Swimming to ban bodysuits

[rainbowgirl28]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/o ... igs25.html

Swimming

FINA Bureau is expected to approve ban when it votes Tuesday: Swimming's governing body banned record-setting bodysuits Friday, a major step in limiting technology in the pool.

FINA has come under criticism for its failure to regulate the rapid advances in swimsuit technology that has led to 108 world records last year and nearly 30 so far this year.

The ban must be approved by the FINA Bureau on Tuesday — most observers view the vote as a formality — but it won't take effect until 2010. World records could be set at the world championships, which start Sunday in Rome, in suits that won't be legal next year.

[AVC Coach]

I don't agree with banning the suits for fairness reasons. They could regulate it by voting to ban any more improvements on the technology of the suits. People like to see world records broken. That's exciting. I think they're heading in the wrong direction with this for their sport.

[VaultPurple]

Technology Doping....

Previous advancements in swim suits made them more aquadynamic and kept them from absorbing water, but none were buoyant and made it easier to float. The problem with the new one was it had characteristics of a life jacket so when the swimmer got tired it kept his body from sinking down in the water, so it required less energy to swim. But they also went ahead and baned the older ones that did not absorb water and that created tiny vortexes of water to make them more aquadynamic. And they went and baned them from being any bigger than the jammer (shorts). They kind of went overboard but some things needed to be banned, the newest one would be the equivalent of filling a pole vaulting pole with helium to make it lighter (probably wouldn't work i know, but example).

And this most likely all happened because Michael Phelps got beat in the pre-season to a guy wearing a new suit when he was wearing briefs and a beard.