Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible - Swimming World<\/title>\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\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NCAA Championship editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by Competitor Swim. Visit CompetitorSwim.com for more information on our sponsor. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page. Also,\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\" \/>\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=\"2014-03-28T15:28:10+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-23T18:54:28+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/400-MR-Florida-MNCAA-2014-0473-1024x681.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"681\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeff Commings\" \/>\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=\"Jeff Commings\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 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\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeff Commings\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/11d58f31d00d146ff00dc388db73f92a\"},\"headline\":\"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-28T15:28:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-23T18:54:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\"},\"wordCount\":532,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/400-MR-Florida-MNCAA-2014-0473.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2014-ncaa-division-i-mens-championships\",\"Alabama\",\"AUSTIN\",\"Brian Gordon\",\"coach\",\"disqualification official or overrules it\",\"Diving\",\"FACEBOOK INC.\",\"Jeff Commings\",\"National Collegiate Athletic Association\",\"NCAA Championship\",\"NCAA swimming rules secretary-editor\",\"Olympic Sports\",\"Olympics\",\"Relay race\",\"Sports\",\"swimming\",\"Takeoff\",\"takeoff judge\",\"Takeoff\/Go-around switches\",\"Texas\",\"the NCAA\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"College\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/\",\"name\":\"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible - 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He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in journalism and was a nine-time NCAA All-American.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/jeffc\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible - Swimming World","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\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible","og_description":"NCAA Championship editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by Competitor Swim. Visit CompetitorSwim.com for more information on our sponsor. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page. 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{"id":52820,"date":"2014-03-28T08:28:10","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T15:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/?p=52820"},"modified":"2015-08-23T11:54:28","modified_gmt":"2015-08-23T18:54:28","slug":"relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/relay-takeoff-judging-at-ncaa-championships-as-close-to-perfect-as-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Relay Takeoff Judging at NCAA Championships As Close To Perfect As Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Championship editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by Competitor Swim. Visit CompetitorSwim.com<\/a> for more information on our sponsor. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page<\/a>. Also, make sure to check out our Facebook photo gallery<\/a> for the latest images from the meet in Austin. <\/i><\/p>\n

Feature by Jeff Commings<\/i><\/p>\n

AUSTIN, Texas, March 28. THIRTEEN relay takeoff disqualifications on the first day of the NCAA Men\u2019s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships had many wondering if something was afoot on deck. But this year\u2019s meet has a more thorough system of checks and balances than has ever been used at the collegiate championship.<\/p>\n

A new rule getting more verifications on early takeoffs might cause several lulls in the action, but it\u2019s allowing every angle to be explored and checked before the referee makes the disqualification official, or overrules it. The platforms on the starting blocks are the first judges of a disqualification, with the electronic judging making the final ruling for takeoffs in the range of +.09 (the foot leaving the starting block nine hundredths of a second after the hand in the water touches the wall) to -.09 (the foot leaving the starting block nine hundredths of a second too early). When it\u2019s outside of that range \u2013 particularly when it is -.10 or more \u2013 the human judges weigh in.<\/p>\n

Two judges on the side of the pool each watch takeoffs on two lanes, and a takeoff judge on the bulkhead watches just one lane. If the electronic judging calls a DQ outside of -.09, both humans must also agree that an early takeoff took place for an automatic DQ. If the machine and only one human call a DQ (or both humans say the takeoff was safe), then the officials go to a video review.<\/p>\n

Using two cameras, one on each side of the pool focused on four lanes each, officials watch the takeoffs in slow motion. The video serves to verify the DQ and override the one human who disagreed.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s not as good as the system used at the USA Swimming nationals, world championships or Olympics, but Brian Gordon, the NCAA swimming rules secretary-editor, said the costs associated with mounting cameras above the blocks (as used internationally<\/a>) could keep the NCAA from taking relay takeoff judging to the next level. He told Swimming World today that it\u2019s about as perfect as it can get at the NCAA level.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe review process was originally done because nobody trusted the RJP (relay judging platform),\u201d Gordon said. \u201cThings are much better now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepping up the system of verifying relay takeoff violations is helping catch the early jumpers, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily explain why so many teams are doing it.<\/p>\n

Gordon, a former coach at Bowling Green and Alabama, speculated that too many team are taking bigger risks at the championship meet, or not focusing on relay takeoffs as much as other schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you tell your guys that .03 to .10 is OK, you\u2019re flirting with danger,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re jumping (early) all year, you\u2019re going to jump here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"