FINA Holds Congresses; Begins Process to Eliminate Performance-Enhancing Swimsuits, Taping

ROME, Italy, July 23. FINA held two Congresses on July 23, 2009 in Rome (ITA), with the occasion of the 13th FINA World Championships 2009: the FINA Technical Swimming Congress and the FINA Extraordinary Congress (the latter exclusively devoted to the update of the Masters rules).

The main decisions were as follows:

FINA Technical Swimming Congress
• Provisions have been made concerning the use of 10-lane pools: in this case, the fastest swimmer shall be placed in lane 5, and the swim-off will take place in the event of equal times in the heats for the tenth place or twentieth place;

• From now on, swimmers must proceed to the first call room 20 minutes before the start of their events. Then, after inspection, they proceed to the final call room;

• Precisions on the breaststroke technique were made;

• In medley swimming, it was clarified that each stroke must cover ¼ of the distance;

• It was precisely defined that all individual races must be held as separate gender events;

• On SW 10.7, "swimsuit" was added to the rule stipulating that the swimmer cannot be aided in his/her speed, buoyancy or endurance by any device. Moreover, the use of tape on the body is not permitted, unless otherwise stipulated by medical reasons;

• World Records can be established only in fresh water and by competitors wearing swimsuits approved by FINA.

FINA Extraordinary Congress
• In masters diving synchro competitions, competitors from different clubs within the same Federation are permitted to take part as a team;

• New events were added to the masters swimming programme and clarifications were made in breaststroke;

• In masters water polo competitions, it is now clarified that all players listed on the game roster will be entitled to play. Moreover, for age groups 30+, 35+, 40+ and 45+, the game will consist of four periods of seven minutes each; for age groups 50+, 55+, 60+, etc, each of these periods will be of six minutes;

• In masters synchro competitions, the events are solo, duet, trio, team and combination. The technical and free routines of solo, duet, trio and team count as one event. The Combination – by itself – is one event. At the World Championships, the programme shall be the Technical and Free Routines and Combination. A competitor shall be permitted to swim a routine in only one age group. Finally, new specifications regarding the reserves and the draw in synchro were approved, and the age was defined as being the one as of December 31 of the year of competition.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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