Last summer leading up to and during the Olympics when all that ink was being spent on whether Speedo’s LZR Racer provided an unfair advantage, I could have cared less. To me, the suits were new, exciting and way cool – NASA engineered in the case of the LZR. Who wouldn’t be jazzed?
As I sat enthralled in front of my TV watching record-breaking swim after record-breaking swim in Beijing, I conceded the new tech suits might have made a difference, but it was still the swimmer who had to lay down the time. Right?
And as long as everyone had an opportunity to wear them, no foul there. Of course, that’s where the initial rub came in. Athletes sponsored by companies other than Speedo had a big choice to make – potentially jeopardize their sponsorships or risk getting touched out at the wall.
Still, this was the Olympics, the pinnacle of international competition and a stage for cutting edge technology.
Fast forward a few months and 100 world-record breaking swims later. That’s no typo. More than 100 world records have been set in the last year including 10 in December at the short course championships in Europe.
Enough to grab the full attention of FINA, the international governing organization for swimming, which last week met with more than a dozen swimsuit manufacturers to discuss new design rules.
Trickle-Down Effect
So what does this all have to do with swimming in Colorado? These high-tech marvels are popping up everywhere, and I do mean everywhere as in a run-of-the-mill contest like the Sweetheart Meet in Loveland this past weekend.
And wearing these suits, dubbed “technological doping” by some in the sport, is undoubtedly having an impact.
Every winner of each individual event at the Girls 5A High School State Meet a couple of weeks ago was wearing either a LZR Racer or a Nero by Blueseventy (a triathlon apparel manufacturer). That had folks in the stands, including me, thinking and commenting.
As a swimmer and swim mom, the suit controversy boils down to two issues:
At anywhere from $300 to more than $500 a pop, these suits ain’t cheap. Furthermore, as in all high-performance attire, they are designed for just a few uses. Given their limited wearability, it’s not the best return on investment when you figure three to five races.
Let’s face it. Not everyone in the sport can afford such suits, nor should they be forced to. This isn’t hockey with expensive ice time or tons of equipment. The beauty of swimming is it can be a relatively inexpensive sport.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of these high-performance suits, the pressure to keep up is there. You have to wonder what it does to a swimmer’s psyche to see their competitors climb up on the blocks wearing a LZR or Blueseventy. And as a swim parent, you feel the pull to conform as well and give your kid an equal advantage, even if it means spending nearly the equivalent of a monthly grocery budget!
That brings up the notion of integrity of the sport. When you have swimmers at the high school level donning more than one of these super suits at a time to provide even greater buoyancy, and you have record books being completely rewritten, you have to stop and wonder.
I don’t pretend to be some snooty purist opposed to change. As I said, when the suits first came out, I, too, was excited, and it is fun to see such fast times.
At the same time, I’m glad to see FINA take up the issue, and I hope other governing bodies, such as USA Swimming, will be more aggressive. In all fairness, USA Swimming has ruled that effective May 15, swimmers 12 and younger will no longer be allowed to wear suits that cover the neck, extend past the shoulder nor past the knee unless for religious or medical reasons.
Personally, at the very least, I think the high-performance suits should be banned from competitions below the Sectional level, including high school meets.
In the end, as Mark Shubert of USA Swimming said: Shouldn’t it be about the swimming and not the suit?