Gold medallist Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa poses on the podium during the Victory Ceremony following the men’s 100m Breaststroke final on Day 2 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre.
Elite Swimmer Admits to Using Illegal Kick in Olympics
Olympic gold medalist Cameron van der Burgh admitted that he used an illegal dolphin kick to help win the 100m breaststroke.
It was ruled that since no underwater technology was available to investigate, the South African’s penalty cannot be corroborated.
Van der Burgh defeated Christian Sprenger and Brendan Hansen on his way to earning gold with a time of 58.46 seconds.
He asserted that illegal kicks are commonly used by swimmers, and enforcement of the rules is poor.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald, “It’s got to the point where if you’re not doing it you are falling behind or giving yourself a disadvantage.
Everyone is pushing the rules and pushing the boundaries and if you’re not doing it you are not trying hard enough…I think only if you can bring in underwater footage that’s when people will stop doing it. We will have peace of mind to say I don’t need to do it because not everyone else is doing it and it’s fair.”
Camera are for the TV viewers only and are not used by the judges.
“Judges can only judge what they see,” Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of swimming governing body FINA, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They cannot judge what they don’t see.”
What is a dolphin kick exactly, and why are swimming’s powers that be so eager to limit its use?
The dolphin kick, also known as the butterfly kick, dates back to 1935. Its originator was a collegiate swimmer named Jack Sieg, a transfer student from the University of the Ocean who came to terra firma to introduce us to his people’s amphibious ways. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Flipper, you know that dolphins propel themselves through the water by flapping their tails up and down. A dolphin kick mimics this movement.
What do you think? Should the kick be allowed? Or should judges have access to cameras?
If all can use it then it becomes fair. Unless they can detect, then why make it illegal? Even if they could why should they as there is no advantage if all could use it. What is the “Porpoise” of making it illegal?
Exactly. If everyone’s doing it and it doesn’t appear to be hurting anyone, why not just allow it? I don’t understand how moving your feet/legs in that way is such a huge issue.
When you’re racing breaststroke, you’re allowed one full body pull & one whip kick underwater. The rules shouldn’t change. They should get underwater footage/cameras or better judges to watch. All the meets I’ve competed in, the rules are strictly enforced and there are people watching for DQs. The Olympics should be no different.