Parents, 

I mentioned this last Friday, but recently received a question about it. Therefore, I wanted to send a blast about our starting blocks and why we will not use them this year. 

1. I do not feel comfortable with the depth of our pool to teach starts from the blocks. This was my first reason, but as I looked for supporting reasons here is what I found... 

FINA (International Swimming organization) and USA Swimming’s rules are summarized below:

• FINA requires a minimum water depth of 6’-7” (2-meters) for starting blocks.
• Due to grandfathering in older swimming facilities, USA Swimming’s rules are a little complex in regards to water depth. USA Swimming requires a minimum water depth of 4’-0” for all racing starts (at meets) and 5’-0” for all teaching or training racing starts (practices), as long as the individual has been certified to do so at this water depth (there is a certification process for the coaches and the athletes). Without the certification, and for teaching racing starts to non-certified individuals, USA Swimming recommends 5’-0” as a minimum with 6’-7” (2 meters) preferred.

Our pool is 4 feet deep with a slope to 5 feet closer to the well. Our pool does not meet the criteria to teach new swimmers how to do a racing dive from a block. I am dive certified, and I will be teaching the swimmers how to do racing dives from the side in the deep end, but we will not be installing the swimming blocks this year because we have a VERY bad facility to teach new kids how to do a racing dive.

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Thanks, 

Mark