A local swimmer has learned if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, but had to go all the way to Caracas, Venezuela to make this discovery.
Anne Ottenbrite conquered adversity over her unique swimming style and altered it slightly on the way to capturing a gold medal at the Pan American Games in the 100-metre breaststroke, Saturday (Aug. 20).
In a cloud of controversy, Ottenbrite had been disqualified in the 200-metre breaststroke Thursday (Aug. 18) when judges ruled she was using an illegal “dolphin kick”.
This nullified a record-setting time for the Games and eliminated Ottenbrite, the pre-race favorite, from the final.
Kathy Bald, of Ottawa, salvaged some satisfaction for the Canadian team as she went on to win the gold.
It was a different story on Saturday. Ottenbrite changed her kick only with one day to practice, and slashed 4/10ths of a second off the Commonwealth record of 1:11:03 she set at the world swimming championships in 1982. I’m lowering my legs more,” said Ottenbrite after the race. “I didn’t want to change it all, but it seems more streamlined now.”
The 17-year-old Ottenbrite’s controversial swimming style was first ruled illegal at a Canada-England-USSR meet in England this summer and her father Joe Ottenbrite believes this may have caused a precedent.
“If she hadn’t been disqualified in England, no issue would have been made here,” he said.
The judge apparently believed that Ottenbrite is using the dolphin kick – an up – and – down jerky motion – but her father disputes this contention.
“When the back part of her body comes up, her feet come out of the water. The judges are taking it for granted she’s not spreading her feet at all. She does this underwater, but they can’t see this.”
“The kick doesn’t give her any advantage,” said Ottenbrite’s coach, Cliff Barry. There’s a little pause in the upstroke that makes it look like a dolphin kick. We don’t think it’s illegal.” Mr. Ottenbrite maintains that Canadian swimming officials did not take enough precautions before the race to determine if the kick was indeed illegal.
“I feel the coaches should have investigated to see if the judges would agree if it was a legal kick before going on with practicing.” He said.
After the recent disqualification Mr. Ottenbrite immediately asked that a protest be issued through the federal government but the issue was put into the hands of the Canadian Swimming Association.
“We should let it be known we can’t be pushed around,” he said. “I hope they stand by the protest.”
