{"id":219325,"date":"2016-08-25T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=219325"},"modified":"2016-08-25T15:35:47","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T22:35:47","slug":"how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Karickhoff, Swimming World College Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

Among the forested hills and valleys, the farms covering the flatlands, and the rivers flowing into Lake Erie, 10 suburban cities compete in the Northeast Ohio Suburban Swim League. The competition spans eight weeks of the short Northern Ohio summers, and it offers just over 1000 young swimmers a place to improve their aquatic talents. <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cLeague,\u201d as it is referred to in the decades-old by-laws governing the season, runs as a recreational league with goals to \u201cprovide boys and girls an opportunity to participate in competitive swimming, enabling them to improve their skills and abilities and instill in them good sportsmanship and team loyalty.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Though the by-laws state that \u201cteam interaction and self-improvement are desirable goals in growing towards adulthood and interaction in life,\u201d some young or new swimmers may be put off by the strict rules involved in competition and practices. An identity crisis arises as the league wants swimmers to learn proper technique through sticking to USA Swimming rules, but still identify as a recreational league open to new and developing swimmers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks. <\/span><\/p>\n

I imagine the officials shake their arms loose and stretch their fingers to prepare for the parade of inexperienced bodies about to dive, fall, into the water. Seconds after the backstrokers take off, six-year-olds are already on their stomachs looking for the wall at the other end. A collection hands from the white-shirted officials rise to the sky, blocking the view of parents in the bleachers cheering on their first-year swimmers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next, the breaststrokers dive, fall, into the water flutter kicking their way to the surface. Another round of hands rise along the pool deck. Then, the flyers make the jump into the pool, some seconds before the breaststrokers touch the wall. More DQ slips are filled out, ensuring no relay finished legally. The freestylers finish the race strong, only stopping a couple times on the lane lines to catch their breath.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The SSL is a recreational league, but operates like a USA Swimming club team. Are five officials necessary for every dual meet? Should 11-12 year olds be swimming the 200 free? Are 100s of strokes too demanding of 13-15 year olds?<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2013, when I was a coach for the one of the SSL teams, the Willoughby Stingers, I heard complaints from coaches about the numerous disqualification slips they would receive after each event, not just the from 8 year olds. Swimmers that appeared legal, or legal enough, in practice were unable to record times in dual meets because of the strict officiating. Myself and other coaches were left with a DQ next to names instead of an idea of how much they improved. There seemed to be a disconnect between the League\u2019s goals and the goals of the coaches. <\/span><\/p>\n

Through an email correspondence with <\/span>Matt Parrish<\/b>, the head of coach of the Chardon Sharks, I discovered this identity still exists. The Sharks just won their first SSL Championship after being in the league only five years, but Parrish said he still feels like \u201cthe black sheep in the SSL.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are somethings in the SSL that I have been trying to change since entering the league. It has been a constant struggle to make my voice heard and listened to \u2026 and just when I think a change is coming, our outdated “by-laws” tend to get in the way,\u201d Parrish said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Parrish is new to the SSL in Northeast Ohio, he is far from being new to the sport of swimming. He comes from a competitive swimming area in metropolitan Detroit where he earned multiple age group state records and achieved All-American status 21 times as a high school student-athlete. His swimming career continued on scholarship at the University of Tennessee (earning All-American honors twice) and now as a masters swimmer still placing highly in the championship meets for the 35-39 age group. Alongside his swimming career he has been coaching for 19 years for multiple teams with varied skills levels. <\/span><\/p>\n

