In Pursuit Of Excellence In The Open Water
While the team pursuit concept is popular in other sports, indoor cycling and short-track speed skating), it will debut at the FINA World Championships today at Jinshan City Beach in Shanghai.
At FINA, the event is called the 5K Team Event or the 5K Team Time Trial. In the race, there are three athletes per team and both genders must be represented (i.e., 2 men + 1 woman or 1 man + 2 women). The athletes start together and swim closely to one another throughout the race in order to gain the advantage of drafting, positioning, navigating and pacing. The most experienced teams swim and finish together in a tight formation after starting off in a staggered start. The 15 national teams at the 2011 FINA World Championships will start off in 1-minute intervals. The closer and straighter the teams swim on the 2-loop 5K course, the faster they will generally be, although there are no rules that specify how far apart the swimmers can be.
The final time is the time that the last (third) swimmer crosses the finish line. Despite the staggered start, it is possible that some teams will overtake other teams. All the standard rules of competition apply and referees are on the course to monitor sportsmanlike conduct. They are empowered to give yellow and red cards in the case there is cheating or impeding the progress of another team.
General Rules of Open Water Team Pursuit
Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source
At FINA, the event is called the 5K Team Event or the 5K Team Time Trial. In the race, there are three athletes per team and both genders must be represented (i.e., 2 men + 1 woman or 1 man + 2 women). The athletes start together and swim closely to one another throughout the race in order to gain the advantage of drafting, positioning, navigating and pacing. The most experienced teams swim and finish together in a tight formation after starting off in a staggered start. The 15 national teams at the 2011 FINA World Championships will start off in 1-minute intervals. The closer and straighter the teams swim on the 2-loop 5K course, the faster they will generally be, although there are no rules that specify how far apart the swimmers can be.
The final time is the time that the last (third) swimmer crosses the finish line. Despite the staggered start, it is possible that some teams will overtake other teams. All the standard rules of competition apply and referees are on the course to monitor sportsmanlike conduct. They are empowered to give yellow and red cards in the case there is cheating or impeding the progress of another team.
General Rules of Open Water Team Pursuit
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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