Officials Update4

In this Issue:

Besides the USA Swimming rules, there are also rules that are unique to Midlakes. In our official's role, it's important to be aware of both and educate parents and swimmers - especially as we deal with unique situations or have questions about our internal process and procedures. One overriding theme that we need to be mindful of is that we are doing this for the swimmers and there is a balance between that and following the rules. As examples:

Swimmers are allowed to "swim up" but only one age-group higher - and cannot swim the same stroke in 2 different events (eg, a 14 year old swimmer cannot swim the 13-14 50 free and the 15 & Over 100 Free in the same dual meet).
In order to swim in the Championships, a swimmer must participate in at least two dual meets. Exceptions may be granted upon written appeal to the Board.
Additional heats or events may be added in a dual meet with the agreement of both coaches. Coaches are to limit the number of Exhibition heats to 10 per team per meet in six lane pools, 12 per team in five lane pools and 15 per team in four lane pools.
Each team is limited to a maximum number of 120 swimmers entered in any particular dual meet (A or B).

There are a lot more besides these and all are contained in the Midlakes Swim Operating Plan found on our website: http://www.midlakesswimleague.org/Documentation/2010/2010%20Operating%20Plan.pdf. Please communicate this resource to your club and team parents.

Consistent Officiating

Consistency is an important aspect of the officials job - making the same decision given the same set of circumstances. One of the ways we do that is in our practice of mirroring the other official and walking the sides of the pool during the events. Almost all Midlakes pools allow officials to observe swims from the side and walk the sides - and it's really the only way that you can observe the swimmers in your jurisdiction. In our efforts to conduct ourselves in a professional manner, walking the sides allows officials to get closer to the start and turns to see the swimmer and be consistent. During training, we talked about doing the best you can when swimmers get separated during the event, but standing still or in one place really shouldn't be an option (except for perhaps freestyle when you can observe more from the end of the pool or during relay take-offs when you have to be at the end of the pool). If you find that you're walking and the opposite official isn't, please be sure to check with the starter/referee - and be sure to cover this (and relay take-offs) at your official's meeting as it can really help the officials work together, consistently.

The Starter/Referee Role

The Starter/Referee has a tough job - not only keeping the meet moving but also handling questions, protests, and accommodating coaches requests as appropriate. One of the important things to keep in mind is that when a decision is being made, consideration should be given as to whether fairness to the competition is being upheld while also allowing swimmers to swim whenever possible. As examples:

A swimmer strains their knee during the medley relay such that they barely finished their breaststroke leg (legally). They are entered in the Breaststroke individual event later in the meet. The coach requests from the starter that this swimmer be moved from the Breast to the Butterfly event (as there are open lanes for their team in that event). This should be allowed within reason - the coach should not be switching events, reorganizing relays, and exchanging exhibition events for final events on a whim or regular basis. And certainly, no changes should be allowed "last minute" and should be communicated early enough for the Starter to notify the officials on deck as well as the computer entry folks.
A swimmer from the visiting team gets in the wrong lane for the final heat of their 25 yard event (so no timers were present to help out) preventing the home team swimmer (and top seed) from entering their race (basically resulting in four members of the other team swimming against two home team swimmers). The home team swimmer is instructed to step back and when the race finishes, the issue is taken to the starter. At this point the starter should figure out a way to allow this swimmer to swim as, through no fault of their own, they were denied a swim. (The best way to handle this would be that while the timers are still in place, run a special heat of the 25 event, and score the event (and allowing the time) as if the swimmer had been in the right place for their swim.) If the swimmer had been talking with their friends, goofing around, or just simply not ready to swim (day-dreaming or some other such activity), then it might be a good learning lesson for them to be ready to swim - for their next event. That's why we have coaches and announcers keeping track of the events and letting everyone know "What's Next"!

As discussed during training, decisions that are made need to be well thought out - and those that are made early in the meet should be able to be applied later in the meet. Again, fairness to all swimmers should be the major factor when making these decisions.

Questions

Q1: A swimmer in a free relay swam their leg, then grabbed the bottom bar on the diving block without first touching the wall to finish their length, and the swimmer above dived to start their leg when the swimmer touched the bar. Similarly, a swimmer doing an individual event ended by touching the bar, stood up and then eventually hit the wall as part of getting out. Are these DQs?

A1: These are both one of those judgment situations. If the swimmer touches the "end" of the pool legally (two hand simultaneous touch as required in Breast and Fly, or on their back in Backstroke), but the "end" happens to be the bar of the starting block, then it's probably legal. It didn't aid the swimmer or their time as the starting block bar is usually parallel with the end of the pool (if it's not, this would be something to cover in your official's meeting).

Q2: The rules on breaststroke say that there should be a pull and then a kick at the start and turn (with allowance for a butterfly kick after the initiation of the pull but before the breaststroke kick). But sometimes it looks like the the swimmer does a pull-pull-kick - basically, the swimmer does a first pull as they are pulling themselves towards the surface (without any kick) and then starts into their regular pull-kick pattern. It feels a little subtle, but is this a DQ?

A2: Yes, this is a DQ as Breaststroke is the only stroke with a cycle requirement - pull then kick, in that order. Always.

Q3: A butterflyer dives down so far between strokes that they are completely underwater. The rule says "some part of the body must remain on the surface of the water throughout the swim". Is this a DQ, and if so how do I write it up?

A3: Yes, this is a DQ. In those events that has the requirement "some part of the swimmers body must remain on the surface of the water" (usually after the 15 meter requirement has been met) and the swimmer does not comply, then you'd simply document the DQ as "swimmer submerged during swim".

Thanks again for all the work you do. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If you know of others who should receive this information, please let me know - and if you are no longer interested in receiving these, let me know and I'll remove you from the distribution list.

Regards,

Scott Allen

Officials Chair

Midlakes Swim League