This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart — swimming rules. As a master official, I am constantly reading up on interpretations of the (murky) Fina rules and also following any possible new rule changes. There is a possible change afoot that I consider damaging to the sport and it relates to where butterfly kicks may be inserted during the breaststroke.
For a little bit of history, during the 2004 Olympics Kosuke Kitajima won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke but video showed that he inserted an illegal (at the time) butterfly kick at the start and each turn which gained him an advantage. Rather than disqualifying the swimmer, the governing swimming body chose to allow a single butterfly kick to be inserted in the stroke at the start and at each turn. Fast forward to the 2012 summer Olympics and again we find that the winner of the 100m breaststroke performed multiple butterfly kicks illegally and gained an advantage over the field. Again the governing body has chosen to take the track of now considering this legal versus declaring the swimmers disqualified. Here is a link to an article about the change: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/-olympics/news/20130523/olympic-notebook/index.html
Through all of my training, we have always been held to the standard that we want to keep a fair and level playing field for our swimmers. I do know that at “higher level” meets that officials are expected to adhere to pomp and circumstance rather than job performance. Why is it that we are more concerned about how the official is dressed and when they stand up or sit down rather than being in the right position to make the call? I personally have seen officials pulled from their position because they made the call and coaches protested. Really? When is it ever OK to cheat? The rules are there to give the swimmers a (somewhat) level playing field.
And now we have Kitajima part 2 — the cheaters win and the rules will change to accommodate them. How sad for a sport that I truly love. The butterfly kick should NEVER have been introduced in the first place. Technology is here today that can help officials do their job so let’s use it. And let’s get rid of that butterfly kick that is causing so much problem in officiating. And if we can’t take the path of reason here, let’s just get rid of the breaststroke event altogether because once you allow unlimited butterfly kicks, you really only have the butterfly stroke with slightly different arm motions.
