LAUSANNE, Switzerland, February 20. FINA and the swimsuit manufacturers came together today in a Speedsuit Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland as the various entities within the conversation came to an agreement on various speedsuit restrictions.
The full press release is found below, but it looks like the FINA Bureau will have a fairly strong set of amendments to consider when it meets in Dubai, United Arab Emirates next month to make a final call.
The days of wearing multiple suits and doing anything to alter a suit for personal use look to be over. Additionally, some body coverage restrictions have been included that are close to the USA Swimming proposal of neck to knees. While the knees are still in play, the suit cannot go past the ankles. Also, rules on material thickness and buoyancy testing have been quantified.
Here is the full press release:
Lausanne (SUI), February 20, 2009 FINA, represented by its Executive and Technical Swimming Commission, Legal, Coaches and Athletes Commissions' representatives, held today a meeting in Lausanne (SUI) with representatives of 16 swimwear manufacturers in order to examine amendments of the current FINA Requirements for Swimwear Approval'.
Based on FINA's proposals and contributions discussed at the meeting, the FINA Bureau at its meeting on March 12-14, 2009 in Dubai (UAE) will consider amendments which include:
DESIGN: The swimsuit shall not cover the neck and shall not extend past the shoulders nor past the ankles;
MATERIAL:
o The material used shall have a maximum thickness of 1mm;
o When used, the material shall follow the body shape;
o The application of different materials shall not create air trapping effects;
BUOYANCY: The swimsuit shall not have a buoyancy effect of more than 1 Newton (100gr);
CONSTRUCTION: Any system providing external stimulation or influence of any form (e.g. pain reduction, chemical/medical substance release, electro-stimulation) is prohibited;
CUSTOMISATION: All swimsuits of an approved model must be constructed in an identical fashion with no variation/modification for individual swimmers from the samples submitted for approval;
USE: The swimmer can only wear one swimsuit at a time;
CONTROL: FINA will establish its own independent control/testing programme. Scientific testing will be conducted by a team led by Prof. Jan-Anders Manson, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and Laboratory of Polymer and Composite Technology;
APPROVAL: Swimwear manufacturers will be able to make submissions for approval of swimsuits until March 31, 2009.
In a further step, rules applicable from January 1, 2010 will also be examined by the Bureau.
One of the main aspects to be considered is the limitation of the use of non-permeable material.
"FINA has studied this matter very carefully, and together with all interested parties and the scientific expertise of EPFL, we have reached the best possible result.
"With these amendments, FINA shows that it continues to monitor the evolution of the sport's equipment with the main objective of keeping the integrity of sport. While we need to remain open to evolution, the most important factors must be the athletes' preparation and physical condition on achieving their performances", considered FINA President Mustapha Larfaoui.
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February 20, 2009 This is fine. They CAN'T ban wearing suits that cover legs - remember ALL (at least in Olympic events) Men's WRs and ALL Female WRs except Breast were set in leg-covering suits! Submitted by: SwimDER94
February 20, 2009 They CAN'T ban wearing suits that increase buoyancy - remember ALL (at least in Olympic events) Men's WRs and ALL Female WRs including Breast were set in buoyancy increasing suits! Submitted by: InTheKnow
February 20, 2009 This is a mess....There needs to be a line drawn. Cross over that line and you are disqualified. Back in the day the ONLY concern was performance enhancing drugs. Now we have to be alert for not only what goes INTO the body but for what is ON the body as well. Submitted by: paddles
February 20, 2009 BAN NEOPREAN! That is what started this mess! Neoprean has NO place in the pool!! Submitted by: fish07
February 20, 2009 Part of my point about not banning leg-covering suits is the fact that every free individual record since 2000 has been set wearing a legskin suit - can't go that far back! I really don't know about the thing with the LZR, though. Submitted by: SwimDER94
February 20, 2009 If 21 manufacturers were invited, but only 16 showed, who were the 5 that weren't there? Submitted by: hooperswim
February 23, 2009 does anybody think we will go to the asterisk?
