CHANGES TO USA SWIMMING RULES TO CONFORM TO FINA

Effective September 21, 2005 Replace existing 101.1 in its entirety with the following:

101.1 BREASTSTROKE
  .1 Start - The forward start shall be used.
  .2 Stroke - From the beginning of the first arm stroke after the start and after each turn, the body shall be kept on the breast. It is not permitted to roll onto the back at any time. Throughout the race the stroke cycle must be one arm stroke and one leg kick in that order. All movements of the arms shall be simultaneous and in the same horizontal plane without alternating movement. The hands shall be pushed forward together from the breast on, under, or over the water. The elbows shall be under water except for the final stroke before the turn, during the turn and for the final stroke at the finish. The hands shall be brought back on or under the surface of the water. The hands shall not be brought back beyond the hip line, except during the first stroke after the start and each turn. During each complete cycle, some part of the swimmer's head shall break the surface of the water. After the start and after each turn, the swimmer may take one arm stroke completely back to the legs. The head must break the surface of the water before the hands turn inward at the widest part of the second stroke.
 .3 Kick - After the start and after each turn, a single downward butterfly kick followed by a breaststroke kick is permitted while wholly submerged. Following which, all movements of the legs shall be simultaneous and in the same horizontal plane without alternating movement. The feet must be turned outwards during the propulsive part of the kick. A scissors, flutter or downward butterfly kick is not permitted except as provided herein. Breaking the surface of the water with the feet is allowed unless followed by a downward butterfly kick.
  .4 Turns and Finish - At each turn and at the finish of the race, the touch shall be made with both hands simultaneously at, above, or below the water level. The head may be submerged after the last arm pull prior to the touch, provided it breaks the surface of the water at some point during the last complete or incomplete cycle preceding the touch.

101.3  BACKSTROKE
 .1 Start - The swimmers shall line up in the water facing the starting end, with both hands placed on the gutter or on the starting grips. Standing in or on the gutter, placing the toes above the lip of the gutter, or bending the toes over the lip of the gutter, before or after the start is prohibited.

 

I thought because the above rule changes will become effective on September 21, 2005, I would inform you of the interpretation by Bruce Stratton, Chairperson of the Rules and Regulations Committee for these changes.

Breaststroke - After the start and after each turn, and, after the swimmer has started or taken that first stroke completely back to the legs or during that first stroke to start the cycle (as some young swimmers do), the swimmer is now allowed to take this first kick in one of two ways. (1) The swimmer can just do the one breaststroke kick following by the next stroke to keep the cycle continuing. This is the stroke and kick that we have all become accustomed to in our instructions to the swimmers and our observations of the swimmers. (2) The swimmer is now permitted to use a single downward butterfly kick which is followed by a breaststroke kick and then is followed by the next stroke to keep the cycle continuing. The butterfly kick has to be done before the breaststroke kick in this example. The butterfly kick can not be the only kick used during this part of the cycle.

Backstroke - FINA eliminated and USA Swimming followed their example by taking out the section in the backstroke start rule that said that the feet shall be placed under the surface of the water where they needed to remain until the starting signal. Most of the touch pads in international competition use touch pads that are anchored on the deck with the gutters not even showing. With that being the case, the feet can be out of the water, but the swimmer can not stand in or on the gutter. Their toes can not be placed above the lip of the gutter or be bent over the lip of the gutter before or after the start.

 

 

 

 

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