Pool swimming continues to follow the lead of the open water swimming world.
FINA and the world’s elite swimmers will soon start competing in 4×50 mixed-gender relays for the first time in history. At the FINA World Cup swim meet in Dubai, the teams will consist of two men and two women.
So while the pool swimming world believes it is on the cutting edge of aquatic sports, the open water swimming world occasionally sets the standard…quietly and without press releases.
For example, standards in swimsuits that created so much controversy in the pool swimming world over the recent past is an issue that has long been set in stone by the channel swimming community. The Channel Swimming Association, NYC Swim and the RCP Tiburon Mile are examples in the open water swimming of organizations that have long established set standards for swimming wear. In contrast, it took a global upheaval in the pool swimming world where swimming coaches, FINA administrators, athletes and manufacturers were at odds with each other during the polyurethane era.
Another example are the mixed-gender relays that have long been part of the open water swimming world. From the Channel Swimming Association 6-person mixed-gender relays starting in the 1950s to the Trans Tahoe Relay and Maui Channel Relays, the open water swimming world has long accepted and welcomed men and women swimming and competing together. Even on the FINA side of the equation, the 5km mixed-gender Team Pursuit held at the 2011 FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai preceded the mixed-gender experiments in the pool.
Shaving down, massages, psychological preparation, specialized diets…these have long been a part of the open water swimming world for decades before similar trends became widely accepted among pool swimmers.
Even goggles, long a part of the open water swimming world, did not become de facto equipment in the pool swimming world until the 1960s.
Even the success of different races and cultures in the pool (e.g., the first African-American or the the first Asian to win an international gold medal) have long been a part of the annals of open water swimming history.
So when aquatic historians look back on the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, they will find the roots of pool swimming trends and innovations actually had their roots in the open water swimming world.
“It’s really important for every discipline, every sport, to improve, to look forward to develop further,” FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said about the mixed-gender pool relays. “We will test it in the World Cup and see how this is going and will probably introduce at the world championship if results are acceptable for swimmers and coaches.”
A test that has already been long accepted and passed by the open water swimming community.
Quietly creative and innovative are those open water swimmers and administrators.
Photo shows the gold medal winning mixed-gender 5km Team Pursuit trio of Sean Ryan, Ashley Twichell and Andrew Gemmell at the 2011 World Swimming Championships.
Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source