The Hillcrest Paddler Issue 5 June/July 2017

President’s Corner Club Contacts: President: Kieran McCarthy

With our AGM over for another year and having spent some time [email protected] reflecting on the successes and challenges that the club is facing it is Vice President: with a fair amount of optimism that I look forward to the next year. Hillcrest Newsletter Our trip to Samoa is coming up in July which will be a welcome Head Coach: Matt White change in training conditions compared to the HBHS pool I am sure. [email protected] Don't worry team we will be taking heaps of photos to share in the Treasurer: August newsletter. [email protected]

For those of you who didn't attend our AGM and prize giving we Secretary: Carole Berry welcomed two new committee members in Andrea Sharpe and [email protected] Sandra Petrin who I am sure will be a great asset to the committee this year and we also honoured departing committee members Jazz Coaching Coordinator McKay and Jamie Soo Choon whose contributions to the club have [email protected] been vital over the years. It is not often we get to install a new life Recorder and administrator: member and Jazz is a most deserving recipient, her work as coaching Michelle Walker co-ordinator was responsible for the high quality programs that we [email protected] offer at our club. Jamie has been the organising force behind our Samoa trip and without him the idea would not have got off the Website: Helena Johnston ground. Thank you most sincerely to both of you. Events: Sharon Smith Before Samoa though we have a trip to Taupo to consider for the Uniforms: Paula Kenny XLR8 meet while I am certain it will be very sub-tropical indeed the [email protected] will be red hot. Learn to swim: Please do keep any ideas, suggestions or feedback coming in to the [email protected] committee I can't promise to implement every idea but I can promise that every piece of feedback will be taken seriously and responded to.

Ia Manuia Kieran

Target Meets Coach Matt’s Catch Up

Taupo Xlr8 meet 10 & 11th of June

Ace festival 24th of June "Hey team!

Hamilton Winter Meet 22-23 July So I’m back on pool deck after a few weeks off

BOP Short Course Champs 11-13 August in and I just want to start by saying a big thanks to Tauranga those who stood up in my absence. Swimming Waikato Hub Head Coach Clive Power who

Central Short Course Championship 1-3 came in and took my squads as well as Coach September in Rotorua Kelsi and Administrator Michelle for keeping the ship running smoothly with a new captain

on board. I’m sure everyone enjoyed the 2017 Caro Cup Team benefits of Clive’s vast experience and Monday, May 29th, 2017 expertise as a former National Head Coach!

On the 18th of June, 108 of our junior swimmers (aged 13 and under) are heading to Prior to my break I spent some time in Australia Auckland to take part in our annual Caro Cup at their National Age Group Champs with the Relay Challenge. They’ll be supported by Alison Fitch and Helen Barr as Team Coaches, NZ Team in Brisbane, and also attended their and 27 Team Managers who are all volunteering their time to make this a great annual coaching conference on the Gold Coast. day out. While there, I was constantly on the lookout The team will be decked out in branded singlets and swim caps and they’ll have a for what made them SO GOOD at the sport we fantastic opportunity to experience swimming as a team sport where every single swim earns love. How do they swim so fast? What do they points for Team Waikato. Each swimmer will do differently? What’s their secret? And in all compete over five events –  4 x 50m Freestyle honesty, the difference I found wasn’t so much  4 x 50m Backstroke in the physical attributes, but more in the  4 x 50m Breastroke mental. The athletes themselves and the  4 x 50m Butterfly  4 x 50m Medley training sessions they do were all relatively In 2016, the Caro Cup was won by Auckland and we’re looking forward to seeing what our similar, but the ATTITUDE of swimmers over Waikato swimmers can do this year ! there was what was so impressive. They have a We’d like to congratulate all 108 team members and wish them all the very best for culture of success and don’t settle for anything the 18th – you can see the full team list below. less than the best. They treat swimming as a

Congratulations to the following Hillcrest swimmers top level sporting code and COMMIT to who have been selected to compete for the Caro excellence and hard work. cup

Stella Coombes So what can we take from Australia’s Trinaka Kenny successes? BELIEF. Believe you can be the best Nicole Smith Hayley Sharpe and train like it. Give yourself a chance to do Maddy Coombes something amazing, and let’s take this Hillcrest Elijah Singleton Club to the next level! Kurtis McCarthy

Good luck team and have fun See you all poolside, Coach Matt"