"michael phelps, 8 gold medals*
*wore a LZR"
it looks weird to me. Submitted by: lightbulb12
February 23, 2009 Well, we don't expect track athletes to wear canvas Keds, we don't expect tennis players to use wooden rackets, and olympic skiers don't use wood planks or twine bindings either. Sports evolve with technical/equipment advances and it's reflected in performance.
Advancing athletic performance through the development of equipment, while putting nothing harmful in the body, is progressive and exciting. Some folks may have a difficult time dealing with change, but it's here and it's new and fast and exciting. If folks want a competitive program, they'll need to support it. Some that don't wish to provide that level of support for the sport will attempt to hold others back. The gate has been opened and now they'd like to close it. That will only create further problems as their reasoning is what? It produces faster times? Way to create resentment, and further impede the growth and excitement of competitive swimming. If these FINA requirements stand, then all records set in tech suits must be stricken. Talk about unfair advantage!
It gets more like ice dancing with each passing season.
Suits are equipment, equipment advances and improves performance. As it has always. Suits are not drugs and produce no ill effect to an athlete while improving performance. Time marches on folks, anyone out there driving a horse and buggy to work, using a typewriter to keep their business competitive? Do I have an advantage with faster broadband? Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to use it as that may put someone at a disadvantage and produce record setting sales?
With all the backwards rulings, the sport will suffer now and in the future. If you want to really preserve and grow the sport, go forward - not backwards. Submitted by: jzee
February 24, 2009 Now that some direct news of this conference is making its way around the world -- and, by the way, Janet Evans and Alexander Popov were apparently the two most recent Olympic athlete attendees -- what it looks like to me is that FINA is coming up with a standard to get the swimming community through calendar year 2009 with further possible changes to come beginning in 2010.
Sounds like they want to come to a compromise with swimsuit manufacturers that have plowed a lot of money into R&D and inventory while not allowing some of the recent egregious practices to continue in Rome -- and give the manufacturers time to prepare for possible more limitations in the future due to all the complications that have arisen.
I personally have no problem with asterisks in this situation. I also find it a pretty careless insult to previous swimmer/coach generations by some in FINA that somehow the astonishing number of 108 world records set last year was because "the kids were working hard." That mindset is among the reasons the situation got to his point in the first place. I'm just glad FINA is finally taking some action, late or not. Submitted by: Charlie
February 24, 2009 The agendas and lack of leadership will sink the sport.
By disallowing suits,which are currently permitted, FINA is implying/acknowledging that those suits provided an unfair advantage.
This means the records set while wearing them must be disallowed as well. Anything short of that will forever tarnish the sport and create further controversy. It will also give one more selling point to those who would eliminate swim programs in favor of other sports.
If you have:
A program where swimmers strive for excellence, put their heart, soul, work ethic into it daily in a quest for the best, call it a competitive team and support excellence and opportunity. They'll need it, with this ruling, as not one of them will likely aspire to breaking records now. What's the record? Who cares, they're arguable now anyway.
If you have:
A program where swimmers show up and work out to enjoy the physical activity, social aspects, school spirit and banquet, call it a club, have fun and don't complain about what it takes to support a competitive program.
Some may call it no swimmer left behind - I call it no swimmer gets ahead. Way to kill the sport. Submitted by: jzee
February 24, 2009 jzee, while I truly understand and see your argument, there needs to be a line drawn where technology cannot be THE major reason for athletic advancement. Although I would like to see the sport return to the days where a suit or a pill were not the reasons for world records or gold medal victories, I doubt it will ever happen. If we are going to have technological advancements (and we will otherwise we become static), then put a cap on them to prevent the suit from creating the records or the victories.
It wasn't too long ago in long track speed skating that the "clap skate" replaced the older skate, and this took the records down to places no one expected to see. It just may be that the LZR came upon the swim community too fast for anyone to appreciate the number of world records that were falling. Who knows. It will work itself out in the long run with time. Submitted by: paddles
February 24, 2009 Just to be honest, swimmers in the pool now aren't much interested in waiting until it works "itself" out in time.
