Imagine this: You're a high-school swim star. You swim school meets according to high-school rules. You compete in national and international meets on the weekends or in the summer. Both require two different sets of rules. Then, you enter college and compete at the NCAA level, which has its own rules book. Along the way -- because of the rules differences -- you have been disqualified for your forward start, your stroke turn and several other technical incongruencies.

If that's not frustrating enough, the swimming rules governing bodies -- the Federacion International de Natation (FINA), USA Swimming, the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) all the while claim that they have your best interests in mind.

Would you find that hard to believe?

Pat Lunsford did. As the national officials chair for USA Swimming, he has witnessed first-hand the disconnect between the organizations' missions and the end result.

Lunsford said, "I kept going to different meetings hearing everyone say, 'Whatever we do, let's do it for our kids.' And I thought 'Well, I'm carrying four rules books that say it ain't so.' "

His frustration was the catalyst for creating a forum where the various swimming governing bodies could develop common ground. He titled it the "Our Kids Initiative," the purpose of which is "to have all governing bodies look at ways to truly be in it for all kids, not just those in each respective group."

Lunsford said, "Let's just make life easier for the swimmer in the water, the coach coaching the swimmer and the official officiating the meet."

On August 26, 2000, representatives from FINA, the NCAA, USA Swimming, the YMCA (which follows NCAA rules) and the NFHS met in Pittsburgh to discuss each organization's rules process, differences and rationales for implementing change. In preparation for the meeting, Lunsford created a chart comparing the major rules differences among the groups.

"When I showed them the rules comparison sheet, they realized that they're not that far apart," Lunsford said.

'Better for everyone'

The most important facet of the meeting was the communication element.

"For people to agree to get together and have an open dialogue has been a major wall that has come down," Lunsford said.

Susan Petersen Lubow, secretary-rules editor for the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee, attended the meeting. As the committee's rules historian and expert, she provided the background on major NCAA rules differences.

"I think it's a great initiative," she said. "We're all trying to figure out if various rules will benefit the swimmer, not just the collegiate swimmer or the high-school swimmer."

The problems created by varying rules books impacts more than just the swimmers. "It causes confusion among the officials," Lubow said, referring to the fact that many officials oversee multiple levels of competition.

Also, as far as records are concerned, the differences regarding stroke technique lead to unofficial records. If an NCAA backstroker beats the time of the American record-holder in an NCAA meet, the swimmer's record is not recognized by USA Swimming or FINA because the NCAA's rules concerning backstroke turns are different from the international definition.

Though Lubow said the swimming committee has traditionally looked at just the collegiate swimmer, strides are being made to "make it better for everyone."

That means taking the time during rules discussions to examine, in-depth, the reasons why a potential rule needs to be different from the international norm.

Reducing variance in rules is a challenge common to many NCAA sports. Many student-athletes come up through the youth ranks playing by one set of rules only to get to college where different rules are used. The athletes who continue to compete internationally after college face additional complications. But elite athletes are a small percentage of the NCAA student-athlete population, and the need for rules to be consistent between the high-school level and the college level is more pertinent to the initiative's work.

A team effort

R. Wayne Burrow, NCAA associate director of championships, has been NCAA staff liaison to the swimming committee since 1991. This September, he began serving on the board of USA Swimming, replacing swimming committee past chair Kevin McNamee, senior associate athletics director at George Mason University. Burrow said the NCAA's presence at the meetings is testament to increased communication between the two organizations, something that was absent 10 years ago.

"USA Swimming sees the NCAA as a viable source of information," Burrow said. "We are a major training ground for competitive swimmers."

One product of the improved relations was the 2000 Division I Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which were held in short-course meters instead of the traditional short-course yards. The move brought NCAA swimming in line with the international swimming community. "We wanted to promote our sport and provide a comparative measure for the athletes with the international level," Burrow said said.

Burrow attended the Pittsburgh meeting and has further witnessed the effort to create what he calls "one swimming world."

"Whenever there's a discussion about a potential rule change at any of the levels we can bring it to the initiative meeting and talk about it," he said. "This is not an attempt to say every organization has to have the same rules, but at least we can establish if the reason for a difference is legitimate or that the student-athlete will benefit from it."

The likelihood of eventually having one book of rules is slim. The existing rules books differ widely in regard to event management and meet procedure. But as Lubow points out, the way the meet is run is secondary to the swimmer's concerns.

"Just like an eight-year-old won't dribble a ball differently than he would when he's a teenager, we don't want an eight-year-old to have to breaststroke differently as he gets older. A stroke should be the same technically no matter what age he competes at or what level," she said.

In preparation for the April 2002 meeting, Lunsford once again is compiling a chart of major rules differences and looking forward to hearing feedback from the various organizations regarding the progress that has been made since the first meeting.

"I think everyone agrees there will never be one rules book," Lunsford acknowledged. "My hope is there will continue to be a feeling of cooperation and that the initiative is a place where people can bounce ideas off each other. That way, we really will be in it for our kids."