Coach Kelsi’s Poolside Report Sponsorship for the girls going to Samoa

Well, winter has started to set in at the pool but At the end of term 1 Hannah Morgan and Emma that hasn’t stopped any smiling faces turning up to Maultsaid decided to investigate the possibility of train hard and get those off-season gains. These last organising club Jolyn’s for the girls heading to Samoa. couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of working They surveyed the swimmers and found they had a lot alongside Clive Power – the head Waikato coach of support. with Matt away on leave. It was great for not only our swimmers to get a taste of another coaching Hannah then took it one step further and secured style but also for myself to learn and observe. He sponsorship to cover the Jolyn’s for the 12 girls definitely left a lasting impression and I hope the heading off on the swim camp. She emailed back and swimmers can continue to keep up the good forth Jolyn Australia a total of 29 times and found it progress he contributed to in the pool. very tricky to sort sizing and order them in…but she got there in the end.

We throw out the challenge now to the boys going and In other news, it has been great to see some of our their amazing parents as well. If the girls could do it I junior swimmers getting amongst the competitive am sure you boys can to. scene by attending the Waikato relay days and our recent club champs and flying 50 events. Keep up Anyone else interested? We would need a minimum of the great work team! If you are wanting to get ten interested to do another order  involved but you’re not quite sure how to take the plunge be sure to check out the section in this Thank you Li’l Pumpkins Early Learning and Sharon month’s newsletter on how to enter competitions! Honiss for the sponsorship.

Swimming Successes in April/May

NZ Opens Gina McCarthy 2nd 200 IM and 7th 1500 free

Georgina Hope Australian Age Groups Gina McCarthy 2nd 200 IM, 9th 200 back, 7th 400 free, 7th 800 free, 2nd 400 IM and 10th 200 free

Gina also broke the Waikato 200 IM and 400 IM age group record and the 200 IM NZ age group record

Waikato Secondary Schools These swimmers took a top three placing in their respective age groups Grace Soo Choon 1st in 100 fly, 200 IM and 50 fly Gina McCarthy 1st in 200 IM, 200 free, 100 IM and Hannah Morgan 1st in 50 breast, 50 back, 100 back Brooke Bigwood 3rd in 100 back, 2nd in 50 back Logan Bigwood 3rd in 200 IM, 3rd in 100 breast rd Stella Coombes 3 in 200 free Emma Maultsaid 3rd in 100 free, 2nd in 200 free nd Tyrell Priddey 2 in 100 back Nicole Smith 3rd in 100 breast

North Island Secondary Schools These swimmers took placed in the top five in either the 14 and under or the 15 and over age groups

Logan Bigwood top 5 200 breast Taylah Buckley 3rd in 200 breast Stella Coombes top five 200 free Thomas Coombes top five 200 breast Gina McCarthy 1st in 200 breast, 200 back, 400 free and 200 IM Hannah Morgan 2nd in 200 back, 1st in 50 breast, 3rd in 100 back Tyrell Priddey 3rd in 400 free Grace Soo Choon 2nd 50 fly, 200 back, 200 fly, 1st in 100 fly

National and Regional Squad Introducing New Committee Members Andrea Selections 2017 Sharpe and Sarndra Petrin NZ Development Squad – Gina McCarthy Hi, my name is Andrea Sharpe. My children have been swimming with Hillcrest Swim Club for the last 4+ years and my daughter Hayley currently swims in Swim Waikato TAPs Squad – Gina the Junior Performance squad. Over our time with McCarthy the club I have spent numerous weekends poolside

busy with timekeeping, team managing and Swim Waikato – Accelerate Squad recording, and I'm happy to now be able to help the  Grace Soo Choon club out further by stepping into a committee role.  Hannah Knighton In my normal day job I am a science teacher at  Tyrell Priddey Hillcrest High School, so I even get to teach a  Emma Maultsaid couple of the squad members!

 Hannah Morgan Hi my name is Sarndra Petrin I have been involved in  Stella Coombes the club over the past 10 years, having two  Brooke Bigwood daughters that have swum for the club during that time. Kellie has recently rejoined the club and is in  Nicole Smith the Senior Performance Squad, which she thoroughly enjoys. I have been involved in Congratulations team on your selection timekeeping, managing started IOT, and I enjoy to these squads  helping with fundraising. I look forward to being in the committee again for the new challenges.

