By Marc Katz

Staff Writer

Maybe we’re being a little overprotective here.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has rules for swimming and diving and water polo that include no on-site shaving before, during or after a meet.

The penalty is disqualification for the applicable meet.

I know what you’re thinking. This is nothing like performance-enhancing drugs wolfed down by college and professional athletes. This is not any kind of recreational drug violation. It’s not even affixing fins to your feet.

But there is a glimmer of reasonableness for the rule. It is to protect swimmers from possible blood transmission as well as eliminating the possibility of unsafe practices such as sharing razors during full body shaves.

OK, I get it. But recently a high school girls swim team in Maryland was stripped of a county championship after it was discovered one swimmer shaving on-site just prior to the meet.

Instead of winning the meet, the team was dropped to third place.

A swimmer made a mistake, and the team paid. There are rules made to protect competitors and rules made to ensure a level playing surface. You can’t just say no harm, no foul to everything like this, but it does skew toward the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law.

In this case, maybe shaving on site should have been overlooked.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.