The suits

The recent hoopla about the sport of swimming has been concerning the suits that the athletes are allowed to wear. The swimming association (FINA) banned suits that go below the pelvis and past the shoulders for women, and suits that go past the knees or shoulders for men. Also they must be made with certain materials and can't aid a swimmer's buoyancy.

The change was made to govern the modern swim suits that helped break 108 world records in less than 2 years of their use. It's obvious there was a dramatic difference in the times of athletes wearing these suits.

To understand this issue you need to get a sense of these suits. Here are some tears for you.
Trunks=SLOW
Normal speedo/jammer/women's suit=normal, fine
Outdated racing suit=fast
New high-tech suit=so fast, it's not fair


Let me just say that the difference (if you're a guy) between the trunks you may normally wear are drastically different from the average speedo or jammer that you can buy for 10-20 bucks. Swimming in trunks is about equal to running a sprint with 3 pound ankle weights, or three pounds of ice cream in your stomach. The drag reduced is incredible.

The difference between a good suit and a racing suit is also pretty great. I know, because I've worn some. They're made out of a different kind of material. The water seems to bead off the suit like duck feathers. It should also be incredibly tight. On numerous occasions I've dragged myself out of the water gasping for air, and asked for the timer to unzip my suit (there's a zipper that goes down the back of body suits) to get some air. They're also only good for a few swims. They cost upwards of 100 dollars and they get baggy and draggy after 700 yards or so. It feels good in the water though. Everything feels smooth, like your just walking on the water.

You guessed it, these high tech suits are crazy fast; a huge step up from a good racing suit. I've never worn one, but I'm guessing the feeling is similar. A feeling of frictionlessness, even less than air. Just flying through space like a missile. The feeling comes at a high price though, and I'm sure many countries don't have the funding to build a suit of this stature. That's where the problem begins.

This has become a sport based almost more on technological advances than athletic ability. That's wrong. Every one of my state's highschool records was broken last year at the state meet. Records that were thought to be untouchable. They weren't just broken, they were shattered. All the athletes that took part in the record breaking performances were wearing very high tech suits. They paid hundreds of dollars to break those records. Speed should not come with a price tag. It should come with thousands of hours of pain a sacrifice. That's what swimming is about: self discipline and hard work.

The rule change puts the sport back on an even playing field. Now American can kick the world's butt and the world can't complain about our suits. This is a change for the better. The races are again settled in the pool instead in in the lab.