PR 54 – FINA Technical Congresses: Swimming and Masters

Two more FINA Technical Congresses – Swimming and Masters – took place today in Budapest (HUN). The main decisions approved by the National Federations’ representatives were as follows:

SWIMMING

-Update on the number of required timekeepers;
-Redefinition of the Inspector of Turns’ role;
-Precision on the butterfly rules. From now on, underwater kicking on the side is not allowed;
-In medley swimming, on the freestyle section, the “swimmer must be on the breast except when executing a turn. The swimmer must return to the breast before any kick or stroke”. Moreover, each of the strokes must cover one quarter of the distance;
-Timing to 1/1000 of a second is no longer a possibility;
-World Records can only be established in water with less that 3gr/litre of salt.

MASTERS

-World Records are only accepted if recorded by automatic officiating equipment;
-Introduction of Mixed Team events in Diving and Mixed Duets in Synchronised Swimming;
-Revision of the required elements in synchronised swimming routines;
-Update on the World Record application form.