The Psych Sheet

USA Swimming Bans High-Tech Suits

The news we’ve been waiting for is finally here. USA Swimming has announced it will ban full-body swimsuits effective Oct. 1, three months ahead of FINA’s ban, which was announced in late July.

The ruling took place yesterday at the organization’s annual Convention held in Chicago when more than 400 USA Swimming delegates, representing swim clubs from all 50 states, voted “overwhelmingly for early implementation of a ban on high-tech swimsuits.”

According to USA Swimming’s Web site , the ruling applies to swimsuits worn in all USA Swimming-sanctioned competitions and will apply to all levels of USA swimming meets. Specifically it reads: “All swimsuits shall be made from textile materials. For men, the swimsuit shall not extend above the navel nor below the knees, and for women, shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor extend below the knee.”

The ruling also includes a definition for textile, which essentially says a fabric must be woven, knitted or braided.

On the Web site, Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming executive director, was quoted: “As an organization, we have been working with FINA and other swimming nations to find a solution that will ensure a fair and even playing field for all swimmers, and that will ultimately advance the best interests of our sport,” said Wielgus “With Saturday’s vote, our membership has sent a clear message that it wanted this action taken sooner, rather than later. We hope that this action will put the emphasis back where it belongs – on our athletes, their training and hard work.”

The full text of this legislation will be posted on www.usaswimming.org tomorrow.

I, for one, couldn't be happier. To a large extent this will bring back the level playing field, and I and others won't have to wonder was it the swimmer or was it the suit.

Super Suits Keep Swimming in Limelight One Year After Beijing

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Michael Phelps unbelievable gold-medal feat in Beijing, and I have to say it has been quite a year. I figured swimming would quickly fade from the headlines, but au contraire.

The high tech suits have not only fueled a deluge of new world records – 43 alone were set at the World Championships in Rome earlier this month – but the controversy has kept the formerly mundane sport of swimming front and center.  (Even such staid publications as The Wall Street Journal and The Economist have devoted ink to the matter).

For much of the attention, we have FINA, the world swimming governing body, to thank as it fumbled the issue of suit parity from last year’s Olympics through this year with its testing, list of approved suits and then revised list, which basically approved everything.

Then in late July FINA completely reversed itself sanctioning only jammers for men and knee suits for women, and woven-textile suits. Beginning in January, no more full-body outfits of super-doper buoyant polyurethane.

The sport is heading old school, and granted it has been fun witnessing these amazing times, but I, for one, can’t wait for the ban to be fully in place. So far, The National Federation of State High School Associations Swimming and Diving Rules Committee has banned the high-tech suits and the NCAA has said it, too, will disallow technology suits. 

We are still awaiting word on when USA Swimming will outlaw the suits, and surely it will since it was the organization that recommended to FINA that only knee suits be allowed. But, I reiterate, the new ruling can’t take effect soon enough as far as I am concerned.

I have to be completely honest here. I was thrilled to hear how fast our Colorado swimmers were racing at Junior Nationals, and I couldn’t have been prouder. But when I learned some of them were wearing technology suits – and rightfully so since nearly everyone else there was donning them – personally, I cringed. For me, it tainted their performance ever so slightly.

Sure they are still incredibly fast and talented swimmers. Nobody can take that away from them. But given the suits, it makes a true comparison of how their times stack up against other times impossible.

I welcome the day we are back to matching apples to apples, or at least pretty darn close. No more apples to mangos for me, thanks.  No more mental asterisks.

What’s your stand on technology suits -- an inevitability that can’t be governed, or bring on the tiny Speedo?

Super Suit Backlash

Hold on to your Speedos! In a complete reversal of fortune, FINA today banned ALL high tech suits beginning Jan. 1 for international competition. I should clarify, not just “high-tech” suits, (think LZR or blueseventy or Jaked) but anything past the knees.

Basically the international governing board backed USA Swimming’s recommendation and is allowing only “jammers,” waist to knee suits, for men and shoulder to knee suits for women. FINA also noted that suits must be “textile.”

The ruling does not effect the upcoming FINA World Championships swim competition, which is scheduled to begin in Rome on Sunday, and FINA ruled that world records already set in the super suits would stand.

Now it will be interesting to see how soon USA Swimming plans to enact a similar rule since they were one of the leaders on this. Looks like there will be lots of closets of obsolete swimwear and maybe a return to slower times. That’s at least what some of the world’s top swimmers are predicting.

“A lot of us are joking that this might be the fastest we ever go,” American backstroker Aaron Peirsol told the Associated Press in Rome on practically the eve of Worlds. “We might as well enjoy this year.”

Stay tuned. The other interesting aspect will be how manufacturers react.

Swimsuit Issue Gets Murkier

Most folks in the world of swimming will agree that something has to be done about the technology suits and the impact they were having on the integrity of the sport. I have expressed my  personal concerns and totally support a swimming governing body, preferably USA Swimming, ruling on the matter of swimsuits.

