Racing Start Safety: Head Depth and Head Speed During Competitive Starts into a Water Depth of 1.22 m

Minimum Water Depth Rules for Competitive Swim Starts

“…There was a statistically significant correlation between MHD and DIST for the data collected by Cornett et al (2010;R = -0.61, p < .001) and Cornett et al (2011a; R = -0.55, p < .001). There was also a statistically significant correlation between MHD and DIST for two of the three conditions tested by Cornett et al (2011b).…”

“…We located previous studies that measured DIST for competitive swimmers executing racing starts from standard starting heights (Blitvich et al 1999;Cornett et al, 2010Cornett et al, , 2011aCornett et al, , 2011b. Then, we compared the maximum DIST for each group to the distance from the wall for which minimum water depth is to be maintained by USA Swimming and FINA rules (5 and 6 m, respectively).…”

“…The first part of the rules above, the minimum water depth, has been the subject of reasonably extensive debate within the swimming and scientific communities (Welch & Owens, 1986;Counsilman, Nomura, Endo, & Counsilman, 1988;Blanksby, Wearne, & Elliott, 1996;Gehlsen & Wingfield, 1998;Blitvich, McElroy, Blanksby, & Douglas, 1999;Blitvich, McElroy, Blanksby, Clothier, & Pearson, 2000a;and Blitvich, McElroy, & Blanksby, 2000b;Cornett, White, Wright, Willmott, & Stager, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2011d, 2012aCornett, White, Wright, & Stager, 2012b, 2014Cornett, Naganobori, & Stager, 2012c;White, Cornett, Wright, Willmott, & Stager, 2011;Stager, Cornett, & Naganobori, 2013). The second aspect of the rules, the distance from the wall for which the minimum water depth must be maintained, has not received much discussion.…”

Considering Safe Water Entry

“…The Cornett et al (2010) study focused on racing starts, particularly those during actual competition. Racing starts essentially are long, shallow head first plunges that typically occur from a racing block that is situated 1 meter above the water surface.…”

“…At the moment, aside from the few studies that have examined the depth of racing dives as reviewed by Cornett et al (2010), there is very little research evidence to support what water depths may be safe for non-racing start dives. Because of the severity of SCIs that could result from diving into water that is too shallow, the aquatic field certainly has the need to investigate this issue and to begin making decisions using an evidence-based approach.…”