Rule on adjustable backstroke ledges accepted in males’s and girls’s swimming – NCAA.org

The Division II and III Playing Rules Oversight Panel on Wednesday accepted requiring the backstroke ledge to be adjustable to 4 centimeters above or 4 centimeters under the water stage and might not be used outdoors of this vary.

The rule change for males’s and girls’s swimming and diving additionally has been accepted on the Division I stage for the 2026-27 tutorial 12 months. 

Under the rule, the ledge must be a minimal of 60 centimeters in size, 8 centimeters in peak and a couple of centimeters in width with 10 levels of slope.

Other guidelines adjustments:

• New language was added to the rule for butterfly races. It now consists of, “Additionally, once some part of the head of the swimmer has passed the final 5-meter mark (long course and short course meters) or 5-yard mark (short course yards), immediately prior to reaching for the finish, the swimmer may be completely submerged.”
• New language was added to the rule for freestyle races. It now consists of, “Additionally, once some part of the head of the swimmer has passed the final 5-meter mark (long course and short course meters) or 5-yard mark (short course yards), immediately prior to reaching for the finish, the swimmer may be completely submerged.”