Starting with the first meet of the 1999/2000 season the whistle commands will be used for all swim meets in Michigan, this will be the same as the starting protocol for championship meets; rule 102.14.2.C. In addition there will be no recall starter for all A meets.

The starting protocol for all A, and championship meets will be as follows. At the commencement of each heat the Referee or Deck Referee shall signal to the swimmers by a short series of whistles (3) to remove all clothing except swimwear, followed by a long whistle indicating that they should take their positions on the starting platform and remain there. When the swimmers and officials are ready, the Referee shall signal with an outstretched arm to the Starter that the swimmers are under the Starter's control. The Starter shall then give the command "take your mark", the swimmers shall immediately assume their starting position with at least one foot at the front of the block. When all swimmers are stationary, the Starter shall give the starting signal.

The size of the meet will determine how fast one needs to go to keep the meet within the four hour per session rule. The three short whistles can be given as early as when the previous heat's last swimmer is within one foot of their finish. The long whistle can be given as the previous heat's swimmers are exiting the pool. In the backstroke and medley relays one additional long whistle will be used. The first is to have them enter the pool the second is to get the swimmers to the starting platform and ready for the starting command.

The announcer will be responsible for announcing the event number, stroke and distance and heat number. If the announcer is not in close proximity to the Starter or the public address system is not adequate to communicate the event information in a timely manner, the Referee may designate someone to announce the information over the starter's PA System. This announcement will take place as the swimmers are coming in to finish their heat (between the flags and the finish). It would be announced as; the next event is number 43, 100 yards/meters backstroke heat 1, for heat numbers, heat 3 is next or next is heat 3.

For B, C and all combinations with B and C meets we will be using the same protocol that we have used in the past with the inclusion of the new whistles. The intent here was to acclimate the lesser-experienced swimmers to the system but not overwhelm them without oral commands. It is the intent of the officials committee to incorporate the whistle commands across the board during the long course season if not sooner.

For the 1999/2000-swim season, the Recall Starter position will not be used and false starts will not be recalled in all meets.

The reasoning behind not using a Recall Starter is that it is felt that a swimmers first start is their best start, so why punish the field for one person's failure to remain motionless until the start.

The Referee and the Starter will stand on the starting side of the pool, with both persons having an unobstructed view of the entire field of swimmers. Should a false start occur both the Referee and Starter will independently write down which lane was observed to have false started. The Starter will then notify the Referee that they had observed a false start and wanted to know if the Referee had observed anything. If so both will present which lane in writing they had observed, if they concur the swimmer will be notified of the disqualification at the end of the race. If both parties cannot agree on the lane, it is not a disqualification. It is important to remember that the Starter will initiate the asking if a false start had occurred. The field can be recalled if the Starter has observed that an unfair start has occurred. In the event that a false start was inadvertently recalled, the entire field will be placed back up on the blocks to start over. No matter how flagrant the false start was, the entire field will start over.

Paul Jones

Officials Chair