The reasoning being the proposal to FINA is that we are asking them to slow down the approval process for new suits. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, November 24. SWIMMING World has acquired a copy of a FINA legislation proposal from USA Swimming asking for swimsuit technology to be restricted.
Here is the actual verbiage as proposed by USA Swimming:
GR 5 SWIMWEAR
GR 5.3 USA Fed. In swimming competitions the competitor must wear only one swimsuit in one or two pieces which shall not extend beyond the ankles, the wrists and the neck cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor past the knee. No additional items, like arm bands or leg bands shall be regarded as parts of a swimsuit.
GR 5.6 USA Fed. The manufacturers must ensure that the approved new swimsuit will be available for all competitors for 12 months prior to the Olympic Games.
"The reasoning being the proposal to FINA is that we are asking them to slow down the approval process for new suits, and speak to coaches and manufacturers on how the approval process can be more scientifically defined," USA President Jim Wood told Swimming World. "Our legislation provides several ideas that might make the new suit approval process going forward fairer for everybody. I would also like to applaud FINA for sitting down with all involved in February. Hopefully, they will be having an open discussion with everyone regarding the steps of the approval process."
This proposal will be considered during the 2009 World Championships held in Rome, Italy.
Search For More News About: Jim Wood
Reaction Time Comments
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
November 24, 2008 A wee bit late me thinks. If USA swimming really wanted to make a stand they should have done it pre-Beijing. but now they've got their olympic golds they're going to clamp down.
it is about time this happened but don't think for a second the swimming community doesn't realise the significance of timing. gold vs morals?! no contest! Submitted by: medina
November 24, 2008 Okay, forget the first part of the last thing. I misread the context. But they still can't take away the big suits now. Even early this year would have been too late. This suits have been around since Sydney and EVERY SINGLE current world record LC (except some breaststroke and maybe de Bruijin's 100 Fly) were set with suits that go to the ankles, and the 400 Free record (Thorpe) was set with suits to the wrists. If this somehow makes it through, then all of these records are gone and the world will have to search through old meet results to find the true records. It's way too late! Submitted by: SwimDER94
November 24, 2008 Does this mean the Fullbody LZR is out? Submitted by: carlos.iguess
November 24, 2008 OK, so who do you think has the toughest "non-suit" WR? My vote goes to Thorpe with Evans a close second. He went 3:41.83 in nothing but a speedo. No jammer or anything back at the 99 Pan Pacs. That is still in my mind faster than anything he did afterwards since his 3:40 was full suit aided. Just an incredible swim of which no one has even approached even with the full tech suits. And of course Evans 4:03 in the 400 is right there too. There are NO women in the world currently who could do that swim without a hi-tech suit aid. Those are monster world records and the women going 4:02'ish right now in the suits are just fooling themselves that they are as fast as Evans.
Maybe with USA Swimming starting to lead some on this, we will be able to get back to amazing swims like these and enjoy their greatness when they do occur rather than just see a WR, shrug and not have it mean much because there were 5 others that day.
Submitted by: rcoach
November 24, 2008 Why don't we go back to the swimsuits of the 1920's. Better yet, all natural "birthday suit". Then everyone will have to worry about a different drag Submitted by: carlos.iguess
November 24, 2008 rcoach: Why don't we go back to the swimsuits of the 1920's. Better yet, all natural "birthday suit". Then everyone will have to worry about a different drag. At least with a hi tech suit, everyone body shape will be on a more equal plane. Submitted by: carlos.iguess
November 25, 2008 And as for the approval 12 months before Olympics, that's perfectly fine with me. The only thing that really gets me is below the knees (I think the suits past the shoulder should stay, too). Submitted by: SwimDER94
November 25, 2008 This only rolls back to last year, when many elite didn't wear the sleeves anyway. It does nothing about the weird fabrics and layers of plastic. Submitted by: Ross Bogue
November 25, 2008 carlos.iguess...but do we want everyone neutral? I kind of like the idea of everyone working with what they are given to get as high up as they can. Yes, it's sad that some will not be able to achieve quite as much because of lesser physical attributes, but throughout time, that has been called natural selection and it occurs in our world every day in nature. Tough, but true. And the truly memorable swimmers at any level we work with are the ones not necessarily with the greatest talent who achieve, but the ones who have gone above and beyond what they probably should be able to achieve based on what their natural abilities they were given are, and through dedication and hard work make something better of themselves.
And I don't have a problem with the some of the fabrics limited to a certain extent. Evans was still wearing FS-pro material in 88--we just called it a "papersuit" back then and didn't know we should have been wearing more of it than less. But I think the more of it with compression panels and things that alter the way a body works naturally or gives someone an advantage they didn't have to earn to achieve takes something away from who we are as a sport and what we have held as our values in this sport for decades and the people who have risen to great heights because they held these ideals. And while we marvel at these amazing new times, I think it's not a good thing that some of these truly remarkable swims which took enormous time and preparation to achieve will fade into history and memory because of the onslaught of these new records thanks to a suit, not necessarily the wearer of the suit.
So I guess the next question asks, so you like the 'neutral' element? Well, in that case shouldn't we have all our athletes wearing regulation hand paddles and fins to make everyone's hands and feet the same size? And of course, for some this will change the way they can swim enormously. And in a way they won't necessarily have to earn over someone else who might not get as much benefit from them.
And I am sure someone is going to get on here and rip me for being an old fashioned idealist, but, oh well. I can take it. Submitted by: rcoach
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
|
Subscribe Now!
|
Adobe Reader
Real
Player
Windows
Media Player
Silverlight
Media Player
Flash
Media Player
Power
Point Viewer
Word
Viewer
Zip Extractor