But where we are now is nothing short of ridiculous.

The handling of the entire matter has been a fiasco. First FINA, the International Swimming Federation, came out with its initial “list” of 202 tested and approved suits late in May, which USA Swimming subsequently adopted.

Then just this week, FINA revisited its “list” and added another 198 suits including several versions of the Nero from Blueseventy and models of the controversial Jaked, a new Italian-manufactured suit that is reportedly covered with polyurethane to aid buoyancy. Basically, all swimsuits that were submitted for testing have been approved.

Seems to me we are back to square one and all that supposed testing was nothing but a bunch of hooey. The integrity of the sport still remains in jeopardy, and what’s worse, in my opinion, is the confusion left in the wake of these “rulings.”

USA Swimming has gone ahead and approved the additional suits, although based on a statement  from President Jim Wood, the organization isn’t very happy with FINA either. All of it has made for a logistical nightmare concerning the upcoming 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis, where for the suits to be legal, they not only have to be on the list, but available from manufacturers at the meet!

The list itself is beyond absurd with 400 different makes and models. If you haven’t looked at the “list,” here’s a sample of a few of the approved TYR suits:

      Tracer Light         pants - short
      Tracer Light         classic
      Tracer A7            full - knee
      Tracer A7            pants – long
      Fusion                pants - long
      Fusion                pants - short
      Fusion  Racer     classic
      Sayonara            F100     full
      Sayonara            F100     full - knee
      B2                     F300     full
      B4                     F102     full

Honestly, as a swim parent, I couldn’t tell you what competition suit my daughter wears, let alone the model number!

Besides that, the list creates a host of other questions such as, what happens if a suit isn’t on the list like our team’s Nike suits? Are those OK for competitions, and which competitions? My coach says not to worry about it, but my interpretation of the USA Swimming ruling is if it isn’t on the list and extends past the pelvis in the case of female swimmers, and above the navel and past the knees for the males, it isn’t OK.

Some of my friends have interpreted the ruling differently. And, I read somewhere that it might be permissible if another swimmer or coach doesn’t protest the suit.

Bottomline, way too much room for individual interpretation.

Secondly, does a suit have to be on the list for ALL USA Swimming competitions or just a certain level of competition such as sectionals, called the Speedo (any wonder all their suits are on the list?) Championship Series or the ConocoPhillips National Championships or Junior Nationals? What about state championships and regular meets?

Finally, how is a swim parent to keep track of all of this?

Kudos to Colorado Swimming Inc. for coming up with a simple statement on the matter as it concerns meets in the state. If your kid is 14 or younger and competing in an event for 14 and unders, their suit cannot cover the neck, extend past the shoulder nor past the knees. The rule, however, does not ban 14 and under swimmers competing in Open events from wearing a full-body or full-leg suit.

Granted the ruling doesn’t really address technology suits for the Open events, but at least I can clearly interpret the ruling!

I don’t pretend to have the answers. But I honestly hope when all is said and done, there will be a simple way to communicate what suits can and cannot be worn at which meets, and more importantly that it becomes much more about the swimming and little, if anything, about the suit!

Change Afoot

Colorado Swimming Inc.’s new swimwear rule banning full-body and full-leg suits for swimmers competing in 14 and under events goes into effect tomorrow. The CSI governing board in March decided to adopt the rule change, going one step farther than USA Swimming’s ruling, which applies to 12 and unders.

With the change, swimsuits worn for 14 and under age group competition can not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder nor past the knees for any USA Swimming sanctioned meet in Colorado in which the swimmer is competing in a 14 & under, 13-14, 12 & under, 11-12, 10 & under, 9-10 or 8 & under event. The rule, however, does not ban 14 and under swimmers competing in Open events from wearing a full-body or full-leg suit.

CSI officials no doubt will be enforcing the new rule at three big meets this weekend: the CMA IMX meet at Cheyenne Mountain Aquatic Center in Colorado Springs, the Foothills Swim Team Long Course Open at Carmody Pool and the North Jeffco Invite at Meyers Pool.

Technology Suits Continue to Make Waves

The topic of high-tech swimsuits remains a hot one in the swim world in general. A couple of weeks ago, Olympic relay standout Jason Lezak was questioning the validity of French swimmer Fred Bousquet’s new 50-meter freestyle world record of 20.94. For the swim Bousquet was donning a Jaked, a new Italian-manufactured suit that is reportedly covered with polyurethane to aid buoyancy.

Lezak told The Orange County Register he had ordered one and tried it on, but it ripped. Despite the suit being compromised, he said he was able to tell the difference. “Even with a huge rip in the back, I dove in the water and the first thing I thought in my head was this suit should not be legal,” he is quoted as saying. “He’s (Bousquet) always been a fast swimmer …. Even if he has improved, which obviously I’m sure he has, the suit had a lot to do with it as well. … People just keep making better (suits).”

