MONTPELLIER, France, April 23. THE first man under 47 seconds in the men's 100 free is France's Alain Bernard after he scorched the sprint event during semifinals at the French Long Course Championships held in Montpellier.
Bernard ripped off a scintillating time of 46.94 to erase the 47.05 set by Australia's Eamon Sullivan during the Beijing Olympics. Bernard out-split Sullivan's world-record time both going in and coming back. Bernard went out in an astonishing time of 22.35, while coming home in 24.59. Sullivan's accomplished his previous standard with a 22.44 out and a 24.61 in.
Comparison splits:
Sullivan: 22.44, 47.05 (24.61)
Bernard: 22.35, 46.94 (24.59)
Ever since Bernard first eclipsed Pieter van den Hoogenband's 2000 world record of 47.84 in the event with a 47.60 last March, he and Sullivan have engaged in a global game of oneupsmanship.
Here is the progression of the world record since Hoogenband's record:
47.84 Pieter van den Hoogenband, NED – Sydney 9-19-00
47.60p Alain Bernard, FRA – Eindhoven 3-21-08
47.50 Alain Bernard, FRA – Eindhoven 3-22-08
47.24r Eamon Sullivan, AUS – Beijing 8-11-08
47.20sf Alain Bernard, FRA – Beijing 8-13-08
47.05sf Eamon Sullivan, AUS – Beijing 8-13-08
46.94sf Alain Bernard, FRA – Montpellier 04-23-09
Could it take a 46.5 just to win in Rome?
Notably, Amaury Leveaux qualified second in semis with a 47.76, while William Meynard (47.97) and Fabien Gilot (47.98) continued to demonstrate France's deepening pool of sprint talent.
The rest of the evening also featured some strong outings.
Jeremy Stravius ruined the party for Ben Stasiulis in the men's 100 back. Stasiulis had dropped the national record from 54.66 set by Camille Lacourt in March to a 54.20 in prelims then a 53.58 in semis. Stravius, however, dropped the hammer when it counted with a sterling time of 53.16 for the win and the French record. The depth of the event proved to be strong as well as Stasiulis (53.27), Pierre Roger (53.55), Lacourt (53.57) and Joris Hustache (54.59) all cleared the previous national record heading into the meet.
Anthony Pannier pipped the French record in the men's 400 IM with a time of 4:16.97. That swim edged Sebastien Rouault's 4:16.99 set in June 2007. Raoul Shaw took second in 4:19.87, while Tunisia's Taki M'Rabet placed third in 4:22.32. Rouault settled for fourth in 4:22.54.
Lara Grangeon walked away with the women's 400 IM title in 4:40.41, off Joanne Andraca's French record of 4:38.23 set in April 2008, while Andraca placed second in 4:45.52. Sweden's Evan Berglund twice broke her nation's top time of 4:49.23 set by Sara Nordemstam in 2002. Berglund first clocked a 4:48.04 during prelims before taking third in 4:47.82 at night.
France's Esther Baron came within a fingernail of beating the 1:00 mark with a 1:00.00 time for the women's 100 back title. Alexianne Castel finished just behind with a 1:00.19, while Cloe Credeville claimed third in 1:01.10.
The 200 flies also featured finals. Aurore Mongel won in 2:06.94 for the women's crown. The swim just missed Mongel's national record of 2:06.49 from the Beijing Olympics. It also just missed her meet record of 2:06.85 from semis. Clement Lefert earned the men's 200 fly title in 1:56.20, with Thomas Vilaceca (1:56.88) and Christophe Lebon (1:56.97) battling for second just behind.
In semifinal action, Sophie de Ronchi topped the women's 200 breast with a time of 2:26.75 after breaking the national record with a 2:26.33 during prelims. The time cleared Karine Bremond's 2000 standard of 2:27.13. Morocco's Sara El Bekri qualified second in 2:27.96 to crush her national record of 2:30.04 set at the Beijing Olympics.
Henrique Barbosa set the South American record in the men's 200 breast with a 2:11.30 during prelims before pacing the semifinal round with a 2:11.48. Thiago Pereira owned the previous continental record with a 2:11.40 at the Beijing Olympics. Fabien Horth qualified second in 2:12.10 with Tony de Pellegrini touching third in 2:12.55.
Malia Metella led the way in the women's 100 free semifinal round with a 54.28, while Sweden's Gabriella Fagundez qualified second in 54.98.
