the misadventures of weather boy

Too many downward dolphin kicks!

This clip has been making the rounds on certain swimming sites, so I thought I would make a few comments on it.

In this breaststroke swim, the swimmer shown in the video is clearly doing what would be considered a downward dolphin kick. It's real easy to see, as the knees are clearly flexing, with the legs moving simultaneously up and down with respect to the torso. It's all definitely illegal in all swimming rules codes, except that a downward dolphin kick is permitted while completely submerged, immediately followed by a breaststroke kick, during the first stroke off the wall (this is commonly referred to as the pull-out). Beyond this exception, "A ... downward dolphin kick is not permitted" (FINA SW 7.5, USA-S 101.2.3, NCAA 2-2-2-c, NFHS 8-2-2f, USMS 101.2.3).

The swimmer at this meet, conducted under FINA rules, was not disqualified. We don't see the whole swim in the video, so we can't tell if the swimmer continued into the wall. It's possible it didn't occur throughout the race (it's hard to see in the finish shot whether he was), but it's also a little surprising that the stroke judge walking the side of the pool didn't see it. Still, this is a pretty straightforward call to make, even to me!

Labels: swimming

posted by weather boy @ 10:35 PM