Sorry if people think too many records are falling, but nobody gets to that level without putting in the pool time, and a whole lot of talent. I doubt if you walked down a street and asked someone to put on an LZR and break a world record it could happen.
It's just a suit and it doesn't exist in isolation. It is not the single, exclusive reason for fast swimming. As for capping the level of advancement, we swim without limits - we don't place boundaries in front of goals and dreams. We don't need anyone else to attempt to do so either.
Tech breakouts and new developments will level off and go into another period of R&D without our help. Swimmers should be able to use every bit of advanced tech equipment, with the understanding that it must be the body propelling itself.
So, no outboard motors, no boats, no armpit propellers, no remote control shock treatment- just the human body, wearing the best available tech, advanced, old school, suit they choose to achieve excellence. There is absolutely no need to interfere with the process of development and advancement, no need to interfere with swimmers decisions, no need to tell coaches that suits "came upon the swim community too fast" - they were actually in development for a long time & everyone knew it - no secret. So why didn't FINA meet with the manufacturers sooner?
Agendas & lack of leadership is tainting this sport, not high tech suits worn by athletes with a killer work ethic and apassion for excellence. That's the purest part of the sport, not the guys negotiating how far we can advance and when. Submitted by: jzee
February 24, 2009 Last comment - The suit doesn't swim by itself. Yet. Submitted by: jzee
February 24, 2009 jzee, I LOVE your passion. Use it to come up with ideas and get them to the powers that be. Someone like you can only help this sport improve. :o) Submitted by: paddles
February 25, 2009 FINA can't go back in time. I think the worldwide consensus is that FINA made a grievous error and is now trying to backtrack. And I say better late than never. One of the biggest problems with this whole mess is wondering which company makes a better, faster suit. How can a swimmer feel confident if he/she feels the competitor next to them is wearing a better suit? So should there be only one suit maker? Should there be strictly uniform standards? Or should it just become as basic and simple as it once was - Race in your skin and let the best swimmer win?
As for the argument that "time marches on" and that most other sports have beneffited from technological advances in "equipment," I think jzee's quip about people not driving a horse and buggy to work is exactly the point. Forget about work, but horse racing has been around for god knows how long. It is still a huge sport. But guess what, so is NASCAR and Formula 1 racing. When the car came along a new sport evolved. The equipment changed. It is obviously completely unfair to pit a horse against a car.
I agree with those who argue that the sport we are engaged in right now is not swimming in the pure sense. It is something new. 108 world records in one year makes a mockery of swimming's prestigious history. This is not the sport we all grew up with. Submitted by: fred
February 25, 2009 Respectfully, I am hearing multi-faceted arguments and trains of thought. We can go two ways - develop STRICT GUIDELINES and go back to ONE suit and ONLY one suit with no ifs and or buts about it....OR....open up the Pandora's box and see what happens. We can theorize ourselves into an early grave. Everyone is going to have an opinion and some are going to get angry or left in the dust, but we really need to get together with this and decide once and for all what we are going to do. One suit? Lots of suits? Neoprene? Non-neoprene? Nylon? Wool? Polyester? Paper? This is our sport and its future. Do we go high tech or low tech? No tech? The swimmers should have the loudest voice since they are the ones investing their lives into this. Maybe a worldwide vote? Maybe as jzee suggested earlier two training groups...one relaxed and the other all out no-holds barred (or suits in this case). Submitted by: paddles
February 26, 2009 These suits approved or otherwise are outside the current FINA rules of swimming. Equipment should have nothing to do with the result.
Comparing sports that use equipment such as motor racing etc with swimming is ridiculous. Swimming is a sport that traditionally is athlete against athlete not equipment against equipment as is primarily the case in motor racing. It is not necessarily the best driver that wins but the one with the most reliable equipment. Swimming is not this kind of sport. The efforts of all swimmers is now undervalued or overvalued by the use of these suits. The suit should not be an issue.
