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FINA, in a move believed by some as a way around introducing underwater cameras in disputes and appeals, may relax the rules on breaststroke to allow multiple dolphin kicks at the start of races, according to former 1500m great Vladimir Salnikov.
“The athletes will be allowed to make an unlimited number of dolphin leg movements in the course of the first 15 meters of the distance, although actually it is realistic to do two or three,†says Salnikov in a statement on the Russian federation website. “In this case, they have decided at FINA that there is no sense to take measures on the basis of subjective judging in this situation, so they feel it is necessary to completely abandon this rule.â€
See also russwimming.ru (Google Translate helps :-)
2 Comments
Just go back to banning it completely, there is less subjectivity and gray area there. Kick or no kick, it’s that simple. Otherwise you enforce the last kick when the head hits 15m? You still need cameras and officials for that. We should the look at changing the 15 meter rule because BRers will go well past what a Fly/Bk/Fr swimmer can, it’s only right…
I’ve heard that they plan to have a max 15 meter underwater rule, yes. Try to imagine those ‘breaching whales’ at 15 meters, having maxed out underwater until 15 meters, and then up and switch to breaststroke.