Next season swimmers will not have to touch the side of the pool with their hands as they turn, and the distance for two events will be different, according to rule changes recently announced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In addition, a new event, the 400-yard individual medley, has been added to the NCAA championship program.
The distance for the 220-yard freestyle has been changed to 200 yards, while the 440-yard freestyle has been lengthened to 500 yards. Both of these events will now finish at the end of the pool rather than at a rope line as previously.
William J. Brooks, varsity swimming coach, explained yesterday that the new regulations are "an improvement on the swimming rules" and added that they should not have any particular effect on the performance of the Harvard team.
The most important of the changes, Brooks said, is the abolition of the hand-touch requirement. According to previous regulations, a swimmer had to tag the end of the pool with his hand on each turn. Now he will only be required to touch the end with some part of his body.
The Olympics and foreign meets in general will still require the hand tag on turns.
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