Results: French Long Course National Championships
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April 23, 2009 ole old mighty suit!!! Submitted by: drbison
April 23, 2009 ole, new mighty buoyant suit!! Submitted by: drbison
April 23, 2009 Isn't it annoying. The 1st thing I think when you hear a new WR is, "What were they wearing?"
Shame. Submitted by: medina
April 23, 2009 Interesting to note that 12 guys went under :50 in heats. Seems impressive; kind of what one might expect only in the US. But 8 guys went under :50 going into finals at Canadian Olympic trials last year - in a meet where the LZR was banned and the other wetsuits weren't around yet. Now that's impressive. Submitted by: fromfittofat
April 23, 2009 Call me uninformed, but what are the differences between the LZR and the Jaked suit??????? Someone please explain before the next world record falls in about five minutes from now. Submitted by: paddles
April 23, 2009 The LZR is made of special fabric that does NOT contain neoprene, but it has non-permeable panels, which may be banned in 2010. The Jaked is probably neoprene, a floatation device that takes the idea of the LZR to a whole new level. Submitted by: SwimDER94
April 23, 2009 It is amazing this guys progression over a quadrennial.
I would love to see the 4 year progression of the most prolific 100 Freestylers in the last 30 years and be able to compare them all in their prime. Biondi, Popov and VandenHoogenband.
Have a sneaking suspicion that Bernard's "evolution" as a swimmer would appear quite startling in comparison to the other men.
Here is our 4th man, Bernard's progression (again thanks to FINA website for rankings).
I remember Biondi in 84 when he was breaking on to the scene through 92 and Popov in 92-02 and don't remember time drops like this.
Bernard:
2005 -- 49.94 (45th in world)
2006 -- 49.22 (20th in world)
2007 -- 48.12 (2nd in world)
2008 -- 47.20 (2nd in world)
2009 -- 46.94 (1st in world)
A 3+ second drop in about 48-60 months (depending on when the swims in earlier years were done)?!?!?!
Maybe I'm wrong. Does anyone out there have this data over a comparable period of time for the others? Would love to be able to compare it.
Really feel that this is the way we are going to have to deal with FINA and shoving statistics and hard numbers down their throats against the previous natural progression of records and times to get them to address the two big issues in our sport they don't seem to want to deal with.
Submitted by: rcoach
April 23, 2009 That's ok, M. Bernard, enjoy your day in the sun in April as it's gonna rainb bigtime on your "victory" parade come August at Rome.
Just ask Messs. Adrian/Cielo Submitted by: slickwillie32
April 23, 2009 rcoach, if I remember correctly, Biondi went from a 50-point in 1984 to a 48.4 by 1988. It took him four years to get down about one and a half seconds. The last time I remember anyone having HUGE drops at the Olympic level in a 100 freestyle was former East German, Kornelia Ender, and she went from a 59 down to a 55 (1972-1976) and we all now understand that this was with a little "help". Suit technology truly is the new steroid. Submitted by: paddles
April 23, 2009 Ban the suits, bring back the little speedos. Then there will be no questions marks about how much of the swim was the athlete and how much was the suit. The suits are making a mockery of the record books and in a way insult swimmers of the earlier eras who really did it on their own. I'm not against technology, but not when it ruins the sport, as I think that these new suits are now. How can we possibly compare swims today with swims of the past anymore? Submitted by: Cobber
April 23, 2009 Bernard, who helped Arena develop the new suit that he debuted, was quoted afterwards as saying: "I think I could go as fast with an average ["normal"] suit." I'd like to see him back that up by wearing one of the earlier Arena models in the finals. Of course he won't, which will confirm the obvious. We now need three sets of records: pre-LZR, 2008 LZR era, and now the wet-suit/girdle era. What a mess. Submitted by: liquidassets
April 23, 2009 I wonder how many of the people that complain about the suits, have worn a "technical / racing suit". If you were on a college team, and were handed these suits to you like its nothing, you would definitely wear em. Submitted by: XXXXXXXJOSH
April 23, 2009 Um, didn't the X Glide get knocked back by FINA?! Submitted by: Priyant
April 23, 2009 I think they should make suits with built-in PROPELLERS!
....or maybe extensible swim fins.....
Hmmm Submitted by: mario2007
April 23, 2009 I don't have a date for Bernard's 49.94 from 2005 as my all-time world performances' list cuts off @ 49.80, which equates to more than 2000 times (22053 actually).
