Men's 50 Freestyle | 2023 NCAA swimming championships

Starting is part of the race. You have to be prepared for however it goes down.

​@@nicholasrapose196 i agree, but it's also on the officials to either start them within a more reasonable time margin or just stand them up.
the officials are there to facilitate the swimmers, not the other way around.

@@nicholasrapose196 nah in a sprint race especially the 50 it’s crucial to start them on time

@@maximus3294 Agreed

@@Tydown130 Agreed

it cost Crooks .2 at most

@iizzcool you gotta factor in the panic he had from the horrible start too

why is everyone bitching about this? Is there a rule on how long to hold them?

@@tallswede80 Ok, I'm going to assume that you know absolutely nothing about starts, in any sport, since they're all pretty much the same. There is a cadence that starters have, and yes, if a starter is "slow" (i.e. makes the athletes wait a long time) or "fast" (almost no wait time between "take your mark" and the beep), the athletes are aware and may even talk about it. If a starter, who is routinely "average" (i.e. not too fast or slow), makes them wait too long, when the race is literally won by hundredths of a second, then there's a much higher probability that at least one of them will be "off" on their start. Sprint swimmers are almost exclusively about the start and turn, so the timing of the starter is imperative.
There is no rule, per se, but starters who are habitually too slow or fast will not have a job for long, esp. in these kinds of meets.

@@purselmer5931 starters start when all of the athletes say (through their movements or lack of) they are ready. No cadence. Crooks was still moving backwards, so not ready to start. The second he stopped moving backwards, he "told" the starter he was ready and the start signal was given.

I mentioned it. The cameraman needed a DQ. That was unbelievable, but ultimately it’s the starter who should have seen this and not held them. The starter should have had them stand, step down, and get the camera people out of the way.

Um, what?

@@boblangford5514 I don’t understand that comment either

@@yxsian9082the official was asked why they held the swimmers and they said it was because crooks wasn’t set

@@kaihayashida5628 ik that. but im pretty sure you can move backwards on the block unless im mistaken? i swim so ye

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT!!!!!! SPOT ON!!! Starter did a great job! If she didn't wait for Crooks to stop moving, he would have gotten an even slower start because he would have still been moving backwards.