Keeping up with the Code: A quick look at some recent rule changes

For the Chattahoochee Gold girls backstrokers, an avalanche of post-race DQ slips came as a total surprise. (Or at least that’s how it looked on Twitter and Instagram…)

Under a new FINA backstroking rule that only took effect about 6 months ago, swimmers can no longer be completely submerged at the finish of a race. With many swimmers being specifically coached to do this prior to the rule change, it’s no surprise that the transition to the new rule would come with some collateral DQ damage. But there can’t be many swims more disappointing than those that finish with a blindsiding DQ slip, a nullification of a race for breaking a rule one didn’t know existed.

To help keep you in the know, we at SwimSwam have put together a quick rundown of some of the more recent rule changes within the sport so we can end those awful “Surprise! You’re DQ’d” moments:

Breaststroke Pullouts

These are probably the most-amended rules as of late, and all pretty much center around the downward dolphin kick added to the pullout in the mid-2000s.

Originally, the dolphin kick was done during the pull phase. But as coaches started to experiment, more and more athletes started putting the kick at the top, before the breaststroke pull.

Back in 2012, FINA issued a new interpretation of its pullout rules. The two parts of clarification were as follows:

• Separating the hands counts as beginning the breaststroke pull
• There can be a pause after the separation of the hands

Essentially, what this allows swimmers to do is to separate their hands, then dolphin kick, then move on with the rest of the pullout, a technique a large number of breaststrokers are using now.

It’s worth remembering that under FINA rules, the hands do have to separate before the pullout starts.

Important note: High school swimming adopted this same rule not long after FINA, but also came out later to relax the rule even further – in high school swimming, the dolphin kick can happen at any time before the breaststroke kick, even presumably while the hands are still in streamline position.

Backstroke finishes

Here’s our shout-out to the Chattahoochee Gold gals. (We thoroughly enjoyed the tweet, Lauren Case!) While the most-discussed rule change from last September was the inclusion of mixed relays in FINA world records, the rule changes also included an amendment to backstroke.

Swimmers are no longer able to completely submerge at the finish. That means that those “dive-down” lunges to the wall at the finish are no longer legal if the swimmer’s entire body goes under. Swimmers can escape DQ if some part of their body is still above the surface at the finish, but of course, as with all DQs, there’s a level of subjectivity in what officials can see. A swimmer mostly under the water might still be at risk, and the safest bet is to either stay completely on the surface or make sure some part of your body is noticeably above water as you close the race.

Based on some of our commenters in previous articles, it appears many officials have been calling DQs for this infraction for quite some time now. So the bright side is that at least this rule is standardized across the board and not a decision made by each individual official.

High school swimming has also adopted this rule, very recently. We reported on it in April.

Of course, swimmers can still fully submerge at the turn and for the first 15 meters off the wall. It’s only the finish that is affected here.

Butterfly and Breaststroke Turns

Also included in that same round FINA rule changes was a modification to butterfly and breaststroke turns. Swimmers are no longer allowed to touch the wall with the hands overlapping – to complete the legal two-hand touch, a swimmer has to have his or her hands separated.

This one seems like more of a technical clarification than anything. Logically, if hands are overlapping, one would seem to be touching the wall before another, thereby violating the simultaneous, two-hand touch rule. Even if a swimmer could do it legally, they’d be liable to be DQ’d anyway by an official who simply wasn’t used to seeing a turn that way, or didn’t get a close enough look at the hands themselves.

So for open turns, the legal key to remember is two hands, separated and simultaneous.

Others

There are a few other rule changes that come to mind, most less impactful than the previous three. Here’s a quick list:

• Mixed relays: FINA now keeps track of world records in mixed relays, made up of two men and two women. The notable catches are that all 4 members of the relay have to be of the same nationality for the record to count, and that in mixed relays only, the leadoff legs are not able to break individual records.
• Track-start/”wedge” blocks: FINA and high school swimming have both approved the use of blocks with wedges or kickplates.

Are there any notable changes we didn’t include? Have any great DQ horror stories from the past that still get you riled up to this day? Leave them in the comments.

Beyond that, happy swimming, and stay legal!

(If you’re interested in looking up the official wordings of these rules, you can find the FINA rulebook here.)