12/21/24
February 14, 2011
Illegal Swimmer Breaks Backstroke World Record: University of Texas swimmer Hill "Dolphin Man" Taylor completed a 50-meter backstroke at a competition in an astonishing 23.1 seconds, almost a second faster than the world record, but he was disqualified for swimming the entire race underwater.
They put that rule in place to keep Arthur Curry and Mark Harris from competing...racists...
posted by MeatSaber at 11:40 AM on February 14, 2011
While he was on his back, he doesn't look like he ever really stroked under water. Though if I tried to hold my breath for 23 seconds, I'm sure I would stroke.
posted by graymatters at 11:51 AM on February 14, 2011
I'm sure there's a valid reason
I'd love to know what that valid reason is because this seems ridiculous.
posted by cjets at 02:24 PM on February 14, 2011
I like the caption of the video, saying he "cheats his way to a world record." Seems a bit harsh, in that he didn't actually get credit for the world record, nor did he intend to be given credit for it. I guess I consider "cheating" an attempt to get away with something, which he did not possess.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:07 PM on February 14, 2011
Cheating is still cheating if you know you're going to get caught and do it anyway.
Still a great accomplishment. I hope he was thrown an extra helping of fish.
posted by rcade at 04:20 PM on February 14, 2011
I'd love to know what that valid reason is because this seems ridiculous
It's a backstroke competition, not dolphin kick. Would your reaction be the same if another swimmer had used front crawl to win the race?
posted by cixelsyd at 04:24 PM on February 14, 2011
Cheating is still cheating if you know you're going to get caught and do it anyway.
Not sure I would call that cheating. I think it's flouting.
posted by graymatters at 04:26 PM on February 14, 2011
Cheating, I think, is when you do it intentionally.
Fucking up is when you're almost done with a race, realize you've used the wrong stroke the whole time, and think "oh shi..."
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:04 PM on February 14, 2011
Fucking up is when you're almost done with a race, realize you've used the wrong stroke the whole time, and think "oh shi..."
I've seen swimmers a few times do an extra lap after their race has finished. The most amusing was when a teammate of mine finished the 200 IM and promptly flip turned and did another 50 butterfly. He wasn't the brightest member of our team.
Extremely impressive accomplishment. Swimming a 50 without breathing is one of my fondest memories of high school swimming, despite not being able to do it in 23 seconds.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:19 PM on February 14, 2011
They put that rule in a while ago when a couple guys figured out they could dolphin kick most of the race and win:
From Wikipedia:
Breaking the water surface reduces the speed in swimming. The swimmers Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (America) used this for the 100 m backstroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Berkoff swam 33 m of the first lane completely underwater using only a dolphin kick, far ahead of his competition. A sports commentator called this a Berkoff Blastoff. Suzuki, having practiced the underwater technique for 10 years, surfaced only a little bit earlier, winning the race in 55.05. At that time, this was not restricted by FINA backstroke rules. The backstroke rules were quickly changed in the same year by the FINA to ensure the health and safety of the swimmers, limiting the underwater phase after the start to ten meters, which was expanded to 15 m in 1991.
posted by cabuki at 05:40 AM on February 15, 2011
What the h. I'm sure there's a valid reason, but my gut instinct is to say, "Hey, if you can swim the whole thing underwater, more power to ya."