Could you please explain what shaving before a meet means?

Really? Does it make THAT much of a difference? I don't get it!

Basically in swimming, while practising you dont shave your arms or legs etc because it causes drag in the water, thus causing you to have to push yourself harder. When the meet rolls around you shave so that you glide through the water with out that drag. In a sport where 1st and 2nd can be determined by 10ths of a second its a very big deal.

Thanks for the explanation Jes. That was very helpful. This helps me understand why they'd wait til the last minute to shave. However, shaving can lead to cuts and folks are exposing themselves to others in the water and at the meet. You might not even know that you cut yourself until well after the meet.

Thanks Jes. Do they have this rule in College, National competitions and the Olympics? I sure hope my swim club does not ban shaving before I get there - no one wants to see that.

All of the above is true. However, in this case the rule has more to do with health that competitive edge -- shaving on site at a meet carries the risk of blood-born diseases if someone is cut. In the meantime why is there not a story about the fact that the BHS boys swim team has a county title and both the boys and girls teams just won regional titles. For that matter why are there basically no stories covering any sports at BHS? It is our peninsula's high school.

Find out if the high school is generating press releases for their sports teams.

Three questions: Who was the female swimmer that violated the rule? Why isn't anyone releasing her name? Since she didn't commit a crime and assuming she is under 18 what does it matter in keeping her identity a secret?

Please do not put up this poor girls name. I am sure she feels badly enough and to drag her name through the mud would be horrible. Rumor has it she was shaving after the meet to go out on date and probably had no idea shaving after the meet was an issue.

Your rumor sources is incorrect.

How and when was it discovered?

One reason Broadneck may not be being covered more on this site is it is the Severna Park Patch. There are Patches for each town/area and your local news would be covered there. However, if you mean BHS is not covered at all in the acutal newspaper or online, then that I can't answer. And NO, they should not print the name of a child. Her name has no relevance to the story. In this age of anonymous comment posting, you can bet some of the comments would be spiteful and inappropriate, not what a teenager needs to hear during a difficult time.

Kellie -- there have been both SP and Broadneck Patch sites for a while now -- they each have their own territory to cover. D. Frank -- unfortunately I feel that the Broadneck site is a shadow of its former self. While I have noticed a number of local theater stories which is good, there is no longer a regular flow of new and timely news. I miss seeing features on area residents, reading about cool kids, news on athletic teams and coverage of meetings and events. I also miss the regular photo essays. It's too bad that Patch no longer uses its cadre of freelance photographers and writers as no one person can effectively do the job.

Hi Esme- Give Frank a chance over there in Broadneck. He's still getting his feet wet in Patch land. And, yes, the sites are being successfully managed by sole editors with a growing cadre of bloggers and UGC (user generated content). We still have freelancers. We count on our readers to let us know what they want covered, so let him know. This story was "crossposted" with SP Patch, originating in Broadneck, the comment thread is from both Patch sites. Thanks for being a Patch fan~ Leslie

As I understand it, the no shaving rule is not an across the board rule for all sports though, which doesn't make sense as blood born pathogens are not sports specific. As a matter of fact, I know of an incidence where a wrestler was forced to shave right before a meet. If it truly has to do with BBP, than the rule should either be followed for ALL sports or abolished.

I'm gonna take a guess and say the shaving incident was SP back up plan, otherwise why not disqualify the young lady before she swam. I guess when they came up short they had their ace and they played it.

I think this became an issue in water sports after Greg Louganis had his accident on the diving board. But really their are many other sports in school where blood can be exchanged, football, wrestling, LAX, but swimming in a pool with chlorine, come on.

Since I now have permission to comment let me set the record straight: A swimmer from another team reported to her coach before the meet began that my BHS swimmer had been shaving her underarms. I went to my swimmer and said, "you could be disqualified for shaving!" She said, 'Why?'(Because of a rule regarding blood-borne pathogens) And right then I felt sick because I realized I had not told my entire team about the no shaving before, during, or after the meet rule (from the NFHS rulebook) this season. Goodness knows, I talked about the NO jewelry rule all year! So instead of dq'ing my swimmer and replacing her with other great swimmers, I let her swim. Threw her the life-ring but sank the ship! After the meet, when I had time to think, I knew I had to self-report the incident and did to my ADs. My team and I learned a valuable lesson, follow the rules to the letter. I apologized to my team, parents, school, and swimming community of coaches and participants. The press release that should have gone out Monday following the meet did not arrive until this week so hence all of the speculating. HS Swimming has friendly rivalries among the coaches and swimmers which is one of the reasons to really enjoy the sport. Please support our teams from Anne ARundel County as we head to the State Meet in College Park Saturday! MPSSAA.org has all the info. Sincerely, Coach Winans/BHS Swimming

Thank you for speaking up Coach Colleen. I was shocked to read this whole thing in Yahoo http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/maryland-swim-team-retroactively-loses-county-title-because-153508295.html. It just goes to show the passion for sports we have in our area. I do agree with not mentioning the name of the swimmer because she is a minor. It's enough that she will have to live with the mistake for the rest of her life. I hope she got some counseling. At the same time, if I was in the shoes of a team member who won the title because of the shaving incident I can't proudly tell my grand kids down the road... they'll come back to me and say "well, yeah your team only won because someone shaved in the other team."

Thank you coach Winans for setting the record straight on what exactly happened. This makes me feel proud of Patch for providing the platform for you to do so and end the speculation. You showed courage in joining this conversation- bravo to you.

@Let me Vent, what a cheap shot at SPHS! It was their backup plan to not report an illegal incident? Whether reported before or after the event the outcome would be the same. And whether you agree with the rule or not, its still a stated rule and the dq would have been given to any team that did it, including SP.

Thank you Kellie. I felt the same way when I read Let me Vent but I decided I should bite my tongue. Why we all cannot just feel really lucky that we have exceptional students and amazing athletes on both sides of the Hwy. and celebrate all of their success, feel badly about all of their defeats, mourn all of their losses is beyond me.

In a world filled with imperfect people (every one of us - incase you're taking inventory), I am grateful for people like Coach Winans who not only teach our kids the importance of following the rules, but also leads by example and owns up to it when a mistake is made, despite the heavy cost. Well done Colleen! Thank you for loving our young people and giving them something far more valuable than a title. F. Klassen

@let me vent: Severna Park Swimming had nothing to do with the incident. What coach or team would want to win a championship in such a manner? I admire Coach Winans for her candid explanation of what happened, as I admired both the boys' and girls' teams from Broadneck for their grace and skill in the county championship meet. Both of our teams thrive on the competition, and that familiarity has spawned friendships and mutual respect.