Interestingly enough, Lezak, who that weekend was competing in the Speedo Grand Challenge, did not reveal the name of the suit he was wearing other than to say “I’m wearing something that puts me on a level-playing field with everyone else.” He added that had he been competing in Europe, he would be at a disadvantage if he wasn’t wearing a Jaked.

If you don’t think others are thinking about the suit influence, consider this. The sports newspaper L'Equipe when it recently listed who had made the French team for the FINA World Championships set for late July in Rome also included the type of suit each swimmer wears. If you’re curious, 11 of the 15 men and 14 of 20 women wear Jaked.

Meanwhile, the International Swimming Federation (FINA)'s newly formed commission to approve competitive suits is gathering in Lausanne to decide which hi-tech swimsuits will be legal for the world title meet in Rome. FINA is expected to release a list of approved suits sometime this month. All of the suits have been independently tested by the Swiss Institute of Technology.

We’ll see what’s in and what’s out.

Super Suits Controversy Lands in WSJ

I expect to read about the issues surrounding high-tech suits in Sports Illustrated, Swimming World Magazine and of course on the USA Swimming Web site and other popular swim forums. I’m not even that surprised when The New York Times weighs in  on the issue. They do, after all, have at least one former collegiate swimmer on staff who devoted plenty of ink to swimming last year leading up to and through the Beijing Olympics.

But imagine my surprise when yesterday my inbox held a story about high-tech suits from, of all places, that bastion of business and finance news, The Wall Street Journal. Reporter Matthew Futterman on page D8 detailed the controversy rocking the sport as it applies to collegiate swimming.

In the article, Futterman writes that collegiate swimming was  “turned upside down” this season when the NCAA decided not to rule on high tech suits. That left programs scrambling to not only find the super suits but had them dishing out thousands of dollars to outfit their rosters, all to the dismay of many collegiate coaches.

"It's like having one pole-vaulter using a fiberglass pole and another using a wooden pole," Phil Whitten, executive director of the College Swim Coaches Association, was quoted. "It's an absolute mess."

Just goes to show a level playing field is of concern no matter the level, whether on the age-group, high-school or even collegiate scene.

NCAA Men's Meet

The article makes a nice run up to the NCAA Division I Men's Championship, which kicks off tomorrow at College Station, Texas, where the women competed last week.

I’ll be keeping my eye on a few former Colorado swimmers. Heritage High School graduate Mark Dylla, now in his second year at the University of Georgia, is ranked first in the 200Y Butterfly, an event he took second in last year at the championships as a freshman. 

Agustin Magruder, formerly of the Greenwood Tiger Sharks, swims for the Longhorns and goes into the meet most highly ranked in the 200Y Breaststroke where he is seated sixth. Finally, there’s Steamboat swimmer Blake Worsley, a senior at the University of Denver, who is ranked sixth in the 500Y Free and seeded eighth in the 200Y Free.

Much like the women’s meet, I’m expecting super fast times, and who wouldn’t with the suits and all.

CSI Rules on Swim Suits

Colorado Swimming Inc., the governing body for competitive swimming in the state, has ruled that affect May 15, 2009, full-body suits will no longer be allowed for swimmers age 14 and under competing in Colorado if those swimmers are competing in 14 & Under events.

USA Swimming at is 2008 Annual Convention had ruled that athletes 12 and under were banned from wearing suits that cover their neck, extend past the shoulder or past the knee.

Colorado, along with some other Local Swimming Committees, has taken the ruling farther and applied it to swimmers age 14 and under. The change was voted on at CSI’s board meeting held during the State 14 & Under Championships a couple of weeks ago.

According to information  posted yesterday by CSI on its Web site, the reasoning behind the rule change is twofold: “We do not want our athletes to feel compelled to buy very expensive high performance suits in order to feel like they are competing on a level playing field.” The statement goes on to say that secondly, “it is believed by the Committee that the focus of age group swimmers should be on learning the correct techniques in order to improve performance.”

As part of the ruling, CSI is allowing swimmers 14 or younger to wear full suits if they are competing in an Open event or outside Colorado. The rule applies only to USA Swimming sanctioned meets.

In other swimsuit news, USA Swimming ruled yesterday that effective immediately, only one suit at a time may be worn in any USA Swimming sanctioned or approved competition.

I'd like to applaud CSI and USA Swimming for weighing in on the suit controversy. As I expressed here in a post last month these high performance suits, in my opinion, both call in to question the integrity of the sport as well as compromise the even playing field. Again, I think they make sense at higher level meets and open competitions where they can often be bought at a discount, but not 14 & Under competitions.

What about you. Do you agree or disagree with CSI's new rule? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Suits Make the Swimmer?

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:

• Equity
• Integrity

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?