His best '06 100 (49.22) was done leading off France's 400 free relay @ the European Championships in Budapest (07/31).
In '07, his pr dropped to 48.12 from the French Nationals @ Montpellier (06/25).
Last year, his breakout season, he opened w/a 48.88 @ a meet in Lyon 01/19. He followed that w/a 48.86 a month later (02/19) also @ Lyon, then swam @ the Euros in Eindhoven the third week of March.
Here he swam a 48.70 in the prelims March 20, then clocked that world record-breaking 47.60 in the semis (same day), followed by 47.50 in the finals (03/21).
A month later in Dunkirk at the French Olympic Trials he won the 100 in 47.82, went 48.51 @ Rome the first week of June, did a 48.56 @ Canet a few days later, swam 48.20 @ the Pris Open June 18, 48.07 @ Glasgow the end of that month, then ot ready for Beijing.
Next came the Olynpic 100 gold in what was then history's second-quickest century (47.20) followed by today's 46.94 global standard in the semis @ Montpellier.
Bernard's been hot all of this yer. He began the winter w/a 48.62 @ Saint-Germain Janaury 19, went a 48.52 @ Sarcelles March 15 and his final competition before the current one was a 48.78 March 27 @ Strasbourg.
As for the "trick" arena suit he's wearing, if FINA hasn't outlawed it and its competitors by the time our Trials roll around in July, I only hope that our swimmers either have access to it or that Speedo, TYR and other manufactuers develop something bigger and better.
Looking back @ NCAAs, I'd say that whatever type of suit Nathan Adrian, Alex Righi, Austin Staab, Tyler Clary and Tyler McGill, among others, were wearing didn't seem to hinder their performances; and on the ladies' side whatever Julia Smit, Dana Vollmer , Elaine Breeden, Rebecca Soni and Allison Schmidt, again among others (Gemma Spofforth/Wendy Trott) worked pretty well.
* * * * *
Liquidassets otes Berfnard said he could swim equally fast in a non-trick arena suit and suggests he do so tomorrow.
I say let's see Bernard wear the kind of arena suit they wor @ Sydney -- and before -- say tb type Rowdy Gaines and then Alex Popov wore when they ruled the sprint world. Or...how 'bout the Speedos that Spitz used @ Munich?
That would finally prove once and for all if it's the suit...or the swimmer inside it. Submitted by: slickwillie32
April 24, 2009 @XXXXXXXJOSH...there's a difference between wearing a technical suit, and thinking that it's good for the sport. L'Equipe in France had an article suggesting that Bernard was wearing a prototype suit yesterday that is not available to the general public, and therefore also not available to his competition. This is where it gets unfair. Submitted by: FatDrew
April 24, 2009 Alright. I am tired of the hysteria about these new suits. Frankly, I am sick of it. I love Craig Lord and Swimnews and Swimming World, but come on guys, let it go. Craig Lord's repetitive comments about the end of swimming as we know it, and destruction of our sport are well overblown.
I make a few comments as an innovator in the sport.
1. Swimming, like every other sport, changes. Change happens. It is a natural reaction to question change. It is a natural reaction to be threatened by change. However, there is nothing you can do to STOP change. Everything is impermanent.
2. Doping. I am a staunch supporter of the harshest anti-doping rules. Personally, I think that any athlete who tests positive for steroids or other serious performance enhancing drugs should be barred for life--and their coaches too if there is a link. That said, I don't see fast suits as a "technological doping" tool. Nonsense. Was the first lycra suit "doping"? Was the first person who shaved down "doping"? No. Same here. If every competitor has access to the same APPROVED equipment, the pool is the same. I will comment further on that below.
3. Improvement. A lot of the above posts seem to question how and why these swimmers are improving so quickly. Yes, the suits are faster. There is little debate about that. However, to say that someone has improved 2 or 3 seconds over a year or too must be evidence of somthing suspicious is unfair. My best 100 back times were as follows:
1985: 57.43
1986: Did not swim
1987: 56.65
1988: 54.51
Was I doping? No. Did anyone question my improvement? Not that I know of. Truth is I actually went to practice and matured a lot. I am sure that the same is true for some of these swimmers as well.
