Monday, April 11, 2011

The Article & Video...

...you've all been waiting for is here.

edited 10:11 p.m. - Be sure to view vid full screen.



In the aforementioned Carroll swim, Jillian Roberts is registered at a -0.09 takeoff, while a frame-by-frame look at the take-off in question would suggest that a +0.27 takeoff occurred.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Watching the video in it's entirety, I notice that the last swimmer for Kingwood covers the block with a towel. According to many sources, this will potentially keep the block from registering an early takeoff. I don't believe that is legal in NCAA, is it legal in HS, is it a DQ if it's not, or should the meet officials make them remove it? Also, a weird coincidence that the team who has backed into two titles in a row by default was the one employing this technique.

Deer Slayer said...

If that is a false start, I'm crazy, wait, don't answer that. That was a good start, if a little slow. I hope the TISCA board takes up this travesty and addresses it with the UIL, for the good of all swimmers.

Button said...

absolutely nothing wrong with kids doing that. can't fault kingwood girls for swimming their butts off, can we? towel on the block isn't cheating and i don't think for a second it was meant to defeat take-off judging system. agree that southlake carroll's relay had safe starts. don't agree kingwood should be faulted for being the team that happened to be there when it was called. kingwood is well-coached and can hang with the best in the country. no reason whatsoever to knock russ duin and his gals!

Anonymous said...

No one in Southlake is claiming anything negative towards Kingwood - just sayin'...

Anonymous said...

No way that is a DQ - how can we continue to put faith in equipment we know has errors? Can the UIL overturn something this wrong? Seems they would want to do the right thing.

Unknown said...

"At 3:39 PM, Blogger Button said…

'What actually is it measuring???'

human body is made mostly of water. that's what technology is sensing. am told wet towel can defeat technology and show swimmer still there even after swimmer is gone."

I have read this wet towel thing on other blogs too, so I don't think it's made up. I just posted a question on the Swim World story asking if anyone knew if it was legal or if it really could "cheat" the system.

Anonymous said...

you were right - this is a big news outlet

Glad to see that someone outside of TX is taking note of the mess created here.

Button said...

yes, john, i believe it's true that a wet towel can defeat the system.

i think that implying kids are putting a towel there for that reason is a stretch. we see it when relay take-off platforms aren't being used, right?

call me naive...that might be the best thing anyone calls me all week!

Anonymous said...

Do you have the powerpoint that is easier to verify the clean start?

Button said...

'Do you have the powerpoint that is easier to verify the clean start?'

yes, i have it. i will need permission to use it, though. when watched in full screen mode, the slide show is convincing.

very pleased that swimming world has chosen to share this with all. texas high school swimming is not the only group that has had to deal with this issue - just one of the more recent.

if we're using this technology to save relays incorrectly dq'ed, i'm all for it. if we're using it to take the place of officials with good judgement and intentions, i'm completely agin it!

shouldn't the benefit of the doubt go with the athlete?

Deer Slayer said...

I'm sorry, right is right, and wrong is wrong... that is wrong. THAT WAS NO FALSE START.... I did not have a horse in the race, so I have no biased reason to stand up and say," replace the officials who made this decision...." they refused to even consider that the pads may malfunction.... They are hurting our swimmers with their arrogance and disdain. That type of official does not belong on our pool decks...Let us band together to protect our swimmers, because they(the officials) don't care. Please post the names of the head ref, the admin ref, and the chief judge and let's keep them from hurting any more swimmwers... I realize this may be politically incorrect, but the truth hurts..deal with it...

Anonymous said...

If you read Matt Schneider's letter, he mentions some of the meet officials, and I'm sure they were named in the meet program. It seems coaches could have some say in how championship meet crews are chosen. The thing I find concerning is one of those officials has her fingers in every swimming pie there is! Senior official for HS, NCAA, USA, and FINA, all the way up to Olympic trials. You can't go to a meet in Texas without bumping into her, so how do you work around that?