It was around a year ago that FINA announced that the use of tech suits, leg-skins, and body-skins, would be banned from competition as of 1/1/10. This announcement came on the eve of the biggest meet of 2009, the FINA World Championships in Rome. This was the last big meet where the tapered swimming superstars wore their LZR Racers, Jakeds, and X-Glides, and where the swimming community was treated to one hell of a 100 Fly race. (49.82 long course?)
Swimmers and coaches can complain about how the tech suits were ruining the sport of swimming, how they were unfair to swimmers who couldn't afford the hefty $500 price point, and how any world record set in a tech suit should either be erased or marked with an asterisk, but was it really that big of an issue?
I don't think so. I agree that the suits made a big impact in the swimmer's performance, but I don't think that they ruined the sport of swimming. As far as I'm concerned, tech suits serve the same purpose as swim caps, goggles, and lane lines; they all alter the performance of the swimmer to make it easier for them to swim fast. And isn't swimming fast what our sport is all about?
The suits themselves aren't the issue, the issue is the high price point of the suits. $550 for a full body LZR Racer? I see the price point as the big "suit issue," and it's an issue that still hasn't gone away. Sure, bodyskins and legskins are illegal, but have you seen how much a FINA-approved LZR Elite Jammer suit costs? SwimOutlet.com lists a new one at $259.95. $260 for a pair of glorified compression shorts. Smaller programs are still going to have trouble affording the new, "slower," tech suits, so why not just go back to how we were and go fast?
It'll be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks, since we're heading into Summer Championship Meet season. Will we see another 49.8?
Until next time, keep swimming.
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