Term 2 fees for 2017

Our Bank Account Details are as follows:

Westpac

03-1559-0004728-000

If you do not have Internet Banking please take your payment to any branch and pay in using the reference -swimmer surname and squad initials or LTS level

Note that all the fees quoted below exclude the annual 'competitive swimmer fee' that swimmers must pay to Swimming Waikato/Swimming NZ before they can register for competition meets such as the summer-series and regional championship events etc. Swimmers who wish to enter entry level meets including Festival Meets can swim as club swimmers for a yearly fee of $20 paid 1st July each year to Swimming NZ. Payment is via your, “My page” on the swimming NZ website- contact the Secretary Carole to obtain a password and user name.

SQUAD FEES FOR TERM 2 2017

Fee ($, GST incl.) Item

Club fee (once per year to be paid by every squad swimmer - levied once per July to June year. Due no 55.00 later than July 31st or upon first enrolment if later) Youth Performance (per term) 290.00 Age Group performance (per term) 290.00 Junior performance (per term) 260.00 Senior Squad (per term, 1-4 sessions per week) 185.00 Development A (per term, 2-4 sessions per week) 220.00 Development B (per term, 2-3 sessions per week) 190.00 Learn to Swim Level 5/6 (per term) 2 sessions per week 220.00

Learn to Swim One on One session: 30.00 per

session Learn to Swim Level 1-4 One Session per week: (per term) 140.00

A Family Discount of 10% applies to all families of three or more swimmers.

Start of the Swimming Year: Annual Fee Time

It is that time of year again, when the start of the swimming year is dawning. The swimming year runs from July 1st to June 30th.

Your will have seen in previous newsletters our fees page which details the club membership fee of $55.

Like other clubs, such as football supporters clubs, or cosmopolitan clubs, this is a flat fee due once per year for membership of Hillcrest Swimming Club and is payable by all squad swimmers to cover all the incidentals for running the club (such as postage, printing costs, other admin fees etc.) along with the use of the facilities and the option to take advantage of the club nights and internal club events and prizes. This fee is payable by both competing and non-competing swimmers.

You can choose to be either a “Competitive Swimmer” or a “Club Swimmer”

Competitive swimmers: can enter all meets, subject to any qualifying times, both inside and outside Waikato. The meet flyers give all the information on who can enter and if there are qualifying criteria. All flyers can be found, either on the Swimming NZ or Swimming Waikato websites and we email the flyers that Hillcrest Club has targeted for the different squads. The fee for being competitive last year was $90.50 plus the $55 club fee so paying on line, to be a competitive swimmer in the last year was $145.50.

Club Swimmers: In 2016 swimming Waikato changed the terminology of “Club” swimmer. After paying an annual fee of $20 via their “My page” (together with the club fee i.e. a total of $75), Club Swimmers are allowed entry into all Waikato competitions defined as “Festival” meets and other Waikato meets where the flyers specifically refer to club swimmers being eligible. This allows Club swimmers to partake in all the entry level meets in the Waikato area, such as the Bill Grey Meet in June, the Chocolate Carnival Meet in September and the Hillcrest Festival Meet in October.

There are also “Carnival Meets” where all swimmers can enter.

The $20 option means our swimmers who have ever competed before can dip their toe in the water (excuse the pun) and find out what tremendous fun these competitions are both in terms of putting your training to the test and learning the discipline of being in the right place at the right time, plus the opportunities to make endless friends.

We will confirm the 2017/18 fees once we hear from Swimming Waikato & Swimming NZ as to whether there will be an increase this year.

As per our website we would encourage all our squad swimmers to use at least the $20 Club Swimmer option to take the opportunity to swim in meets.

You have the option of paying your fees online through your “My page” on the swimming NZ website, this includes the Hillcrest club fee along with the club or competitive fees, or via the normal invoicing system (please let us know which option you require). If you do not have a “My page” password see the related article (below) on how to set this up and enter a meet.

For those swimmers who only swim term 4 & 1 and do not register via swimming NZ for any of the above options, we will be collecting the Hillcrest Club fee of $55, by invoice, at the start of term 4. For new squad swimmers, this fee is payable either on July 1st or thereafter on joining.

