YMCA of the USA Competitive Swimming and Diving Fo: Recalling False Starts

Message

   Under USA-S Technical Rules, false starts are not recalled.  If the Starter sees a false start and it is confirmed by the Referee, the swimmer is disqualified and notified at the end of the race.  A question has arisen from some leagues that previously allowed all swimmers, or in some cases only the younger swimmers, one false start before they were disqualified as to how they can handle this practice under the USA-S Technical Rules.  Under the "no recall' rule this raises an issue as we cannot make all swimmers re-swim a race because one or more swimmers false started but the race was not recalled.

The YMCA of the USA National Swimming and Diving Advisory Committee, after much careful thought and discussion, and a national survey, decided to adopt USA-S Technical Rules for the conduct of YMCA swim meets because the Committee believed that it was in the best interests of the swimmers to try to eliminate the differences in the rules under which the swimmers competed.  Once having adopted the change, even the staunchest opponents of the change agreed that the USA-S Technical Rules should be adopted in their entirety.  Thus, to now go back and start introducing differences again, in this case by recalling false starts, would not be in the best interests of the swimmers for whose benefit the change was made.

Therefore, the National Officials' Committee strongly recommends that the "no recall" rule be fully implemented and that the practice of allowing swimmers one false start be discontinued.  While the implementation of this approach may cause some concerns initially, in the long run the National Officials' Committee firmly believes that it is in the best interests of the swimmers to have only one consistent set of rules.

Ed Miller
Chair, National Officials' Committee

Author	Message
Ed Miller Moderator Group Moderator - Officials Joined: Apr/29/2006 Location: United States Posts: 127	Topic: Recalling False Starts Posted: Oct/02/2006 at 8:28pm
	Under USA-S Technical Rules, false starts are not recalled. If the Starter sees a false start and it is confirmed by the Referee, the swimmer is disqualified and notified at the end of the race. A question has arisen from some leagues that previously allowed all swimmers, or in some cases only the younger swimmers, one false start before they were disqualified as to how they can handle this practice under the USA-S Technical Rules. Under the "no recall' rule this raises an issue as we cannot make all swimmers re-swim a race because one or more swimmers false started but the race was not recalled. The YMCA of the USA National Swimming and Diving Advisory Committee, after much careful thought and discussion, and a national survey, decided to adopt USA-S Technical Rules for the conduct of YMCA swim meets because the Committee believed that it was in the best interests of the swimmers to try to eliminate the differences in the rules under which the swimmers competed. Once having adopted the change, even the staunchest opponents of the change agreed that the USA-S Technical Rules should be adopted in their entirety. Thus, to now go back and start introducing differences again, in this case by recalling false starts, would not be in the best interests of the swimmers for whose benefit the change was made. Therefore, the National Officials' Committee strongly recommends that the "no recall" rule be fully implemented and that the practice of allowing swimmers one false start be discontinued. While the implementation of this approach may cause some concerns initially, in the long run the National Officials' Committee firmly believes that it is in the best interests of the swimmers to have only one consistent set of rules. Ed Miller Chair, National Officials' Committee

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