[BennyB]

This is a very interesting topic, thanks for bringing it up Simo.

My opinion is that I would disagree with a periodic ban from competition for blackouts (or LMC either minor or major). I could almost entertain the notion that a BO in a comp means you're out for the day, however it's a big expensive world out there and i'll be damned if I spend hundreds of pounds on turning up to a competition to be ruled out straight away. And it's pretty good for me being based in London as I can get to most places relatively inexpensively. For my fellow countrymen back home, a jaunt over to the other side of the world for a competition could cost up to a month's salary and if they were to BO in comp and be banned from the comp then that would be the last you would probably ever see of them.

BUT

That said, i'm a bit old-school in my thinking, in that I believe that the onus is on the competitor to get the best result from a competition, and in comp this translates to getting points. It's in the competitor's best interests to ensure they get the most points they can. A 52m dive is worth zero points if you BO. No points, no international ranking. If you want to see what your limits are, that's what (responsible) training is for. I can't understand how people can push themselves to the point of BO in comp, to my mind it just doesn't make sense when they do it time after time. Sure enough, shit happens and people can accidently push too far or have external circumstances out of their control, or may just be inexperienced. That happens, and so be it. But if people continually BO in comp they really have to ask themselves why are they there in the first place.

I've never blacked out in comp (or in training for that matter), it's all part of my comp strategy to maximise my points. Know the rules, don't DQ yourself.

I can see how serial offenders need to be pulled in a bit, perhaps this should lie in the domain of the AIDA National to enforce... something like 3 BO's in a row and you're banned from the next national comp? It's a hard one.

I can also understand and appreciate that the high level athletes are at the very top of their game and have a different emphasis than many, that of breaking world records and competing against probably only a handful of other athletes. In this regard a higher rate of BO could be expected and probably should be tolerated. In this sport it's not often a world record breaker makes the rules.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Ben