If you have any questions about this article please contact Michelle on [email protected]

Spotlight on Hannah Knighton

Hannah Knighton swims in our Youth Performance squad here at Hillcrest Swim Club. She is a national swimmer, cyclist and runner…basically the triple threat. Combine all these athletic talents together and you have an outstanding triathlete. We are excited to announce that Hannah has been named as part of the under 19 NZ team going to the ITU World Championships in Rotterdam in September this year.

When did you become interested in triathlon?

When I was seven I competed in my first Weetbix Tryathlon and was hooked from the start. The thought of competing in three sports in the same event appealed. Even though I love triathlons, I played a wide range of sports through primary school including tennis, netball and hockey. I picked up cycling when I started Dio. I have only switched to focus on triathlons in the last couple of years but still really enjoy competing in swimming, cycling and cross country events as well.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Since triathlon is made up of swimming, cycling and running, I have to train for each of these sports as well as gym sessions for injury prevention and strength work. This means every day is different, this is another reason why I enjoy the sport. Usually I start my day with a training session (either swimming or strength and conditioning) before school. After school I try and fit in two more trainings which can include swimming, cycling, running or stretching before I head home to do homework (and eat!).

What has been your career highlight so far?

Winning four from four races at NZSS Triathlon Champs in my final year at school this year was pretty cool. The champs included an individual triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), a team triathlon (I was the cyclist (20km) in a team with Katie White (swim) and Emily Irvine (run), aquathon (750m swim, 5km run) and a mixed tag team triathlon (2 boys and 2 girls where each person completes a short fast triathlon (200m swim, km bike and 2km run)).

How would your best friend describe you?

Control freak

What goals have you set for yourself?

I try to focus on process goals rather than placings. So over winter, I will be trying to improve my first transition (from swim to bike) and work on my bike technical skills, as the Rotterdam bike course is a very technical circuit. I will be working on improving my swim times as it will be important to be in the lead group out of the water.

What words of advice or encouragement do you have to share with younger athletes?

Be sure you love the sport you do (even though there may be times you won’t like it.) Set goals and work hard to improve.

Do you ever feel like you are missing out on the things your friends are doing?

There are lots of times that I have missed friend’s birthdays and gatherings because I am away at an event or have had to leave early for training, but most of my friends are involved in sport and are in a similar situation. I get to see my closest friends at training and through the sports I am involved in I have made friends throughout NZ

What is your favourite food?

Apple with peanut butter is my latest craze but it frequently changes.

What would your super power be?

