False starts and dq
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Anonymous
+1 If he just stood up and didn't take a step, that shouldn't have been a dq |
Anonymous
If he just stood up at the end of the pool and never touched the wall, then the heat shouldn't have ended and the referee shouldn't have chirped for the swimmers to get out of the pool. Also, a timer or someone on the deck should have reminded him to touch -- which should have led to him either touching (he completes the race, watches stop, no DQ) or taking a step and then touching (DQ). |
Anonymous
| The two 8u false starts we had this summer had no idea and swam the whole race, oblivious to tells and the announcer, only to be told when they got across that it wasn't actually the race, but they could do it over again. Im not sure if they dq'd officially, but it was not an advantage. |
Anonymous
| *yells |
Anonymous
Yeah I don’t know what they saw. He just turned 5 and can’t reach the bottom to stand up. Waited 5 seconds before he touched. It’s ok it was his first meet but I thought it was a bit ridiculous for the dq. |
Anonymous
| IMO it is a subtle form of cheating. I think often times the parent on the starter will just hit the start after their kid (or kids buddies) starts. I've seen a number of hot starts as a timer. Also, the B meet timers get into a rhythm, so it's pretty easy to predict. A meets parents are hep to this they make kids stand down, they watch for when kids put their hand on the mark so they're all ready. I'm pretty sure the starters don't watch for kids to take their mark. It's like wait a minute we're still getting the kids out of the water from the last race, BONK! It's frustrating because if a kid gets away with a hot start at a time trial, they may have an A meet time all summer. IMO summer swim your seed times should only be as good as your last swim, because of this. |
Anonymous
I think a much more likely explanation is that the starter at time trials has likely never ever been a starter before that day. I know that at our pool we use time trials to help train officials as well as get times for swimmers. |
Anonymous
There are both instances I have seen. You know a starter with an older team member running the show who should know what they are doing and an inexperienced starter getting taken advantage of by kids as well as coaches just trying to run heats as fast as possible not stopping for movement at the start. |
Anonymous
There are two ways to look at this - yes, in the grand scheme of the world that DQ doesn't change anything. But if a kid DQs on that kind of error (he might have bounced on the bottom, for example - standing on the freestyle finish is pretty common with the littlest littles) and remembers it, they are less likely to make that error again. Conversely, it can confuse them mightily to be allowed to do it once but then _not_ be forgiven for it a second or third time at a different meet with a different S&T. Teaching them the rules early and consistently potentially saves a great deal of disappointment later on. And then they can be proud of _not_ DQing on the technical strokes, and keep earning those "Finisher" ribbons while they work on their times. |
Anonymous
| DQs teach kids how to swim legally. You are doing a child a disservice if you don’t show them the rules for their sport. |
Anonymous
This is it. You either enforce DQs or you don't. We have a meet called the Lollipop Meet for little ones and they wouldn't DQ at that meet but for A or B meets they would, and they should. There aren't rules that say "but don't DQ anyone under 8" just like we don't say "don't ticket a 15+ year old with his permit who breaks a rule. The rule's enforcement in this boy's case wasn't ridiculous and mom should make sure she doesn't make it seem like that to the kid. 5 year olds understand rules are there and have to be followed. |
Anonymous
Only if you propel yourself forward. |
Anonymous
| It's a wonderful time when the crazy swim officials start arguing with each other. |
Anonymous
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Official here... It gets tricky because the starter must allow every swimmer to get into a stationary position after "take your marks" and before the starting signal. If a swimmer "falls into the pool" prior to becoming stationary, then that isn't a false start. But after they become stationary, any "starting movement" that happens before the starting signal would be considered a false start. "Stationary" doesn't mean motionless, so a twitching foot shouldn't be considered a "starting movement", but it's really a judgement call on the starter.
The other thing to be aware of is that every false start must be independently dual confirmed by both the starter and the deck referee. So sometimes when there are like 4-5 false starts in the same heat only some of them are dual confirmed. It's really simple and really complicated at the same time. Give this a read from USA swimming: https://www.usaswimming.org/docs/default-source/officialsdocuments/officials-training-resources/situations-and-resolutions/situations-and-resolutions-starter-and-deck-referee.pdf |
Anonymous
Also, some officials are not very good. Also, some leagues don't train their officials well. Some summer league officials are literally being trained by people that have officiated at the Olympics while other summer league officials are being training by people that have never stepped onto the deck at a USA Swimming sanctioned meet. |