Having been approved in error this mess has now to be cleared up.
If suits, drugs or other factors twist or distort the result then that is fundamentally wrong.
ALL TRUE SWIMMERS AND FANS OF SWIMMING WANT TO SEE THE BEST SWIMMER WIN.
This can only be achieved by adhering to and enforcing the CURRENT rules. Not by changing the nature of the sport. However this appears to be the intention of some. Well my suggestion is you create your own sport wear your suits, hand paddles or other devices to assist your performance but leave true swimming alone.
Submitted by: scotswim
February 26, 2009 Swimming used to be about human interaction with the water and the athletes' ability to manage themselves and the environment to move faster than anyone else. The suits changed that interaction for better or worse. Because of increased buoyancy they take away some of the inherent challenges of dealing with the aquatic environment and make it easier to swim fast. This does not mean that the athletes wearing the suits don't have to work diligently and intelligently to swim fast or faster in the suits. It does mean that what we are watching and cheering for is not swimming in the traditional sense but maybe a new sport "suit racing". It also means that athletes at the lower (but still highly competitive) levels of the sport are at a disadvantage if they race in pre-2008 suits against swimmers in the newer suits (see any HS champiosnhip meet).
So, in my opinion, it is not a question whether the suits are good or bad as much as it is a question of what sport do we want to compete in.
JZee is right about the agendas and lack of leadership hurting the sport. There are a few strong voices out there (hopefully growing daily) who are willing to tilt at the windmills but not enough Submitted by: coachmark
February 26, 2009 We already have a competitive offshoot of pool swimming called Fin Swimming. Why don't the ones who want to use "technology" to create a new(er) sport just jump into fin Swimming with their new suits and leave the original as it is. Submitted by: paddles
February 26, 2009 paddles.
Exactly right. It is a new sport. See my blog above. Submitted by: scotswim
February 27, 2009 Again - rinse, repeat: The suit doesn't swim by itself. It's always about human' performance.
Since you believe this is a new sport, and not actually swimming, I hope all of you will be just as adamant in striking down every single record, Olympic, NCAA and others that were set in the suits. No asterisks then right? Either it's legit or it's not. According to your reasoning we couldn't keep corrupt records on the boards for this new sport that isn't actually swimming, right?
So if how fast we can go is to be regulated, I expect to hear about the reinstatement of all previous non-suited records, as well as the statement from the powers that be that those records were corrupt (oops on us) and that our guys weren't engaged in the sport of swimming at all, they were inadvertently engaged in some newly invented sport.
Then we'll brush each others hair (ha ha) and we'll hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
While we're at it then, FINA shouldn't allow ANY olympic sport to engage in equipment/tech development. Cant wait till they call for manufacturers to bring in those tennis rackets and track shoes to decide if they'll be allowed. You know tennis just isn't the same sport it was back in 1950. Players interact differently with the ball, it's too fast and they have way too much control over placement. Darn tech rackets went and improved things! Don't get us started on shoes....
So kids , take off those speed skates, put down those high tech rackets and lace up your Keds for 2012 so we can be sure that sport stays exactly the same and never advances. Really?
Peace.
