FINA rule:
SW 6.4: During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the breast after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. Once the body has left the position on the back, any kick or arm pull must be part of the continuous turning action. The swimmer must have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall. When executing the turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer’s body. [link]
Rowdy Gaines did not bring this up last night! What sucks is that I just accused the gold medalist of breaking the rules and I can't post a video illustrating it!!! Anybody want to come over to my house and see for themselves on my DVR? ;-)
The New York Times regarding last night's swims:
Less than 10 minutes later, Peirsol threw himself backward in Lane 2, touched the wall on the turn in second place and then took control for good.
His reward for holding off the younger set for another Olympiad was a world record of 52.54 seconds, a significant improvement on the mark he set most recently at the qualifying trials this summer.
Matt Grevers, Peirsol’s towering, 6-foot-8 teammate, took the silver medal in 53.11 seconds: quite an achievement for a man who had had no intention of swimming the 100 backstroke in Beijing when this Olympic season began.
“Hands down the best backstroker ever,” Grevers said of Peirsol, who is just 25 but already in his third Olympics.
“He is a great guy; he gave me some private lessons during our training camp,” Grevers said. “I don’t have the shoulder strength that he does, so I can’t pull the amount of water he does.” [Link]
