Times??

I think they changed the rule on watches, at least with USMS. At nationals a few weeks ago, I specifically asked about it, and was told it was fine. They had huge clocks up that gave splits and were far easier to see than my watch anyway. As far as I can recall, at every meet I've swum in, there have been clocks going that you could possibly see while swimming (I do remember seeing it at Texas A&M for our zone LCM meet 2 years ago). I wore my Apple Watch and no one said a word. I just discreetly started it as I climbed up on the blocks and ended the workout just before I climbed out of the water. I should have prefaced by saying my experiences come almost entirely from USA-S meets. I swim at MAYBE one USMS meet a year. The rest of my competitions are all USA-S. And I have seen people disqualified very recently for wearing watches. Let me also add that personally, from a competitive stand point, I don't care of my opponent(s) are wearing watches.

If you are wearing a watch and dive in, and a referee or official sees it, you will be disqualified. Even if the watch is off, or you could somehow prove you weren't pacing with it. As for pace clocks, they are SUPPOSED to be turned off for meets, but a few weeks ago I was racing the 1500 at a USA-S meet and the officials forgot to turn the clock off. I don't see it as my job to remind them of that, and I just so happen to breathe to my right side, which faced the clock, so coming in at each 100 I could see the clock and easily figure out my splits. I checked it every 400 meters (skipping the first 100 meters because I did not see what the clock said when the horn sounded to start the race!). It was very helpful, but again, my conscience is clear here because I was going to be able to see the clock anyways. Should have been turned off. I have NEVER been at a big USA-S or USMS meet where pace clocks are on. They are a bit more on top of that sort of thing! Fascinating. For purely interest sake, I need to ask a couple of questions: Why are clocks a "naughty" thing in swimming? How did this manifest? What is the issue here? (I come from a running background, with a reliance on split times, so please forgive my incredulousness around this.) How would wearing a watch in a race be helpful in any way whatsoever? How can you even glance at it without disrupting what you are supposed to be doing? Glancing at a clock on the wall can be done with no interruption in form, but glancing at a watch on your wrist?? Seriously?? What am I missing here?

Thanks Calvin S. I'm very surprised that, in 2019, a rule is influenced by universal access to timing devices. I would think that swimming pools themselves are much harder to acquire in certain populations. Please note mine was just an educated guess as to why they have the rule. I’m sure there are multiple reasons why, but I gave up understanding FINA, FIFA, FIBA, and every other French international governing body for sports years ago.

Thanks Calvin S. I'm very surprised that, in 2019, a rule is influenced by universal access to timing devices. I would think that swimming pools themselves are much harder to acquire in certain populations.

Fascinating. For purely interest sake, I need to ask a couple of questions: Why are clocks a "naughty" thing in swimming? How did this manifest? What is the issue here? (I come from a running background, with a reliance on split times, so please forgive my incredulousness around this.) How would wearing a watch in a race be helpful in any way whatsoever? How can you even glance at it without disrupting what you are supposed to be doing? Glancing at a clock on the wall can be done with no interruption in form, but glancing at a watch on your wrist?? Seriously?? What am I missing here? I think part of it is that not every competitor has a watch or access to one, so it evens the playing field if NO ONE gets to have one. I realize you could also make the same argument for cap and goggles, but watch just seems different. As to how I can use a pace clock while swimming, that is a skill I honed and refined over years and years of swimming. I breathe every 2 strokes (or once per stroke cycle), so always to my right side. When in practice I time my last breath to be the stroke before my turn allowing me to take a normal breath and see the clock IF it is positioned a yard or two MAX from the end of the pool. I do not have to break stroke or breathing pattern. As I turn my body/head and breathe, the clock is clearly visible. It works even better if the clock is positioned a little higher off the ground. I have been using the clock to count lengths, laps, and repetitions for the better part of 20 years now. I don't count (1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, etc. in my head when ticking off the lengths of a 400 in practice), I just watch the clock and if I lose count, I can check the clock against what my pace. If I miscount on said 400 and see 3:03 when I flip, I can ask myself "Ok, are you at the 300 or the 250? Well if you are just flipped for the 300 you are averaging 1:01s (which is basically threshold for me). Does it feel like you are holding 1:01s? Am I about to puke and does my face feel on fire? No? Well then I just flipped for the 250." I realize that feels like a lot of soul searching when I could be focusing on other things like stroke, kick, or flip technique, but all those thoughts basically happen simultaneously for me. If I were to try and glance at my wrist to see a watch, that WOULD mess up my stroke. Glancing at the pace clock right before my flip turn is effortless for me. The only difficult part for me is if sometimes the pace clock is not on my right side as I approach the wall. This requires me to map out my strokes/breaths when I am about 12-15 meters from the wall so that my last breath comes on my opposite side (left), allowing me to still see the clock. Usually when the clock is positioned to the other side, I check less frequently. EDIT: Just want to add that this is also why I HATE pools where the pace clocks are positioned at the end(s) of the pool. For my method to work the clocks MUST be on the side of the pool, and really inside the flags to get the most accurate splits!

The Rules Committee chair (somewhat) recently posted a blog about watches here: forums.usms.org/entry.php

How would wearing a watch in a race be helpful in any way whatsoever? How can you even glance at it without disrupting what you are supposed to be doing? Glancing at a clock on the wall can be done with no interruption in form, but glancing at a watch on your wrist?? Seriously?? What am I missing here? I'm not sure if any watches have this feature, but what if a watch could give an audible signal at a regular interval? With that feature you could set your stroke cadence and that would be considered pacing. At meets all pace clocks within view of the competition pool should be turned off. That doesn't mean they always are, of course.

As a sprinter the split does not matter, always as fast as possible