To fly

Most Improved Butterfly Swimmer; Junior Girl: Trinaka HASC Prize winners 2017 Kenny Most Improved Butterfly Swimmer; Junior Boy: Charlie Moon Girls 8 & Under; Morine Trophy: Tamzyn McNamara Most Improved Butterfly Swimmer; Senior Girl: Briony Fraser Girls 8 & Under; 2nd Place: Ashley Calcott Most Improved Butterfly Swimmer; Senior Boy: Thomas Girls 8 & Under; 3rd Place: Jessica Ward Coombes Boys 8 & Under; Shearer Trophy: Lars Cosford Overall winner; Teokotai-White Family Trophy: Trinaka Boys 8 & Under; 2nd Place: Ben Young Kenny 9 Year Old Girls; McClennan Cup: Jayne McPhillips Most Improved Backstroke Swimmer; Junior Girl: Madeline 9 Year Old Girls; 2nd Place: Sienna Sandford Coombes 9 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place Katie Bowen Most Improved Backstroke Swimmer; Junior Boy: Kinnon 9 Year Old Boys; Pollock & Milne Cup: Finn Cosford Broekhuizen 9 Year Old Boys; 2nd Place: Jamieson Goldsmith & Matthew Sinclair Most Improved Backstroke Swimmer; Senior Girl: Brooke 10 Year Old Girls; Bigwood Cup: Madeline Coombes & Xanthe Bigwood Lovegrove-Edlington Most Improved Backstroke Swimmer; Senior Boy: Corwin 10 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place: Isla McNulty Broekhuizen 10 Year Old Boys; Booth & Chapman Cup: Kurtis McCarthy Overall winner; Robertson Family Cup: Corwin Broekhuizen 10 Year Old Boys; 2nd Place: Kinnon Broekhuizen Most Improved Swimmer; Junior Girl: Xanthe 11 Year Old Girls; Smith & Clarke Cup: Maddy Basel & Sophie Lovegrove-Edlington Rollitt Most Improved Breaststroke Swimmer; Junior Boy: Kurtis 11 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place Clara McPhillips McCarthy 11 Year Old Boys; Hillcrest Pharmacy Cup: Charlie Moon Most Improved Breaststroke Swimmer; Senior Girl: Hannah 11 Year Old Boys; 2nd Place: Elijah Singleton Morgan 11 Year Old Boys; 3rd Place: Daniel Sinclair Most Improved Breaststroke Swimmer; Senior Boy: Caelum 12 Year Old Girls; John Whatley Cup: Trinaka Kenny Johnston 12 Year Old Girls; 2nd Place: Hayley Sharpe Overall winner; Ngaire Lindsay Trophy: Hannah Morgan 12 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place: Cayley Ward Most Improved Freestyle Swimmer; Junior Girl: Maddy Basel 12 Year Old Boys; Abel’s Supermarket Cup: Jaxon Sandford Most Improved Freestyle Swimmer; Junior Boy: Elijah 13 Year Old Girls; Waikato Savings Cup: Hannah Morgan Singleton 13 Year Old Girls; 2nd Place: Emma Maultsaid Most Improved Freestyle Swimmer; Senior Girl: Emma 13 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place: Brooke Bigwood & Stella Coombes Maultsaid 13 Year Old Boys; John Attrill Cup: Liam Cavanagh Most Improved Freestyle Swimmer; Senior Boy: Dylan Kenny 13 Year Old Boys; 2nd Place: Nicholas Maultsaid Overall winner; Teokotai-White Family Trophy: Emma 13 Year Old Boys; 3rd Place: Jack Walker Maultsaid 14 Year Old Girls; HASC Committee Cup: Gina McCarthy 14 year old girls 2nd Taylah Buckley Junior Girl – Sandra Morine Memoral Cup: Hayley Sharpe 14 Year Old Girls; 3rd Place: Clarice Bitac Junior Boy – Graeme Stubbs Cup: Kinnon Broekhuizen 14 Year Old Boys; Don Leitch Cup: Not awarded Senior Girl – Collins Family Footwear Cup: Briony Fraser Girls 15 & Over; Laurence Cup: Grace Soo Choon Senior Boy – Angus McKenzie Memorial Cup: Corwin Boys 15 & Over; Malcolm Clark Cup: Logan Bigwood Broekhuizen Boys 15 & Over; 2nd Place: Thomas Coombes Boys 15 & Over; 3rd Place: Corwin Broekhuizen HASC Cup: Logan Bigwood This year our deserving recipient for the 2nd year running is Club Night Points; Kirke Cup: Elijah Singleton Logan Bigwood Club Night Points; 2nd Place: Corwin Broekhuizen · Logan has shown season-round commitment to training Club Night Points; 3rd Place: Emma Maultsaid & Jack Walker · Been a consistent high achiever in our Age Group Performance squad Flying 50’s 11 & U Girls; Regal Haulage Ltd Shield: Maddy Coombes · Represented Hillcrest at a number of competitive events and Flying 50’s 11 & U Girls; 2nd Place: Xanthe Lovegrove-Edlington numerous carnivals · Log to our Hillcrest Swim Club with school work and swim Flying 50’s 11 & U Girls; 3rd Place: Maddy Basel training as an active member of our competitive squad. We congratulate Logan - a wonderful role model and thank Flying 50’s 11 & U Boys; Regal Haulage Ltd Shield: Charlie Moon him for his dedication and awesome service to swimming in Flying 50’s 11 & U Boys; 2nd Place: Kurtis McCarthy the Hillcrest/Hamilton East Community. Flying 50’s 11 & U Boys; 3rd Place: Danny Sinclair New Cup Fina Points Cup.

Winner with 711 points: NZ Opens 200IM Gina McCarthy Flying 50’s 12 & O Girls; Stanaway Shield: to Gina McCarthy 2nd Place with 605 Points: 100m Fly and has juggled Flying 50’s 12 & O Girls; 2nd Place: Grace Soo Choon Hamilton Summer Meet Flying 50’s 12 & O Girls; 3rd Place: Kellie Petrin Grace Soo Choon 3rd Place with 553 points: 1500 Free NAGS Tyrell Flying 50’s 12 & O Boys; Adam Shield: Logan Bigwood Priddy Flying 50’s 12 & O Boys; 2nd Place: Thomas Coombes Betts Committee Cup Flying 50’s 12 & O Boys; 3rd Place: Ashton Hassell Long standing service and commitment- Jamie Soo Choon his coaching and service

Wondering how to enter a meet?

