FINA Cuts Gordian Relay Knot: Australia, US DQ’ed, Brits Win
By Takahisa Ide
FUKUOKA, Japan. July 26. The FINA Jury of Appeal met this morning, July 26, to resolve the protests surrounding and decide the final placements of the women's 4 x 200m freestyle relay.
The Jury of Appeal decided unanimously that the
Australia team be disqualified due to its clear violation of FINA Rule SW 10.11 when three members of the relay jumped into the pool before all the teams had completed the race.
The Jury of Appeal also decided unanimously to uphold the protest submitted by the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain and the Japan Swimming Federation concerning the final result of the relay.
The Jury of Appeal found that the timing system worked perfectly during the race. The announced tolerance
on judging for the relay take-off is 0.03 seconds. The tolerance recorded on the automatic equipment for the USA team was 0.06 seconds. Consequently the Jury of Appeal ruled that the USA team be disqualified.
The final standing of the women's 4 x 200m is therefore as follws:
1st place: GBR
2nd place: GER
3rd place: JPN
4th place: CAN
5th place: ESP
6th place: ITA
DQ: AUS
DQ: USA