2024 POLISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, April 25th – Sunday, April 28th
- Lublin, Poland
- LCM (50m)
- Recap #1/Recap #2/Recap #3
- Live Results
- Livestream
The 2024 Polish Championships concluded last night from Lublin, representing a qualification opportunity for this summer’s Olympic Games and European Championships.
You can review the top swims from the 4-day competition via our recaps linked above.
However, one swim that flew under the radar occurred in the women’s 200m IM final last night. The times weren’t anything crazy but what was eye-catching was the fact that one competitor wound up being disqualified for transferring into another lane during the course of the race.
Aleksandra Knop started her 2IM race in her assigned lane 7. However, during her breaststroke pullout after the back-to-breast turn, the 20-year-old surfaced in lane 6.
Knop remained in the incorrect lane for the remainder of the breaststroke and freestyle legs with Marianna Rydynska swimming right behind. It was certainly an odd sight to have 2 swimmers in 1 lane in an elite final.
Knop wound up touching first in 2:16.96 but was disqualified for the following reason, “During the race, the swimmer swam into a lane different from the one she started in.”
Whoops! DQ!
Have heard of this in the backstroke
Is there a Polish joke in this?
I’m a little late on this article, but can someone clarify for me what the rules are for being in another swimmers lane? Are they just different depending on the governing body over each meet? In this case people are saying she wouldn’t have been DQ’d if she had returned to her lane before the end of the race, we all know what happened at the end of the 1650 at ACCs, and there’s also the matter of how Cullen Jones got to where he was when Lezak did the thing. Seems like a lot of confusion about when you can or can’t go into other lanes.
I hate saying it, but the lady who moved from one lane to the other likely should be DQ’d…for several reasons. 1) she never completed the race technically to the lane she was assigned (both the 150 touch and the 200 touch were never completed), and 2) her wake (and speed) impeded the lady whose lane it was, if not the wake of 2 swimmers affecting other lanes nearby. So, yeah, I think she laughed it off, was slightly embarrassed, and appears clearly unintentional, but a DQ nonetheless.
I don’t know about the rules of the Polish swimming governing body, but FINA rule, SW10.4, says, “The swimmer must remain and finish the race in the same lane in which he/she started.” I think there are national or local rules that say a swimmer has to finish in the same lane started but don’t say anything about in between except that there can be no interference. But the FINA rule clears says you have to remain in the same lane.
I’m gonna do this for one of my summer swim meets for fun
This happened in the ACC outdoor track and field championships last year. The Clemson woman who was leading the 400 hurdles final crossed over into the wrong lane on a late hurdle. I think it was 8. It ended up being a 1-2 finish in the same lane, with the eventual Miami winner crossing in second. And the announcers didn’t say anything about it. That may be the video isn’t easy to find.
I did find the summary. If you look at the reason for the disqualification is says, “Did Not Finish in Assigned Lane”:
https://flashresults.com/2023_Meets/Outdoor/05-11_ACC/010-2_compiled.htm#data
I can see new polish joke coming out of this situation.
When I was 10, the kid next to me in the 50 backstroke surfaced in my lane. He got dq’s. And then he went on to win CIF’s when we were seniors in high school and swam for Stanford.
I would have given her full points if she’d overtaken the swimmer in front.
No I think we’re on to something. You can swim in someone else’s lane but you have to beat them. Otherwise you lose points.
I heard somebody say once that the best spectator sports involve defense. If defensive strategies could be incorporated into this, maybe swimming would attract more viewers!
Olympics should rename the freestyle into the front crawl and add in a new event: the actual 50 freestyle where 8 swimmers start in one lane and compete to be the first one to reach the end of the pool. No rules except you need to stay within the lane.
Reminds me of Summer passing in a chase start 100 Br. 🤣
https://youtu.be/URFTMAV-g84?feature=shared
“On yer left!”