All active members in the SNZ Database can set up a username and password to give them access to the member’s portal “MyPage” of the new SNZ website and database. This will give them the ability to do the following:  Update personal information  Subscription payments  Set their communication preferences  Edit medical and emergency contact information  Read National, Regional and Club news (this is reliant on clubs and regions having websites through this platform)  Enrol onto a course  Register for events including the New Zealand Open Water Championship  Request a transfer After a Hillcrest Swimming Club  View information on their club A direct link to the MyPage Uniform? is: http://mypage.swimming.org.nz/ Contact Paula [email protected] Carole Berry ([email protected]) can set up a username and password for the “MyPage” (which can be All competitive swimmers need to personalised by swimmers). Entering meets is also via the ‘MyPage” using the ‘Upcoming meets” tab once members are attend meets in their Hillcrest financial (subscriptions are paid), by scrolling through the uniform and have a Hillcrest swim meets and finding the meet of interest, and following the instructions. Carole is happy to be contacted if you have any cap. Check out our website for issues. prices and various styles available 

Find us on facebook

Keep up to date with all the news by going to our website

www.hillcrest.swimming.org.nz

Then follow the facebook link at the bottom of the page!

What is the XLR8 Programme?

For our younger competitive swimmers it is important that you get on the XLR8 programme. See the below info…you also get awesome badges for reaching 1.5K, 2K and 2.5K

XLR8: SWIM FASTER, FASTER!

XLR8 is a motivational programme developed by Swimming New Zealand where swimmers score points across a combination of events and are ranked nationally on their performances. The programme recognizes versatility and all-round ability, rewarding correct application of the processes necessary for long term athlete development.

To maximise long term athlete development we believe it is better to reward swimmers aged 14 and under by their versatility and all round ability, rather than performance in a single event. The XLR8 programme was developed to rank and track swimmers over four events rather than just one.

How to get yourself on the XLR8 programme:

1. Ensure you are a registered, competitive swimmer with a SNZ registered swimming club; click here to find clubs in your region.

2. Swim the 4 event combination required for an XLR8 score

3. After the swim meet, the meet administrator will send the meet results to Take Your Marks to be loaded into the NZ meet results database. XLR8 points are calculated and rankings are compiled. 25m performances are converted to 50m using standard SNZ conversion factors.

4. Check www.takeyourmarks.com to see all XLR8 rankings and track your progress.

Racing a range of events is recommended as the XLR8 programme chooses your best 4 scoring races automatically and gives you the maximum point combination possible. The four event combination is be made up from:

1. One DISTANCE freestyle event – the distance varies with age. For 12/u it is 200 free and for older it is 400/800/1500 free

2. One INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY event – the distance varies with age. Either 200 or 400

3. One 200m FORM event – 200m Backstroke, Breaststroke or Butterfly.

4. One OTHER event – the next best event, not used in events 1, 2 or 3

Moving up an age group or changing clubs? The XLR8 rankings are based on your SNZ registration, not your name. This means if you change club (which changes your registration), you will need to re- race the 4 event combination to remain current. Also be sure to race as soon as you can after you move up an age as your XLR8 point rankings only exist for the races you swim in your age group. MORE THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT SWIMMING DISQUALIFICATIONS

January 24, 2015 · by Rick Madge

Disqualifications are an essential part of swimming. It’s there lurking in the background of every race in every meet. But what’s the real purpose of disqualifications?

It might not be what you think. Disqualifications are not there to punish cheaters. The purpose of a disqualification is to prohibit certain movements or actions which have the potential to give that person an unfair advantage. It’s important to realize this distinction, because it goes to the heart of why the rules are the way they are.

Let’s face it. There have always been people who will take any rule and see if they can bend or break it to their advantage, sometimes in surprisingly innovative ways. Just look at the impact of underwater dolphin kick in the 80s, or underwater breaststroke in the 50s. If a faster way can be found, inside or outside of the rules, somebody is going to try it.

This means that it’s FINA’s job to come up with rules that not only address existing ways of gaining an advantage, but also anticipate any potential ways of gaining an advantage. And that’s how and why they shape the rules. The backstroke turn rule is a perfect example of this, as you’ll see later in this post.