4. Unfair comparisons. Why are so many people dwelling on the fact that you cannot compare the times of today with the times of 10 to 20 years ago? Who cares? I was a 54.5 backstroker in 1988 and 1992. That time would now be struggling to reach the top 30 swimmers this year. Could that many swimmers go 54.5 without the new suits? Probably not. Could I have gone 53 or 52 in a fast suit? Maybe. The point is that comparing one generation of swimmers to the next just doesn't work. Each generation develops new techniques, new training theories, new diets... new suits are part of the deal. Was Mark Spitz better than Matt Biondi? Best times indicate not. So why do people find it necessary to compare Biondi or Hoogie with Bernard. There is no way to do it.
5. Fairness. I agree with everyone who is anti-suit that fairness and consistency is critical. There is no way to put the cat back in the bag. There is no way to expunge all of the new WR's of the past 2 years and start over. Hell, FINA didn't do that with the clearly doped East Germans so why do it with the suits? What needs to happen is that suit makers put their new technology on the line at the start of a quadrennium. FINA approves or disapproves or demands alterations in a three to six month period after which makers have six more months to put the suits on the markets in sufficient numbers to allow every elite swimmer/ national level swimmer to have access. If the maker cannot do so, the suit would be banned.
This approach provides consistency, slows change to a pallatable level, makes it fair for the athletes and families buying these things, and lessens the craziness in the market.
Finally, there do need to be rules within each NGB that limits use of the suits to particular meets, age groups, and levels of competition. This would provide some consistency as to time standards and age group records.
My five cents,
Dave Submitted by: blastoff
April 24, 2009 Anyone see the final results? Bousquet somehow upset Bernard, 47.15 to 47.51. UNBELIEVEABLE! Meynard third 47.77, followed by Leveaux and Gilot.
Two things come out of this: 1) The French WILL win this relay in Rome (unless something drastic changes), and 2) Fred Bousquet will OBLITERATE Sullivan's 50 Free world record (sub-21?). Submitted by: SwimDER94
April 24, 2009 i will be posting the final on youtube tonight on the chanel dublincat Submitted by: maly
April 24, 2009 "If every competitor has access to the same APPROVED equipment, the pool is the same."
Sorry Dave, but all the swimmers do not have the same access to this suit that Bernard wore, neither is it approved by FINA. Therefore this "record" should be DISALLOWED. Even a subsequent approval of this should not allow this record to stand.
Yes, Bousquet won the final and Bernard second. Winning the race is what matters setting a record is fine but winning is the thing.
I don't remember hearing about how Biondi or Jager were helped by their suits or even you Dave. The suit was not an issue, we admired the swim and congratulated the athlete, this has all changed. The suit has now taken a big credit for these current efforts. Far from being progress this is a step BACK. This is nothing to be applauded. Progress like this will result in fins and hand paddles being the future if swimming faster and faster is the objective.
I am still competing, making progress and all without the artificial aids we see at the top end of the sport. So I want a best time? I train for it, I don't go out and buy a performance enhancing piece of equipment and beat my time by a second! Big deal if I did, I would be kidding myself. The suits are no better than semi legalized cheating and should be banned.
Craig Lord is spot on about the suits, they are ruining the sport. He may appear to go on about this too much , however when a few spoke out during the drug years they were also told to shut up by some. They were proved right in the end.
Craig keep up the good work and let's hope by this time next year we can get back to discussing technique, training schedules, diet etc and appreciating the swimmers rather than these terrible suits.
Submitted by: scotswim
April 24, 2009 Cutting seconds by using technological aids is like cutting your leg off to lose those extra ten pounds. Submitted by: paddles
April 24, 2009 Do we know what the big guys split on the relays? With Gilot, Bousquet, Meynard, and Mallet all on the same relay, we could see something in the 3:11-range, perhaps, maybe better! Submitted by: SwimDER94
April 25, 2009 I agree with Scotswim, especially because I hate having to ask the question: what suits did Bousquet and Bernard wear in the final? Submitted by: liquidassets
April 25, 2009 bousquet wore a jaked and Bernard wore the arena suit made for beijing Submitted by: maly
April 25, 2009 Mr. Berkoff said it best. Five cents? lol
Also, I wouldn't write off the USA in Rome. If we put together the team we had in Beijing, with the addition of Adrian (Phelps, Webber-Gale, Adrian, Lezak). I think we have good chances. Submitted by: mario2007
April 25, 2009 Phelps said he's trying out a new freestyle stroke. You know what that means... 46.8 in a speedo? Submitted by: Sphere
April 26, 2009 Anyone notice results of men's 100 back?
