FCST Newsletter - Mar. 27

Why do swim Officials disqualify (dq) kids? Why don't they just let them swim?

 This is a frequent question by parents when their swimmers experience disqualifications at meets.  The role of an official is two-fold.  First, officials are tasked with providing a safe and fair competitive environment.  The second role is in educating swimmers – both those learning the strokes and those who may have become complacent in practice.  For both of these reasons, consistent enforcement of the rules is important.

However, what happens if your swimmer has been incorrectly disqualified?  What if there are extenuating circumstances – like crowd noise during a start?  Officials are trained to give the swimmer the benefit of the doubt – and if they aren’t sure, a good official won’t make the call.  However they are also human and can make mistakes.  For that reason, there is always the right of a respectful request to review disqualifications by asking the meet referee to  interview the officials involved in making and accepting the call.  As a parent, if you have a question about the legitimacy of or reason for a dq, instruct your swimmer to ask their coach.  Often the coach also saw the infraction and can clarify the call for the swimmer.  But in the case of an error, this is the role of the coach as an advocate for their swimmer.  A parent or swimmer should never approach an official to request review of a call.  A coach will know the protocol required to give the swimmer the best opportunity for a fair review.  Encourage communication between your swimmer and your coach and foster trust in that relationship.  The coaches are invested in your swimmer – trust them to act in your swimmer’s best interests and to grow your swimmer through all of their experiences.  

- USA Swimming Official Bonnie Finnigan