FINA Process for Approving Swimsuits Explained

PHOENIX, Arizona, June 4. WHILE the FINA Approved List of swimsuits drew much attention last month, there wasn't much information regarding the actual process by which the list was created, or who had the final decision on a suit's inclusion.

After much conversation and research, Swimming World has learned that the testing process was a much more collaborative process than is usual within independent testing.

Usually, when independent testing is required in sports, such as doping tests, the structures involved attempt to inject as much independence as possible into the process.

For instance, the International Olympic Committee has the World Anti-Doping Agency do its drug testing in a structurally-independent process. While the IOC does provide the bulk of funding for WADA's budget, the IOC does not have the ability to influence a positive or negative finding of a specific sample.

That's not exactly what happened with the FINA Approved Suit List.

FINA has not been completely responsive regarding the particular representatives on the FINA Commission for Swimwear Approval, stating only that, "this Commission is formed by representatives of the FINA Executive, FINA Technical Swimming Committee, FINA Athletes Commission, FINA Coaches Commission, and FINA Legal Councillor."

However, Swimming World has discovered that this honorable commission was comprised of Bartolo Consolo (FINA Honorary Secretary), Jean-Pierre Morand (Lawyer), Alan Thompson (FINA Coaches Commission), John Leonard (FINA Coaches Commission), Penny Heyns (FINA Athletes Commission) and Soren Korbo (FINA Technical Swimming Committee Commission).

According to sources, FINA representatives contacted Professor Jan-Anders Manson of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology to perform the scientific independent tests. After much deliberation regarding what specific parameters for buoyancy would be instituted in suit approval testing, Manson applied those standards to his tests of each swimsuit submitted.

At this point, the FINA Commission for Swimwear Approval met to confirm the results. Since the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is not a swimming-centric organization, FINA wanted to make sure that those interpreting the final results included people that had "chlorine" in their blood. However, the approval committee did not engage in voting, but was formed to verify the process and make sure swimming-specific issues within the testing were not missed.

After this collaborative process came to a close, the final recommendations were sent to the FINA Executive Board consisting of FINA President Mustapha Larfaoui, Consolo and Treasurer Julio Maglione according to information provided by FINA. The FINA Executive Board then made the final decision regarding whether a suit should or should not be approved. The final verdict placed 202 into the approved column, 136 into the resubmission column and 10 into the banned column.

A second round of testing is currently underway for those suits not initially approved. That list is expected to be released by FINA on June 19, and will be the final approved list prior to the World Championships in Rome.

Taking into consideration the public information provided by various members of the commission, it is easy to see the direction FINA is taking when it comes to the suit approval process.

Thompson has gone on record stating "I've said all along that when an athlete swims well we want people to be talking about the swimmer, and not the suit, and this is a big step in that direction," Thompson told the Hanson Media Group. "We have to get back to giving credit to the athletes."

Additionally, Leonard penned an article in March on the American Swimming Coaches Association web site entitled What's Up With The Suits?. Leonard's involvement, and true insight into the process as demonstrated in his article, can be understood as the definitive direction FINA intends to go regarding the approval process for suits.

As detailed by Leonard in his March article, FINA is in the process of a multi-tiered phase out of swimsuit technology. The sport just concluded the first phase that included a one-suit only rule, and the elimination of some buoyancy issues. Combining public comments from FINA with Leonard's article, the next phase will look to address the issue of permeability. That begins starting Jan. 1, 2010. What is in store during the third phase is still up for conversation within the FINA hierarchy.

However, it is clear that FINA's independent testing process has been created to provide the organization with legally defensible information by which to regulate the sport of swimming, and to provide FINA with legal cover as it continues to phase out suit technology. So, there really isn't much need to create a long-standing independent testing process by which suit technology is approved if the final intent is to eliminate suit technology from the sport.

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