Submitted by: jzee
February 27, 2009 LOL.... jzee, said it before and I'll say it again, I love what you have to say. It keeps the old farts on our toes! Submitted by: paddles
February 27, 2009 In school its called a slippery slope... how do you decide what technical advance to allow and what not to allow.. Didn't the introduction of the starting block result in faster times? How about goggles? How about changing from wool to nylon to lycra? What about the FSII's worn in Athens? How about the pools themselves? The fact is, it is still the swimmer doing the work, not the suit, not the pool, not the blocks, not the goggles. Will the suit help? Duh? If it didn't, why develope it? Why develope ANY new suit? Why wear one suit over the other? Because you think it will help you go faster! Something that has been true from the beginning and is not a new development. So as far as I am concerned, the so-called 'purists' of the sport have no place to stand, unless they want to go back to everyone wearing their birthday suits.. oh but wait, what about surgeries? I can imagine some swimmers opting for surgery to enhance their abilities - sound ridiculous? Just as ridiculous as the claim that a new sport has been invented. Submitted by: Joe
February 27, 2009 I totally understand what Joe and jzee are saying....The fact still remains that 109 WORLD RECORDS have been set in a little more than a years time. Unheard of in ANY sport, even when the East Germans were pumped to the gills with steroids. Suit technology hasn't turned the page for the sport, it has ripped it up and started a new book. Too fast for most to wrap their brain around. Funny thing is that people will always argue who was the best in history BECAUSE of technological breakthroughs. First it was the Weismuller vs Spitz argument followed by Phelps vs Spitz. Better training...better suits....better pools...better lanelines....better starting blocks.... Enough! Would Weismuller have been as good as Spitz with the advantages that Spitz had? Would Spitz be as good as Phelps with the suits, goggles, pools, etc? I said this before but we do not live in a static universe. There will always be change but most change moves at a little slower pace than 109 world records in one year. The sport just needs to get its act together and come up with some rules and guidelines so that we can have a fair playing field for everyone involved. Submitted by: paddles
February 27, 2009 Interesting ideas on each side of this argument. Aside from the fact that the new suits were clearly against the fina rules as written when they were approved, I'm not sure that they are doing any real harm to the sport. The "fast" times are getting everyone excited because it appears that improvement is happening rapidly. I believe that after a season or two everyone will find out that they are still in the same relative spot compared to their competition and nothing much has changed. Except that they are paying $500 for their suits. Submitted by: Mike
February 28, 2009 Paddles, The problem with what you and everyone else are saying, about the 109 records, you have isolated that number and the suits and disregarded other numbers that should be considered as well. How many times are swimmers swimming particular events, e.g. how many times did Phelps swim the 100 fly in 2008 versus other years? (14 times in 2008, 10 in 2007, 6 times in 2006, 9 times in 2005, 10 times in 2004 - you see a 40% increase in 2008 over previous years). What would be more interesting is the amount of drop in the records with the suits compared to the drops pre-suits, not simply the number of records. Of course my original premise remains - why wear a particular suit - awimmers, not technology, set records, technology helps swimmers go faster, but it always has. Submitted by: Joe
February 28, 2009 Well said, Joe Submitted by: paddles
March 1, 2009 I am totally with Joe and jzee on this. If we do not allow the swimsuits, then we have to go back to the old records. Forget about the records,even the latest Olympic Medals should be questioned and may be taken off the statistics books.
And while we are at it, the pools should be looked at too. There is a thing called "fast" pools and "slow" pools, and if nothing else it helps you mentally.
I would agree that at the local clubs, schools and universities level, may be these suits should be banned - totally due to economical reasons. So these swimming programs do not feel under pressure economically. But leave the international sport alone. All the swimming federations can afford these swimsuits, (almost) all the very top level swimmers also use it. So when the equipment is the same, can we still talk about unfair advantage? And if a swimmer chooses to use a different swimsuit, that should be his or her choice.
The records breaking brings excitement to the sport and in my opinion this is a very very very good thing. But if you are going to ban these swimsuits, then you should go back to the old records otherwise, no new swimmer will aspire to break these records as you would be allowing a record that was broken illegally (and you are accepting it) to stand.
Bring guidelines going forward if necessary, but those guidelines should not take us back.
When it comes to sport, nothing is fair. Not everybody who competes in swimming are working out under the same conditions. Some can train more than others; some can have more pool access. Some has to drive 45 minutes before working out, some walk for two. My point is, there are always some athletes that have more advantage than others when it comes to sports (conditions outside of talent), and that makes it unfair from the very beginning. Swimsuit is just another addition to that list. Submitted by: Thunder
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