FOUR guys sub 54.0 and the winner - Jeremy Stravius -- 53.16 NR.
ALL of thsoe guys had NEVER befoe been sub 55.0 going into the meet except the guy who finished fourth, Camille La Court...
And it AIN'T the suits?
Give me a break! Submitted by: slickwillie32
April 26, 2009 Back in 2004 it was AMUSING when Markus Rogan said he threw his body suit into the water and it didn't swim so therefore his success was from hard work and NOT the suit. Now, to hear the French swimmers saying the same thing smacks of arrogance. I have been around as a swimmer and a fan for 40 years and to see time drops like this is nothing more than technological doping. Rationalizing and believing that this is good for the sport is a farce. No one wanted to admit the East Germans were up to no good until it was too late. Once that nightmare had passed the Chinese pulled the same thing. Now the suits. People who no one heard of are coming out in droves with huge time drops that are an insult to those who came before them and produced world class times from hard work and fierce determination to be the best. I am ashamed of this farce and the fact that FINA is sitting on their hands. I am tired of responding with the same question after every world class time comes from France or anywhere else on this planet, "Who???". Submitted by: paddles
April 26, 2009 Once again, I think stats and hard figures are what is going to help to get this ridiculous age we live in back into regulation regardless if you think it's technological doping (suits) or just plain old doping. Anomolous performances or athletes who have such drops are easy to find if you use hard data.
Thanks to FINA world rankings...at least if we can't rely on them for anything else in our sport right now, at least we can get some accurate times from them. Because we all know that this is all FINA is good for anymore. Times rankings and some of the most God-awful self-praising press releases about their failed events they host.
Anyway, here is Bousquet's progression:
2005- 22.21(12th in world)age 24
2006- 21.91(4th in world) age 25
2007- 22.31(20th in world)age 26
2008- 21.53(6th in world) age 27
2009- 20.94(WR) age 28
6/10ths in a 50 Free in 12 months??? At age 28???? Three of the last 5 years at no faster than 21.9, then arguably a reasonable drop with new suit technology in the "new suit age" from his best time previously.
Then this. At 28.
If there is an another example out there of an "anomolous performance" I would love to see it.
There was an old 80's song out there named "Things that make you go hmmmmmm" Submitted by: rcoach
April 26, 2009 The more comments I read, the more I realize just how much of a joke these suits are. FINA needs to get their act together and ban them now, not next year or whenever. Some of the drops in time are unbelievable, and are obviously due more to the suits, and less to hard work than ever. Submitted by: Cobber
April 26, 2009 That 21.53 was from a US Sectional meet in July where Fred just edged out Cesar Cielo. I am not at all surprised he broke the world record today - in fact, I very much expected it. I am sort of wondering about the 20.9, though. I also had a feeling Bernard might go under it as well. Not saying I love the suits, but, remember, Bousquet has been training with the best sprinters in the world, Cielo, Targett, Alexi Puninski, George Bovell, Gideon Louw, Jakob Ankajaer, etc., with the best sprint coach in the world, Brett Hawke. Can't hurt, can it?
Bernard's and Bousquet's times are in another world compared to the 48.64 Lezak just swam in Irvine (which isn't a bad swim in its own right). By the way, if anyone knows what suit he was wearing, please let me know. (This is the point; if we have to ask what suit someone's wearing, something is very wrong and disgusting). Submitted by: SwimDER94
April 26, 2009 I still don't see how these suits are the "end of our sport as we know it" (Craig Lord) or a farce. Have any of you been to a triathlon? I call T 1 the "bike show". Every new bike that comes out is touted as the next "fastest bike" and each is a bit lighter with a smaller cross-sectional drag.
To think that swimming can never progress with technology and we must all be neo-luddites forever is short-sighted.
The suits are making people go faster. Faster times generates excitement for our sport. If FINA develops a fair system of development limited to every 4 years, fairness and consistency prevails.
Guys, you are never get this cat back in the bag so let it go. The best we can do now is slow the change.
