I would say, “Sorry this is so long!”, but I am not and this needs to be discussed and fixed.
There has become many arguments and just plain wrong “assumptions” about Starts and when a Start becomes a False Start. I do not know if it is that the Relay False Start is different or where the confusion comes from. I will go thru both Starts.
An anecdote to how far things can go:
At a Championship Meet, many, many years ago, A very good swimmer, who I had not seen swim, at least that year, but had noticed their times, was the top seed in a Freestyle Event. I was near the Starting end, but not fully invested in watching the start. I had just looked away or looked up just after the race was started and could “see” that something was wrong. Said swimmer ended up DQ'd for a False Start, correctly, by the Starter. The swimmer's parents, almost immediately it seemed, came literally screaming at me. It took a minute (or more it seemed) to get them calm enough to have a discussion with... they had a picture of the start (more on pictures/videos coming soon!) that showed, by their reasoning, that there was no False Start. They had kept 'yelling' that their swimmer was not in the water before the start. When I got them calm enough to 'review' the start that they had caught in their picture... I understood what they were saying. Anyone would have a hard time cutting a video and capturing the image they had. Their swimmer was completely horizonal, off the start edge, with every one of the other swimmers completely vertical, still motionless, in their start positions. Obviously the swimmer had left well before the starting sound. Had said swimmer been doing that all summer? I do not know. I do know that the parents did not leave happy! Is that happening now.. I do not know... but we are going to fix it here and now.
Individual (or first swimmer of a Relay Team) Start:
Upon the starting command, “Set”, swimmers shall promptly assume a motionless position with their foot/feet at the front edge of the platform or pool deck. When all swimmers are motionless, the starter shall activate a starting device.
A false start/infraction occurs when a swimmer:
a. unnecessarily delays in reporting for the start, or in assuming a starting position;
b. leaves the mark before the starting signal;
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does not remain motionless immediately prior to the start*. Other swimmers are to be released by the starter’s command, “Stand up.”
* Any swimmer making any movements toward the pool before or when the start command is given, shall be deemed to have false started.
* Any swimmer moving away from the pool when the start command is given, shall not be deemed to have false started unless said movement causes other swimmers in said heat to false start. Then the False Start shall be charged to the original movement.
Relay:
On the take off, the second, third and fourth swimmers on a relay team may be in motion before the previous swimmer finishes. The swimmer shall remain in contact with the pool deck until the previous swimmer has finished. However, on starts from the deck, the second, third and fourth swimmers must use the forward start with at least one foot at the edge of the deck. The body may be in motion but no intentional movement of the feet is permitted.*
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* Think of this as the wall/deck is the baton that is handed off. The outgoing swimmer must still be in contact with the wall when the incoming swimmer finishes/touches the wall. In other words; if the outgoing swimmer is no longer in contact with the wall when the incoming swimmer touches the wall, it is a false start.
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* The last sentence that states, “no intentional movement of the feet is permitted”, refers to that there must be one foot of the outgoing swimmer in static contact with the edge of the deck and that foot cannot be moved until the swimmer is leaving the deck to enter the water. This deters swimmers from running from the parking lot to get a better start.
A long with the swimmers having rules and restrictions, there is also a correct way for the Starters to command a start:
Starts: Starters shall not have a set cadence with their call for the start. Their only consistency would be in calling the start when all swimmers in a heat become motionless after the call to “set”.
If a Starter has a prescribed cadence, no matter what is “happening” at the starting line the swimmers start to anticipate / predict the start sound and it creates an unfair advantage. If there is, correctly, no cadence, just a starting sound when all are set and motionless, no one can anticipate and all must wait for the starting sound and react, not anticipate.
I believe this gets our Starters “off the hook”, being 'forced' to be exactly the same with the wrong type of cadence and allows them to concentrate on movement, pre and post to the starting sound and should lead to more properly called False Starts.
Policing False Starts:
There is a prescribed procedure for enforcing False Starts:
If only one swimmer commits a False Start, the race is not stopped and the offending swimmer is DQ'd at the finish of the race.
If only one swimmer False Starts, but “pulls” other swimmers into a False Start with their actions, then the race is stopped, the original offender is removed, DQ'd, from the race and the race is re- swam. If those competing in said race swam far enough to become any amount of “winded”, move them back a race or more and restart them when the are ready.
There can be more than one swimmer guilty of a False Start in a given race. Both, or more, should be DQ'd.
For Backstroke Starts:
All the same rules apply; being motionless, not moving toward the pool... etc.
A caveat to Backstroke Starts: When the Starter commands the Backstrokers to enter the pool, they must do so feet first and not create a splash or cause a delay to the Start.
Thank you for reading thru. Hopefully this improves the way people look at Starts and False Starts.
Like always, please contact me if you have questions. If you would like to reply to this, do not do so directly. Please start a new email for any replies.
Jeff - jeffreyd@atcjet.net - 308-962-4148
For those your that are regular receivers of thes Posts, there is not required reply needed. FYI: this has gone out to everyone with an account with our League... parents, coaches, swimmers and all.
