The technical rules of swimming are designed to provide fair and equitable conditions of competition and to promote uniformity in the sport. Each swimming stroke has specific rules designed to ensure that no athlete gets an unfair competitive advantage over another athlete. The technical rules for each stroke may be found in the publication “United States Swimming Rules and Regulations”.

Trained officials observe the swimmers during each event to ensure compliance with these technical rules. If an athlete commits an infraction of the rules, he will be disqualified from that event, which means the athlete will not receive an official time nor be eligible for an award in that event. Disqualifications may result from actions such as not getting to the starting blocks on time, false starting, walking on or pushing off the bottom of the pool, pulling on the lane lines, or unsportsmanlike conduct.

For a complete listing of all the technical rules and regulations of swimming please refer to the Rules and Regulations Manual at the USA Swimming website:  Click USA Swim icon in partner links box.  Then look for USA Swimming tools box, click link to Applications and Forms, on right hand side under Manuals - click either the Mini-Rulebook or the Rules and Regulation Handbook.  A PDF copy of the handbook will open. 

on the right hand side