Ian Thorpe lost balance on the blocks during the heat of the 400m. He was then disqualified and therefore will not defend his title in athens…
now, how dumb is this? The Australian swimming fed. seems to be as smart as Aus. Tri.
they are going to prevent one of the greatest swimmers of all times to enter in his best event.
This sounds very similar to the Maurice Green vs Michael Johnson “duel” in the 200m or 400m(?) at the olympic trials last time around.
The heat with both of them the broadcast hyped and hyped nad hyped ended with both of them rolling around on the track holding various leg muscles and some nobody winning with no chance of medalling at the games…
But fair is fair.
Jim
Ian Thorpe lost balance on the blocks during the heat of the 400m. He was then disqualified and therefore will not defend his title in athens…
now, how dumb is this?
Swimming is a harsh sport at times, but ultimately a fair sport. The ref is supposed to see the swimmers and not the names on race day, and has to enforce all the rules evenly. Something similar happened to Kristine Quance in the 2000 US Trials in one of the IMs where she was expected to medal in Sydney. (she got DQed based on a somewhat obscure turn rule)
The rules can seem harsh at times, but the other way lies chaos. Finish first in a Games event the Australian Olympic trials, and you go to Athens. Finish second, and also go to Athens if you made the Olympic A cut. Simple and straightforward. Compare that to the fuss surrounding Australia’s Olympic triathlon selection process.
I would like to see swimming have a past champions exemption- finish first at the long course world championships or Olympics, and the following year they’ve got automatic entry into the LC worlds or Olympics AND they don’t count towards their country’s 2 entries per event limit. I think track does something like that these days.
do you know what was the motivation of the FINA to implement the 1 false start and you’re out rule?
seems kind of harsh. I think all other sports have 2 false start rules.
Well, I guess we’ll still see Thorpe going over the 100, 200, maybe 200IM, the relays and the 800 (if it is at the olympics)
Don’t know how long FINA’s had that rule, but the places I swam in the US, it’s been the rule since at least the mid 80s. I assume it was in place to discourage swimmers from trying to game the system and get an early lean into the water. Also, it helps with meet management- false starts slow the meet down, and when you’ve got something like 130 swimmers in girls 13-14 100 free alone, you want to keep the heats moving quickly.
It’s weird to see a distance swimmer getting a start DQ- usually it’s sprinters looking for that extra 0.04 second advantage.
No men’s 800 at the Olympics. I wish they would add the men’s 800 and the women’s 1500. It would make for a more balanced program, and wouldn’t add too many swimmers to team rosters.
1998 for the rule.
For international meets, they could do like the IAAF.
second false start and out no matter who.
Then use a sensor on the blocks to measure reaction time. If it’s below threshold, it’s a false start.
Actually, from the pix in the sydney herald, Thorpe, was clearly not stealing the start, he was off balance and fell.
FINA implemented those rules for the reason Jill stated - prevent swimmers from trying to get an edge. I the referee has limited discretion in matters like this (at least in the meets I used to officiate). obviously the complaints fell on deaf ears
It is a shame he won’t defend in the 400m though.
“He has done so much for Australian swimming and for Australia itself. It shows a lack of respect to treat him like this,” said Van den Hoogenband who beat Thorpe into second place in the 200 metres freestyle at the Sydney Games.
“Swimming needs heroes. They should have given him another chance. It says a lot for the arrogance of the Australians that they give their swimmers only one chance to qualify for the Games. I am pleased we do it differently.”
from VDH.
Good for VDH. He’s my hero for the day.
Kind of a shame for whoever ultimately wins the gold - there will be an asterisk in the records for all time…
MH
Does anyone know the particulars of the rules in FINA. I’ve started for USMS meets and as the starter if I see someone rolling or losing their balance I have the option of standing them up and preventing the false start. Can the Starter in a FINA race do this?
Ed
gotta ask this to FLA Jill…
can’t tell you.
I believe the starter has the option of standing the swimmers up if he sees something he doesn’t like. However, at that level I think it would normally be for someone who didn’t take his mark immediately on command.
Am not sure under FINA rules. Here’s what it says in the rule book.
"SW 2.2 Starter
SW 2.2.1 The starter shall have full control of the swimmers from the time the referee turns the swimmers over to him (SW 2.1.5) until the race has commenced. The start shall be given in accordance with SW 4.
SW 2.2.2 The starter shall report a swimmer to the referee for delaying the start, for wilfully disobeying an order or for any other misconduct taking place at the start, but only the referee may disqualify a swimmer for such delay, wilful disobedience or misconduct. Such disqualification shall not be counted as a false start.
SW 2.2.3 The starter shall have power to decide whether the start is fair, subject only to the decision of the Referee."
“SW 4.4 Any swimmer starting before the starting signal has been given, shall be disqualified. If the starting signal sounds before the disqualification is declared, the race shall continue and the swimmer or swimmers shall be disqualified upon completion of the race. If the disqualification is declared before the starting signal, the signal shall not be given, but the remaining swimmers shall be called back and start again.”
So not entirely clear from just the rule book.
I used to ref US high school meets where they use the National Federation rule book. First half of that rule book was the official rules. Second part of the book was case rules/the case book which went into the correct interpretation of the rules. Format was that they’d give a situation, and then explain how the rule should apply in that case.
I assume that there is a case book for FINA out there that would cover the Thorpe block situation and how much leeway the ref has in making the call; it’s just not easily found on the web.
Shit happens, it’s crazy you only get one chance though. What was wrong with the Aus. Tri selections ? I thought the process was very fair this year.
The rule was brought in for two reasons:
a) television. False starts slow everything up. It’s not like track & field where there’s a few things going on simultaneously.
b) people were breaking deliberately in order to psyche out other competitors. Happened to me at junior nationals, back in the day…
Hey, that’s sports. That’s life! Thorpe false started and he won’t qualify for that event. Don’t cry too much for him. He’ll probably go to the Olympics for four other races. If the Australian federation gave him a pass and put him on the team, how hould you feel for the swimmer who did qualify and was told to stay home.
Latest reports on Oz TV just now are that he might be able to swim the 400m after all. Not sure of the details yet. Chance that one of the others will have to pull out for some reason. Will post again after the 9PM news.
OK, just ignore that last post. It’s just the Aussie TV positing hypotheticals. Must be a slow news day. “Thorpe COULD swim the 400 IF someone else had to pull out”.
the Oz selection cannot give the slot to someone else, unless one of the 2 guys who qualified gives his slot away. Actually this is a possibility (see posts above by WebSwim, but it has been confirmed by Leigh Nugent)
Everyone has praised how Thorpe has handled the situation.
But it seems that unlike what you think, Stevens who qualified instead of Thorpe is feeling very bad for qualifying and is considering not swimming (Stevens words) probably worse than if someone took his slot away.