A “compliance issue” with the required minimum swimming pool depth for starting blocks has resulted in International Falls’ season-opening girls swimming and diving meet being moved Thursday from the FHS pool to Hibbing, said Bronco head coach Jill Herzig.
The standard being implemented for 2011-12 by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and also being adopted for this season by the Minnesota State High School League calls for a minimum depth of 4 feet to use starting blocks, but the FHS swimming pool is only 3 1/2 feet by the starting blocks, said Falls Superintendent Jeff Peura.
As a result, Peura said both girls and boys swimming meets will only be able to held at the FHS pool during 2011-12 if the teams involved agree to start all swimming events in the water, because the starting blocks will no longer be able to be used.
The NFHS has announced that the rule change for pools with a depth of less than four feet and at least 3 1/2 feet is for “risk minimization purposes and to reflect current trends.”
Following the conclusion of Falls’ boys and girls swimming seasons, Peura said the district plans to deepen the first 30 feet from the starting blocks to 5 feet, a project that could cost in the neighborhood $100,000, based on what some other school districts in Minnesota are experiencing.
For more details on the effect the NFHS rule revision is having at the FHS swimming pool, see the Sept. 3 edition of The Journal.