D Submitted by: blastoff
April 29, 2009 One comment said one couldn't compare different generations of swimmers. That is true, its like putting up the 1960 era Green Bay Packers vs the 2000 era New England Patriots. It was a totally different game. However, Dara Torres did make a statement by her amazing performance last summer. The new LZR design helped, but look at her training, diet and commitment. Kids coming up are commited to their sport than ever before. Swimming over the last 10 years has attracted a lot of talented athletes that may have in the pass gone into other sports. I believe the suit design helps put everyone on a level field. But one still needs to do the stroke and that is what wins races. Technology advancements are good, otherwise we'd still riding a horse. Submitted by: Speedboat1990
April 29, 2009 Speedboat you make some good points although your comment raises a couple of questions in my mind:
A) I think Torres is an outlier and using her rate of improvement with age as an example is questionable. I just don't think there are going to be that many women at age 41 who will be interested and willing to undergo multiple surgeries at that age, and have masseurs walking on their backs for two hours a day while a nanny takes care of their toddler and their partner grumbles about not being able to take a vacation, etc.
I may be wrong, but I predict that her combination of wealth,genetic predisposition for swimming, and willingness to sacrifice from her personal life at that age will be relatively rare even with the developments that you describe.I am not judging her, in fact I'm as curious as she is to see how long she can continue to improve and compete at this level. She's won the lottery and she seems to feel she owes it to herself to see where it can take it. When asked at the Olympics why she does it she said, "Because I can". I'm glad that she has pursued it, but I don't expect to see many following in her footsteps to the extent that she has taken it.
B) Also your point that "the suit design helps put everyone on a level field" is currently both quesitonable, and controversial even if true, since 1) different brands may help more than others, and/or 2) the suits may reduce drag and resistance to such an extent that they outweigh training and fitness enough to even the field for some athletes who may have slightly inferior technique, overall fitness, dryland training, etc. Submitted by: liquidassets
April 30, 2009 The suits do not create a level playing field as "liquid assets" and I have been pointing out. Some are assisted more than others depending on body type etc.
However, I return to my original argument on previous blogs that if the suit enhances performance at all then it is fundamentally wrong.
As for comments that we shouldn't compare with past performances.....well this is exactly what world records do. It is a comparison with what has gone before. Up until the start of 2008 this was meaningful, now with the suits this has less meaning. Some would say meaningless.
Comparisons with Spitz etc are not relevant that is too far back. The problem is that we cannot even compare performances from LAST YEAR or even from PREVIOUS WEEKS. The introduction of the performance enhancing suits has destroyed the continuity in the sport and distorted the results in the same manner as results were during the drug years.
Even the comparison of results of the same athlete is affected thus no continuity of performance creating statistically unbelievable (some would say suspect) improvements in times.
Yes, there has always been progress; however this improvement is an aberration that shows no sign of levelling out. Even the ones benefiting most from these suits will feel less than fulfilled if continually the suit is mentioned as being the reason that they achieve the time they set.
Comments such as should "we return to wool suits" etc are not helpful. No one is advocating this as far as I know and this comment is only brought forward by those supporting the current suits. However a return to the type of suits which were prevalent before the current debate is a relevant starting point.
The less the suit the less the problem and less opportunities for performance enhancing so a return to briefs for men is definitely an appropriate way to find out who is truly the best.
However, those advocating these suits are clearly not interested in finding out who is the BEST only who can move FASTER. Not always the same thing!
Submitted by: scotswim
April 30, 2009 Let's get into perspective this aspect about Dara Torres.
Consider this; there are many working mums that have the children looked after by grand parents, nannies, school teachers etc they are at work 8hrs per day whether it be as secretaries, architects etc. Dara just has a different job. Therefore she is no different than thousands of working Mums. Is she training 8 hours per day? I doubt it. Probably has more time with the child than others at full time work.
Good luck to Dara, keep up the good work.
Submitted by: scotswim
April 30, 2009 I used Dara Torres as example of someone coming from a generation of swimmers before the technical suits. She was successfull then and she is today. I think the key is her training and atitude.The tech suits are a plus, but compare the training techniques 25 years ago too today. No comparison... Today's swimmers are learning most everything their being given through all the hi tech swimming tools that have been developed over the last 10 years. USA Swimming (and other Federations) have been very proactive in developing future swimmers. In management, I'd call this a huge success. The success shouldn't only given to the swimsuit but to every aspect of the program.
To really have a true level field, there would have to be one manufacture of one suit that everyone wears. That won't happen. The swimsuit developers are no different than any other engineer looking for perfection. I believe they have come to a point where there isn't much more they can improvement on. Times will level off.
Oh, Dara Torres proved that the champions of the pass would perform no different than the champions of today given the same opportunity. Submitted by: Speedboat1990
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