FINA creates a new set of rules every 4 years, and then add extraordinary rule changes whenever they feels the need

1956 This is the first record of an Olympic swimming DQ that I could find, and it was a doozy. Swimmers had discovered that breaking the surface of the water slows you down, and that for breaststroke, underwater was faster. However, the confusing rules of the day included a general prohibition against swimming underwater, except after a dive or turn. 6 of the competitors chose to swim lengthy period’s underwater, surface, and then go back under again. These competitors were all disqualified. However, the winner, of Japan (pictured below), swam 45m underwater before surfacing on each of the first 3 lengths, and 25 m underwater on the last length. But once he surfaced, he stayed on the surface.

1964 Australian swimmer star Dawn was banned from swimming for 10 years (later reduced to 4 years) for climbing the flagpole at the emperor’s palace at the 1960 games in to steal the flag.

1968 Swedish pentathlete Hans-Grunner Lilgenwall became the first person to be DQ’d for testing positive for drug use (excessive alcohol) at an Olympics. Interesting and somewhat suspicious as 1928 marked the first ban against doping. Something tells me they just weren’t looking that closely at athletes for the intervening 40 years, even if proper testing wasn’t really available.

2004 One of the biggest non-DQs in Olympic history happened at the 2004 Olympics. Kosuke Kitajima of Japan clearly performed one, and some say two, big underwater dolphin kicks in his 100 m Breaststroke victory. This was magnified when the broadcasters showed the highly evident kicks on tv. He had been documented doing the exact same thing at the World Championships the year before, so officials showed have been prepared for it. And here’s where became very evident that strokes and turns officials can’t catch cheaters in the middle lanes. As a result, FINA instituted a rule change in 2005 allowing one underwater dolphin kick during the pullout phase.

But what followed was even more incredible. American backstroker was highly critical of FINA and Kitajima for his underwater kicks, and complained very publicly. 4 days later, Peirsol was DQd after winning the 200 m Backstroke for turning onto his stomach too early before a turn. 20 minutes later, the DQ was appropriately overturned, with FINA saying the wording of the disqualification was inadequate. But many thought his temporary DQ was payback for his vocal criticisms of Kitajima and FINA.

2007 The Rome Seven Hills meet saw an even more blatantly illegal breaststroke issue, which was completely ignored. Greek Romanos Alyfantis swims the entire race with an obvious dolphin kick instead of a whip kick, and gets away with it. Apparently he had been swimming like this for years, without any problems.

2013 American Kevin Cordes leaves the block 0.04 seconds before Matt Grevers touches the wall in the 4×100 Medley Relay at the World Championships. FINA rules allow a swimmer to leave up to 0.03 seconds early in order to allow for any errors in the electronics associated with the sensors on the starting blocks. The US Team was disqualified for a 0.01 second infraction.

Common Causes for DQs

At elite levels, there is really only 1 common cause for disqualification: early relay takeover. To give you an idea of how prevalent this is, in the last 4 Olympics alone, 14 relay teams have been DQ’d for early relay takeover. This is about 2.5% of all relays swims during that time.

False starts are easily the next most common source of DQs for the elite, and even this is exceptionally rare. Probably the best known example of this is ’s false start disqualification in the Australian Trials for the 2004 Olympics. He was so good that he probably could have won if he had been behind the blocks chatting with the timers when the race started. But that momentary loss of concentration cost him. Or it almost did. The Trials winner later relinquished his Olympic spot to Thorpe, and was paid A$130,000 in the process by a third party.

In all honesty, false starts at big meets now are almost always overturned, with the country delegation usually appealing on the basis of crowd noise. At 2012 Olympics alone, false starts by three big stars (, Park Tae-Hwan and Breeja Larson) were all overturned following intense pressure by delegations.

DQs by inexperienced swimmers in lower level meets are a completely different story. Here swimmers get DQs for breaking just about any of the rules, with the primary ones probably being backstroke turns and breaststroke / butterfly turns. Politics almost never plays a role here, with the DQs largely being accepted by everyone, and used to enforce legal stroke movements.

Most Confusing Swimming Rules

Some rules are just more confusing or contentious than others, and can cause a lot of misunderstanding on the part of swimmers and parents. (Just to clarify, I’m referring to the FINA rules in place at the time of writing this blog – January, 2015. These can be found here.

