Sprint News 11/7/12: FINA Confirms Ultra High-Dive; French Alter Qualifying Procedures

In what seems to have become a never-ending rotation of coaches around the country, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks have hired a new assistant in Laura Thomas. Thomas was a two-time NCAA All-American for Georgia in the 1980’s, and has done most of her coaching in that state, including founding both the Cobia Aquatic Club and the Swim Oconee Aquatic Club. Her biggest college experience was at Georgia, where she was an assistant under Harvey Humphries and coached with the Athens Bulldogs Swim Club. She was also part of a long line of academic superstars at UGA, having been a Rhodes Scholar nominee. This may not initially seem to be a super significant hire, but considering head coach Andy Johns’ recent run of hiring assistants who get hired at major programs, it’s something to keep an eye on. Jeane Fuccilo is now at LSU, Brian Smith is at Georgia, and Dave Rollins is at Ohio Sate..

…FINA has voted to add super-high diving to the lineup of events at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in the form of 27 meters for men and 18 meters for women. As compared to the current highest discipline, the 10-meter platform, this will be a huge upgrade in aeronautical atmospheres. The exact format of the competition is yet to be revealed, but a commission was formed in the spring, and they have apparently confirmed the addition of these events. Safety will obviously become of paramount concern with these events.

…In other news out of the convention, FINA has temporarily suspended the Ecudaor Swimming Federation due to government interference, meaning that their athletes will swim under the FINA flag for the time-being at FINA events. Ecuador was represented at the Olympics by three swimmers: Samantha Salinas, Ivan Ochoa, and Esteban Salgado. FINA also announced that mixed relays would be included in the World Junior Championships, beginning in 2013. They still have not announced, however, who might be the replacement host for that meet after it leaked earlier this year that Casablanca had backed out…

…France has announced the qualifying criteria for international competitions in 2013, which can be seen here. After mounting frustration, the French seem to have moved away, at least in part, from their system of mandating certain qualifying times in each round at the qualifying meets. Specifically, seniors just have to hit the FINA ‘A’ standard in finals to be qualified for the World Championships. At the qualifying meet, which will run from April 9th-14th, though, they’ve offered an additional qualifying path for younger swimmers. Women 18 & under, or men 20 & under, can qualify on modified standards (see 5.2 from link above) if they win an event, hit a “B” time in the prelims or semi-finals, and are under a “youth” standard in finals. That youth standard falls between the FINA ‘A’ and ‘B’ times. This should be a positive change that will help encourage youth development, especially on the women’s side of the pool where the ranks are much thinner than on the men’s…