Swim Suits Are a Major Controversy

A Message from Head Coach Chris MacCurdy

Leading into the 2008 Olympic Games and since, there has been an onslaught of new technical swim suits. The designs of the suits have led to nearly 200 new world records which in any two year period prior to the suits is over 10 times the number of average records broken. Since the 2008 Games F.I.N.A. (the international governing body for our sport) has tried to legislate what is a legal suit and what is not by hiring a scientist to study and test all the suits presented to them. As of this writing there are over 400 different suits that will be allowed to be used in the upcoming World Championships provided there are enough for everyone who wants one. The top swimming nations (USA and Australia are two of them) have expressed their disappointment to F.I.N.A. because they are interested in swimmers racing using only their skills and training without the aid of an enhancement. In other words they are asking F.I.N.A. to do away with body suits and get back to the body being the only swimming device. They would prefer the suits be the type that we have in our North Texas Swimming Policies and our TAGS rules for 14 and under age group swimmers:

Girls - Swimsuits shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulders or past the hips.

Boys - Swimsuits shall not extend above the waist or below the knees.

No "PVC" panels shall be allowed in either girls' or boys' suits

I feel pretty certain many parents of fourteen and under swimmers appreciate not having to pay $300- $500 for a swim suit that has a very limited lifespan. As an example of how some of the top athletes feel about the suits I read an article written on www.swimnewsonline.com about Britta Steffen of Germany who set the world record in the 100 meter Freestyle in June:

The double Olympic sprint champion emerged to tell reporters: "I'm feeling in good shape but this suit is of a different world. This is a really weird piece of equipment, one that I've never worn before. You don't die in the last metres and you feel no pain. Under normal circumstances, this suit should be forbidden, and I expect that by 2010 it will be. I felt like a speedboat in water and never in my life would I have believed that a human could glide like that."

Since the emergence of the new suits I have watched swimmers and spoken to coaches of swimmers who performed at levels they would never have come close to had they worn a "traditional" swim suit. Until some governing body prohibits the use of body suits, fifteen year old swimmers and older are at a distinct disadvantage if they don't have one of those suits at their championship meet (or any meet where an athlete(s) is wearing one). I also believe if the suits do eventually go away there will be a large number of coaches consoling swimmers who swim significantly slower without them. To date, I have only had two swimmers wear one of today's technical suits. The swims were fast. Some of the dramatic improvements that were made were going to take place anyway because the athlete had done that type of work. But, the truth is the swimmers said they felt so much more on top of the water with the suits than they had ever felt before.

Our swimmers wear a box suit in practice in order that they become stronger by working with additional drag. When they get to early or mid-season races and race in a single suit (preferably nylon or polyester) they feel like they have a load off their body and feel faster. I remind them of how fast they are swimming by doing some late workout swims without the box suits so they can see their speed. For some prelims/ finals meets that are not late season championship meets I allow them to wear a lycra suit or "jammer" primarily for finals. This provides a little less drag without them going into what I call a "big suit" and they are a little more confident about their races because they feel faster. I am not going to promote swimmers buying "big suits" and I am not going to prohibit them from wearing them either because I truly believe there is an advantage for those who have them. I do tell them that everything I have read and the many coaches I have talked to has me believing the technical suits will be banned at some point in the future.