Talk:History of swimming
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[edit] Inconsistent?
Towards the end of this article there are 3 or more paragraphs on underwater swimming. If in 1956 six swimmers were disqualified for swimming underwater and then and a new rule was limiting the distance that can be swum under. (can you disqualify before the rule is made?) then how could it also be true that in 1998 Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (America) swam underwater and The rules were quickly changed in the same year. Weren’t the rules already changed? And then latter “FINA is again considering a rule change for safety reasons” Are the rules only changed for each sroke.
Are their any citations. (Or is this just common knowledge)
The paragraphs I am referring to are quoted below from this article. Specifically bold (if fallowing is redundant and taking up space then just delete it if not delegate this line)
“Another modification was developed for breaststroke. In breaststroke, breaking the water surface increases the friction, reducing the speed of the swimmer. Therefore, swimming underwater increases the speed. This led to a controversy at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and six swimmers were disqualified, as they repeatedly swam long distances underwater. However, one Japanese swimmer, Masaru Furukawa, circumvented the rule by not surfacing at all after the start, but swimming as much of the lane under water as possible before breaking the surface. He swam all but 5m under water for the first three 50m laps, and also swam half under water for the last lap, winning the gold medal. The adoption of this technique led to many swimmers suffering from oxygen starvation or even some swimmers passing out during the race due to a lack of air, and a new rule was introduced by the FINA, limiting the distance that can be swum under water after the start and every turn, and requiring the head to break the surface every cycle.”
“Breaking the water surface reduces the speed in swimming; this is true not only for breaststroke, but also for backstroke. The swimmers Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (America) used this for the 100m backstroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Berkoff swam 33m of the first lane completely underwater using only a dolphin kick, surfacing just before the turn, far ahead of his competition. A sports commentator called this a Berkoff Blastoff. Suzuki, having practiced the underwater technique for 10 years, surfaced only a little bit earlier, winning the race in 0:55.05. The rules were quickly changed in the same year by the FINA to ensure the health and safety of the swimmers, limiting the underwater phase after the start to ten meters, which was expanded to 15m in 1991. In Seoul, Kristin Otto from East Germany won six gold”
“After underwater swimming for breaststroke and backstroke, the underwater swimming technique is now also used for butterfly, for example by Denis Pankratov (Russia) or Angela Kennedy (Australia), swimming large distances underwater with a dolphin kick. FINA is again considering a rule change for safety reasons. It is currently unclear if it is possible to swim faster underwater than swimming freestyle or front crawl at the surface.”
--Yskyflyer 04:39, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for the notice. I have expanded the article to make things more clear. The first paragraph refers to breastsroke only, where first it was changed to require swimming at the surface except for the period after start and finish, and then modified to limit the distances underwater after start and finish. The second paragraph refers to backstroke, and the third to butterfly, in both cases limiting the distances underwater after start and finish. Let me know if this is still confusing -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:40, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Sorry for my whole first comment. I should have said I don’t understand instead of “Inconsistent?” The Before and after change are both Perfect after you explained it to me. Thanks. I don’t know why I didn’t get it the first time. Well it’s crystal clear now. Thanks. I with think over what I type more carefully in the future before it submit. Yskyflyer--E-Bod 21:37, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