Backstroke Flip Turn: FINA Rule SW 6.5

This one has confused everyone ever since they allowed the swimmer to turn onto their stomach for the turn. The key to this ruling is that immediately after turning onto their stomach, a pull of one or both arms must be initiated. DQs usually happen for what they call an “extended layout”, which is when the swimmer turns onto their stomach too far from the wall and glides for a bit to get closer. This can be called an “extended layout”. It’s always a judgement call on the part of the official. Many people are upset with this rule as they feel it penalizes less experienced swimmers who turn onto their stomach too soon. But there are 2 key issues at play. The first is simple: this is a backstroke race, and other than the mechanics of the turn, they want swimmers on their back.

But the far more important issue is that FINA is worried about the tremendous potential of the dolphin kick to drastically change the sport. A turn legally starts when the shoulders start to turn past the vertical to the breast, and the body is allowed to be totally submerged during the turn. So without this rule, it is possible that a swimmer could turn onto their stomach halfway down the pool, theoretically initiating their turn, and then submerging and dolphin kicking the rest of the length. I have no doubt that this could be faster for some swimmers, and it would totally destroy the essence of a backstroke race.

Breaststroke Pullout Phase: FINA Rule SW 7.1

This is easily the most abused rule in swimming today, and probably the most abused rule in the history of swimming. As mentioned above, virtually every top swimmer in the world violates the single kick rule, and most violate it on every single breaststroke turn.

Up until 2005 the swimmer was not allowed to perform any dolphin kicks at any point during a breaststroke race. But swimmers, notably Kosuke Kitajima, noticed that with all of the turbulence and splashing involved in a turn, officials at the end of the pool couldn’t easily detect a dolphin kick. And while officials at the side of the pool could detect these, they didn’t have adequate visibility all the way into the centre of the pool. It pretty much gave them carte blanche to cheat. The 2012 Olympic 100 m Breaststroke for me pretty much made the issue ridiculous when underwater video showed numerous finalists getting away with 3 dolphin kicks.

The strange part about this rule is that it is FAR more likely to be called, correctly, in low level meets. For some reason, officials at high level meets are very nervous about disqualifying elite swimmers.

No Pace-Making Aids SW 10.16

This is the opposite of a confusing or contentious rule. This one is virtually unknown and ignored. In fact, it is routinely violated at every swim meet, including World Championships and Olympics. Here’s the wording:

SW 10.16 No pace-making shall be permitted, nor may any device be used or plan adopted which has that effect.

In other words, any working pace clocks or electronic timing boards showing a running time or splits, and that a swimmer could see, are technically in violation of this rule. And any hand or arm signals by coaches or others to let a swimmer know if they are on or off the plan are also disallowed. As I said, it is completely ignored.

I suspect this ruling exists to ensure that nobody develops a method of direct communications with the swimmer in which they can give race or pace advice.

One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money for your kids to do all their sports”?

 Published on May 4, 2016

Chris Rohrer Director of Marketing and Account Management at Arcade Media Company

One of my friends asked "Why do you pay so much money for your kids to do all their sports”? Well I have a confession to make; I don't pay for my kids to do sports. Personally, I couldn't care less about what sport they do.

So, if I am not paying for sports what am I paying for?- I pay for those moments when my kids become so tired they want to quit but don't. - I pay for those days when my kids come home from school and are "too tired" to go to their training but they go anyway. - I pay for my kids to learn to be disciplined, focused and dedicated. - I pay for my kids to learn to take care of their body and equipment. - I pay for my kids to learn to work with others and to be good team mates, gracious in defeat and humble in success. - I pay for my kids to learn to deal with disappointment, when they don't get that placing or title they'd hoped for, but still they go back week after week giving it their best shot. - I pay for my kids to learn to make and accomplish goals. - I pay for my kids to respect, not only themselves, but other athletes, officials and coaches. - I pay for my kids to learn that it takes hours and hours, years and years of hard work and practice to create a champion and that success does not happen overnight. - I pay for my kids to be proud of small achievements, and to work towards long term goals. - I pay for the opportunity my kids have and will have to make life-long friendships, create lifelong memories, to be as proud of their achievements as I am. - I pay so that my kids can be out on the field or in the gym instead of in front of a screen...... I could go on but, to be short, I don't pay for sports; I pay for the opportunities that sports provides my kids with to develop attributes that will serve them well throughout their lives and give them the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!

~Unknown