[BennyB]

I agree with Bill S. that because of the differences in pools we need some sort of methodology that can be applied equally to all pools.

I would be happy with a change in rules that suggests no change to penalties whilst an athlete is in mid performance (ie. if they pull themselves along the bottom), but a penalty if they grab the side and pull themselves up before their airways are out of the water. The penalty I would suggest would be equivalent to 1m (2 points).

My reasoning is that 1m is the most benefit an athlete can have by grabbing the side and pulling themselves up, therefore a 1m penalty will mitigate this. I see no need for a penalty that penalises more than the athlete could have given themselves.

My logic is as follows: if the athlete pulls themselves up out of laziness then take away the advantage. If the athlete pulls themselves up because they feel they're close to BO then fine, this is a safety issue - but i'd suggest that if they were that close that they had to pull themselves up, then they would be quite challenged in passing the SP, which ultimately tells the athlete that they pushed too hard.

Cheers,
Ben