What do the high school rules say?

First, I'll mention something a few of us talked about last month - the meet committee.

Rule 4, Section 1 AUTHORIZED OFFICIALS, Article 1: ...A meet committee and a meet director shall assume responsibility for all aspects of meet management. The meet committee shall make decisions on matters not specifically covered by the rules or on the misapplication of a rule during a meet. Judgement calls are not subject to review by this committee. The decision of the meet committee is final.

A few important things are covered here.

First, it says shall. Coaches are to be informed about this before the meet. The meet referee usually talks with several folks during warm-up, asks them if they'd be part of the committee, then announces the members of the meet committee in the coaches' meeting.

Second, the rule mentions the fact that judgement calls cannot be reviewed.

Finally, there's mention that the meet committee is charged with settling situations where a rule has been misapplied.

Could this have been a loophole in the "can't review a judgement call" part of the rule?

If the officials realized the machine was making incorrect calls (or none at all), could they have called the meet committee to review early disqualifications? I doubt that.

Could they discuss the possibility of discontinuing the use of the automatic judging system for the remainder of the meet?

Any officials want to weigh in on that?

Next are the relay takeoff rules:

Rule 8, Section 3 RELAY EVENTS, Article 5: ...The swimmer shall remain in contact with the starting platform/pool deck until the previous swimmer has finished.

Rule 8, Section 3, Relay Events, Article 6: Each swimmer of a relay team must contact the finish end at the conclusion of his or her leg of the relay.

Both sound pretty cut and dried, right?

Earlier in the rule book there is mention of timing for a finish. It says, "...touches the finish end or pad (when automatic timing /judging equipment is used)."

Why doesn't the relay finish rule state it that way? There's no mention of the pad, except for the anchor:

The final swimmer is required to contact the finish pad by any part of the body.

What if the (first, second, or third) swimmer hit the top of a pad and that pad didn't read the finish of that leg? Didn't the swimmer contact the finish end? Doesn't that count as a "finish"?

Now for the automatic relay judging rules:

Appendix B

SUGGESTED PROTOCOLS FOR AUTOMATIC RELAY JUDGING EQUIPMENT

3. If the electronic relay takeoff equipment detects an exchange differential (takeoff pad time minus finish pad time) of -0.09 through +0.09 second inclusive, from the maufacturers starting point, the decisions(s) of the relay takeoff judge(s) shall not be considered. The determination of the electronic relay takeoff equipment shall be official, with exchange differential of -0.09 through -0.01 seconds from the manufacturers starting point indicating a rules violation and values of 0.00 through +0.09 seconds indicating a legitimate relay exchange.
4. If the electronic relay takeoff equipment records an exchange differential outside the range -0.09 through +0.09 second from the maufacturers starting point, a disqualification shall occur if there is dual confirmation of a rules violation: by electronic relay takeoff equipment and either a takeoff judge or a side takeoff judge; by a takeoff judge and a side takeoff judge; or by two side takeoff judges.

What about the UIL?

~ POST SEASON REGULATIONS ~

~ STATE MEET ~

Meet Referee

The meet referee shall have final authority on all rulings. The National Federation Swimming and Diving Rule Book will prevail.

So, until the National Federation Rule Book is changed...