Wisdom

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove) 05/16/2018 at 00:15 • Filed to: In case you were wondering

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Rule 105.5.2 of the 2018 USA Swimming Rules and Regulations states:

In judging the stroke or kick of a swimmer with a physical disability, the Referee and Stroke & Turn Judge should follow the general rule that: if a part of the body is absent...it is not judged;

Time to stop reading and go to bed.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Chariotoflove 05/16/2018 at 00:20

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I kind of wonder how it would work without that rule...

Chariotoflove > Honeybunchesofgoats 05/16/2018 at 00:23

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We were having that conversation around the dinner table and posing various ways in which I might render a ruling.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Chariotoflove 05/16/2018 at 10:14

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As a former swimmer there are quite a few rules that would result in a disqualification if you were missing an arm and they didn’t have this provision as silly as that seems.

For example I remember as a Freshman/Sophomore in high school I got DQ’ed for my hands not touching the wall on a Butterfly turn at exactly the same time. If you only had one hand you technically could be DQ’ed for every Butterfly turn because you didn’t touch the wall with 2 hands in unison.

I know it said stroke or kick, but this was an easier explanation.

Chariotoflove > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 05/16/2018 at 12:22

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I know you’re right in a lot of ways. I can tell you as a judge, I would apply common sense, but if you got some yahoo who DQ’d a one handed butterfly swimmer for not touching both hands, you’d have to resolve it with the Chief Judge and Referee, and it would make a mess. Then again, I would hope a judge selected for stroke and turn with disabled swimmers would be well briefed beforehand.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Chariotoflove 05/17/2018 at 11:21

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Oh absolutely. But man, you know there’s always THAT ONE GUY.

Chariotoflove > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 05/17/2018 at 11:26

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Oh, That Guy ™, the reason we can’t have nice things.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Chariotoflove 05/17/2018 at 13:12

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Exactly. Rules like this exist simply because there was a That Guy™ that showed up and DQ’ed someone who was missing a limb.

Example. Back at Michigan State I was the training supervisor for the Night Receptionist staff. Which is basically an easy job where you swipe an ID to prove someone lives there and leave the door locked if they don’t (or they can be signed in). During training I had to tell every person that was starting that if a Tornado Siren goes off while you’re working, don’t pull the fire alarm to wake up the building to alert everyone. You know, because that would send them all outside into the impending doom.

Why did I have to take that step? You guessed it. There was some jackass who pulled the alarm thinking it would be helpful to let everyone know a tornado was coming.

For the record that specific tornado turned and did not hit campus, no one was sucked up into the tornado.

He got fired. I got more lines in my training speech.