In an update to an earlier story, at the pre-NCAA women’s championships coaches’ meeting, coaches were informed that they would be able to remove the relay fin, but with a catch: the fin can only be removed by a coach prior to the beginning of a relay event. Which means, if you want the advantage of doing a relay start without the fin on, then you’re going to lose the advantage of having the leadoff swimmer use the fin. Everyone we saw was practicing relay starts with the fin on before the beginning of the race, though with the rapidity of warmups, it’s possible that this was simply for logistics. Our guess, though, is that most teams will use the blocks for relay starts.
Update: in the first relay, South Carolina was the only team we noticed who totally removed their kickplate so far.
I don’t know about you guys, but that pic is everything I miss about swim meets.
That guy wearing gray in the bottom gets it!
The live CBS video feed is terrible!! Comparing the NCAA div 2 live feed this is embarrassing for division 1 championships! You can’t hear the announcer and you can barely see who is swimming!
Totally agree with Stuart – live video quality is poor and the announcer (whom is a great announcer) can’t hear him at all. Let’s go NCAA – get this fixed!
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that CBS is also streaming basketball to millions of people for the next few weeks. Guess prelims were before the basketball game started, but could be connected still…maybe?
The Fins were added on a few years back. It actually made it to USA Swimming and then took a year or two before it was allowed on the college seen if I remember correctly (juts before I had a chance to use it). There were even times at nationals where you had a mix of college and non college swimmers where the college swimmers weren’t allowed to use it, but other swimmers were. The reason why you would want to remove it for a relay would be if you weren’t starting off the relay. It’s fine if you have a flat start, but most relay swimmers start from a 2 footed position or even do a 2 step to… Read more »
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You could also have the wedge be removable from the sliding piece. The housing stays on the rails and the wedge it self is secured in in the housing. The right size dovetail cut out of the piece (think cabinetry) would withhold the push from an athlete and be easily removed.
I feel like a complete ignoramus. I’ve never heard of relay fins before. Are they solely an NCAA thing? Can only the leadoff swimmer use it ? What’s the disadvantage of having it on; I see only advantages.
Nope, it’s used at all of the big meets now. Some people probably just don’t like it, but studies show hugely conclusively that they help even after just 15-20 minutes of practice.
Advantage to taking it off on a relay is to be able to take the double step start.