Parrish brought his expertise to the small town of just over 5,000 people and rocketed the interest for competitive swimming in the area. Alongside coaching Chardon, he is also the head coach of the Geauga YMCA Otters Swim Team. When asked how he balances the unique coaching schedule with his home life, he responded \u201cI don\u2019t balance swimming with my home life, swimming is my life. My daughter swims and all of her close friends, as well. If I didn\u2019t enjoy every practice and every meet, I wouldn\u2019t be doing this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the experience with swimming and coaching, Parrish finds that some of the points he makes to promote a more inclusive recreational league go \u201con deaf ears or are met with resistance.\u201d One concern is that because 16-18 year old swimmers can\u2019t compete at champs, they skip dual meets and steer clear of the team. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another worry is that 100s of strokes instead of 50s intimidates the casual swimmer who might only be able to make two to three practices a week. His third issue is the alarming number of DQ slips. Seeing a swimmer work hard all summer just to see a DQ next to his or her name is unsettling for both the swimmer and the coaches. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo see a DQ by your name (especially younger swimmers) tends to tarnish the sport and usually turns kids off swimming,\u201d Parrish said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the SSL figures out its role in competitive swimming and its identity as a recreational team that tries to function under USA rules, Parrish says, \u201cI want the best for my swimmers, all my swimmers…Swimming is probably not going to pay the bills for most of these swimmers, but the life lessons, the constant struggle and working toward and achieving goals helps sets life lessons and helps structure each individual\u2019s life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Karickhoff, Swimming World College Intern Among the forested hills and valleys, the farms covering the flatlands, and the rivers flowing into Lake Erie, 10 suburban cities compete in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3471,"featured_media":194981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[28217,58258,9773,58347,58251],"class_list":["post-219325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-alan-karickhoff","tag-chardon-sharks","tag-matt-parrish","tag-recreational-swim-league","tag-ssl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nHow Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\u00a0<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Karickhoff\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Karickhoff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Karickhoff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3222dc5d375b0ad94412acc24032fa54\"},\"headline\":\"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\"},\"wordCount\":1069,\"commentCount\":15,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alan Karickhoff\",\"Chardon Sharks\",\"Matt Parrish\",\"Recreational swim league\",\"SSL\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\",\"name\":\"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3222dc5d375b0ad94412acc24032fa54\",\"name\":\"Alan Karickhoff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ef2c5f1a481252bfb205f8fe4a76b2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ef2c5f1a481252bfb205f8fe4a76b2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Alan Karickhoff\"},\"description\":\"Alan Karickhoff is a student-athlete and senior economics major at Dickinson College. He swam four years and specialized in sprint freestyle. Before college, he swam and coached multiple teams in Northeast Ohio.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/alan-karickhoff\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\u00a0","description":"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?","og_description":"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2400,"height":1600,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alan Karickhoff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alan Karickhoff","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/"},"author":{"name":"Alan Karickhoff","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3222dc5d375b0ad94412acc24032fa54"},"headline":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?","datePublished":"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/"},"wordCount":1069,"commentCount":15,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","keywords":["Alan Karickhoff","Chardon Sharks","Matt Parrish","Recreational swim league","SSL"],"articleSection":["Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/","name":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-25T16:00:06+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-25T22:35:47+00:00","description":"In the first dual meet of the season, five officials surround the pool deck, waiting for the moment to fill out the first of the many DQ slips clipped to their clipboards. Starting off the meet are the 13-15 boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 medley relays followed by the 11-12\u2019s, 9-10\u2019s, and finally 8 & unders. In the older age groups, the officials only catch a few improper breaststroke kicks and a couple of one-hand touches from the flyers. Eventually, however, the 8 & unders are directed behind the blocks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-many-dqs-is-too-many-in-a-recreational-swim-league\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Many DQs is Too Many in A Recreational Swim League?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3222dc5d375b0ad94412acc24032fa54","name":"Alan Karickhoff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ef2c5f1a481252bfb205f8fe4a76b2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03ef2c5f1a481252bfb205f8fe4a76b2?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Alan Karickhoff"},"description":"Alan Karickhoff is a student-athlete and senior economics major at Dickinson College. He swam four years and specialized in sprint freestyle. Before college, he swam and coached multiple teams in Northeast Ohio.","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/alan-karickhoff\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/kids-practice-floating-at-make-a-splash.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-V3v","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}