USA Swimming proposes rule limiting suits

What if you have a kid that has put in the work and is on the razor's edge of time cuts? Why can't they suit up because a bunch of whiney parents are jealous of other parents who can afford suits? This is all bogus. I say cut the trophy budget from dues instead. If that kid is truly swimming at that level, then there are plenty of opportunities for swimming in non-age group competition. I.e., open age meets, where the restriction does not apply. -Rick

Rick: OK, you've made some good points. I wasn't thinking about this from the front end but on the back end. I can definitely see a $500 suit as a hindrance for a kid just starting out and looking to get his/her feet wet in the sport.

North Texas 14 & Under Swimsuit Standards Effective 2009 Tue, 2 Dec 2008 12:15:00 CST Effective January 1, 2009 at all North Texas Swimming, age-group defined, sanctioned meets: Swimsuits worn by females for all 14 & Under defined competitions shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor past the hip. Swimsuits worn by males for all 14 & Under defined competitions shall not extend above the hips nor below the knees. Interesting - the LSC is imposing a higher age limit with an earlier effective date (assuming PK's date above is accurate). And the girls can't wear the short leg suits either! chowmi, Unless the legislation specifies otherwise, new USA Swimming rules go into effect on May 15 of the appropriate year (as opposed to USMS rules, which go into effect on January 1). In this case, the legislation specifically indicated an effective date of May 15. I suppose an LSC could, through its authority to sanction meets, impose this kind of additional and expanded restriction. In September 2007, the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations Committee interpreted an LSC's sanctioning authority to allow it impose restrictions beyond those required in the rulebook (e.g., to require more officials at a meet than required in the rulebook). How far this authority extends is anyone's guess, but there is probably a common sense limit (such as, don't mess with any of the stuff in Article 101!). It would appear that North Texas is going beyond what is required by the new 102.19.1A. That being said, a lot of this will come down to how the actual referees interpret the rule along with the guidance handed down from their LSC's. Patrick King

I'm not saying I agree with the decision. Though I am not a voting member of the New England LSC board, I argued against such action. I will say that the input from the coaches was strong. They are very much hearing about this from their parents of younger swimmers. I'm both a masters' swimmer (who recently bought a B70 and love it) and a parent of three age group swimmers (all girls, oldest is 12). Even before this newest generation of tech suits, my older daughters have been covetous of each earlier generation of tech suits. My wife and I viewed each of those opportunities as great excuses to exercise our rights as parents to "just say no," a wonderful teaching opportunity about economics and financial trade-offs, as well as an opportunity for their coaches to talk with them about all of the other things they can do at this stage of their careers that will have far more impact on their performance than a tech suit. As to whether or not Susie or Jane in the next lane has one, this is just another variant of the refrain children often give on such a wide array of things, "Everyone's got nice stuff but me." My kids learned long ago that that argument holds no water in our house.

As long as they weren't disadvantaged versus other kids - it was fair. And there it is, the fear of being left behind. Life isn't fair and sports have never been fair. Tech suits are here to stay despite the fear of success by the losers. What you conveniently fail to recognize is two things. First, USAS is composed of its members who are allowed to have opinions and, second, over time the price of suits will fall and become more affordable. I will agree to osterber's excellent points, yours are ludicrous.

Dang it, hoffam, once second we fight, the next second we agree. That confuses me greatly.

And there it is, the fear of being left behind. Life isn't fair and sports have never been fair. Tech suits are here to stay despite the fear of success by the losers. I agree with Rick that no 12 & U kid needs a $500 suit. I don't really view that as a teaching opportunity, as much as having minimal common sense. (Besides, pretty soon, Speedo will be giving away FSIIs and maybe Pros ...) As to fairness, this carries little weight with me. Geek is absolutely correct. There are already many inequities built into swimming and sport: kid gets the flu before a big meet, parents can't afford to send kid to travel meet, parents can't afford a particular team, kid lives in x town instead of y town and thus can't have y coach, single parent (or other) can't get kid to x practice(s), parent doesn't have the time, energy or money for umpteen private lessons or EP training or personal trainers, kid breaks an ankle before meet, kid is in PT and has bad knees and can't swim their beloved evilstroke, kid rips suit before race and must wear dreaded polyester suit. The list could go one forever. Tech suits are just one more thing on the list.

Let's just repeat for the audience your credentials to speak on this. You don't compete. You have never competed. You tried on a tech suit once but didn't swim in it (I think you said this). You have no knowledge of their abilities, unlike almost everyone else on this forum. If it was marketing then how do you explain the results? Hey Aquageek Yep - It's been a while since I've posted anything on the USMS board, but I’m back again. Just like earthquakes in California: Just because there haven’t been any lately doesn’t mean they’re gone. And I'm not gone either!!! As for your comment about my credentials regarding swimming, I don't need to actually swim on a competitive basis to know what the abilities of the so called "tech suits" really are. Swimming is based on the principles of physics (mainly hydrodamics) and bio-mechanics which have been studied for decades and the results can be comprehended by anyone who has a knowledge of these sciences. With the exception of the "Girdling" effect (body compression), there is nothing about a tech suit that could increase the swimmer's ability. As I've said before, the main problem faced in increasing swimming speed is getting more propulsion -not less drag. So instead of focusing on the properties of the suit, why aren't they focusing on the hands and the feet and accordingly just use paddles and flippers to gain more propulsion? Prior to the 1990's, FINA rules were very restrictive about any devices or substances that could be construed as aiding the swimmers ability. So why did FINA do a flip-flop and become so permissive about the use of these suits? :confused: This suit technology stuff reeks of a "Fifth Avenue" style marketing campaign on the part of the suit makers (who are also clothing manufacturers) and their strategy seems to be the use competitive swim wear as a form of fashion modleing. Considering all the $$$ involved, FINA seems to be more than willing to go along with it. Dolphin 2

I weigh more heavily the advantages of growing the sport over allowing the kids with spendy parents to wear an expensive suit. I'll try to be more civil now. By attempting to level the playing field what you are really talking about is taking away things from kids/families that can afford or chose to spend their money on the more expensive aspects of the sport. How is that any more fair? There's no such thing as fair in sports.

I'll try to be more civil now. By attempting to level the playing field what you are really talking about is taking away things from kids/families that can afford or chose to spend their money on the more expensive aspects of the sport. How is that any more fair? There's no such thing as fair in sports. Oh geez, call the whaaaambulance! We, who have so much, should not be forced to suffer for those who have less. Our having is proof of our virtue and light and tech suits are our just reward.