COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, May 21. IN light of the short pool issues at the Texas Senior Circuit meet, previously reported by Swimming World, USA Swimming has released an updated statement.
USA Swimming confirmed that there was problem with the length of the pool at the Texas Senior Circuit meet held at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Unfortunately, the pool measured a fraction less than 50-meters, therefore, USA Swimming's Rules Committee is providing further evaluation of the situation to determine whether the times will count.
This is a softened stance from the previous statement provided to Swimming World after an inquiry into the situation:
Because the recently-installed bulkhead anchors were not in the correct position and created a problem with course length, USA Swimming cannot accept times swum at Texas A&M prior to the Sunday evening (Finals) session.
The issues first came to national prominence after questions arose regarding a falsely-reported time from the women's 50 breast that might have resulted in a world record. The inaccurate times that were presented by the live results from the meet were in no way the fault of the swimmers in the heat. What initially led to the pool being measured in the first place is that a Masters world record was thought to have been broken during one of the first sessions.
Texas A&M head coach Steve Bultman spoke with The Morning Swim Show about the situation today. He explains in further detail exactly what occurred throughout the meet.