In this issue:
Meetings, Meetings
Relay Take-Offs
Lots of Questions
Meetings, Meetings
Coaches and officials Meetings should be held before each meet – 1 each
with both – to review and discuss any rules questions, jurisdictions or
any specific things that need to be noted about the pool or the
participants in that day’s events. Because each venue is unique, there
should be one held for EVERY meet – very similar to what we do for
Champs (but without the Scratch meeting). Coaches and officials should
expect a meeting - or ask for one - to discuss such items.
One subject that would likely come up is the pool depth for diving at
the “shallow” end for the 100 Yard Relays. As discussed at both the
training and at the Midlakes Coaches Meeting, the rule is that a 4 feet
minimum depth is required for dives at the "shallow" end. There are
only 4 Midlakes venues where this would be allowed - Edgebrook, MI Beach
Club, Plateau Club, and 7 of the 8 lanes at MI Country Club and since
the 3 Champs meets are held at one of these, it isn't a problem for the
season-end events. So, during the dual meet season, all other pools
would need to have “in the water starts” for these events. Holding a
meeting to review this would be a good idea – and also a reminder to
both coaches and officials that swimmers starting in the water are
expected to have their hand on the wall until the incoming swimmer
touches.
Relay
Take-Offs
One of the important jobs to help ensure fairness across the competition is to recruit additional help for relay judges and thus, how to monitor the exchanges becomes important. Hopefully, you'll find this description of the job to help describe what the job entails.
Relay Take-Offs: Watch the feet of the swimmer on the block or the hand of the swimmer on the wall for an "in the water" start. When the feet of the swimmer on the block leave the starting platform, look down to see if the incoming swimmer has touched the wall OR when the hand of the swimmer in the water leaves the wall, look to see if the incoming swimmer has touched the wall. If so, then the exchange is good and you should circle the outgoing swimmer’s number on the relay take-off slip. If the exchange is bad, put an X through the number of the swimmer who took off early. Do not raise your hand for an early take-off, as this is a dual confirmation infraction. In the case of an "in the water" start, if the swimmer's hand is on the wall and they remove their hand and reposition it (adjusting to the position of the incoming swimmer), it is the judge’s discretion to determine if the hand left the wall in an attempt to "start".
The pair of officials may have to work out hand signals to each other (across the pool) to indicate a good or bad relay exchange - that way they avoid having to "run" across the deck to compare slips. Also, the starter/referee should watch for any slips that might be coming from the turn end of the pool during the 100 Relays. This would also be a great item to discuss at your Officials Meeting!
Q1:
What should I do when I have a disqualification on a swimmer in my
jurisdiction who is not on my heatsheet?
A1:
Stroke & Turn judges should note on their heatsheet both those swimmers
who are “extra” as well as those who are not swimming in the heat.
Go ahead and raise your hand, and then write up the disqualification
form - the Starter and timers should be able to handle the “who” of the
swimmer as long as you note the event, heat and lane of the swimmer and
correctly describe the infraction.
Q2:
Can Midlakes swimmers wear year-round club deck coats and t-shirts at a
Midlakes swim meets? I understand the year-round swim suits and caps
are prohibited but hadn’t heard that the deck coats are too.
A2:
Yes, deck coats, t-shirt, bags, and the like are fine. Only
competition wear (caps, suits) are subject to being disallowed or having
the insignias covered. However, coaches and parents are encouraged to
advise their kids to exercise discretion and limit display of deck
coats, t-shirt, bags, and such. Please keep in mind, swimmers must
be given a warning to correct the offending suit or cap before they are
DQ'd. Only if they refuse or swim again without correcting the suit/cap
would they then would be disqualified.
Q3:
In a backstroke turn, if a swimmer turns onto their stomach, then grabs
the wall with their hand, then pushes off on their back, is that legal?
The Midlakes Stroke Briefing states that the swimmer "may turn in any
manner". Do we take that literally, as long as they push off on
their back?
A3:
Yes, that is legal provided they turned to their stomach between the
flags and the wall and have not made any arm motions other than the
single or double arm pull which they are allowed. If it is as
literal as you describe, then yes, you can judge that as a legal turn.
Q4:
Do the toes need to point out on the breaststroke kick? I saw
someone (actually a few someones) swim with an incredibly pigeon toed
stroke, but the movement was in and not down (not a butterfly kick).
I also saw number of multiple butterfly kicks at the start of the
breaststroke - it's still just one, right?
A4: The
toes pointed out indicates a valid breaststroke kick as long as the kick
is in the same horizontal plane - if they are not, then the official
would need to observe an invalid kick based on the rules "The feet must
be turned outwards during the propulsive part of the kick.".
You're correct in that there can't be any downward motion. And
yes, only one butterfly kick is allowed after the initiation of the
pull.
