Here, straight from FINA, are their "requirements" for swimwear approval. They answer some of the questions people have posed here, but not all of them.
www.fina.org/.../SWIMWEAR APPROVAL.pdf
That's true, but I don't think the pre-2007 suits needed to be tested.
Many people including me shared this belief, but I cannot figure out or remember why we did. I will be very grateful to someone who can remind us why we thought so. The USMS "guidance" repeats the "rule" that suits approved before September 2007 are OK, but the memo linked above suggests otherwise: Rule 4.1 is "All swimsuits to be used during the period of application shall be submitted, even if previously approved."
Remember, the title of this list is "FINA 2009 List of Approved Swimsuits". It makes no reference to "tech suits" and certainly makes no distinction between tech suits and workout suits.
One might argue that this is all "common sense", but I would disagree.
I would disagree as well. For instance, the rules in this memo do seem to say that for a swim to satisfy FINA standards it must happen in one of the suits on FINA's "approved" list, period, not in a fifteen-year-old The Finals suit that happens somehow to have survived in a dark corner of the drawer where you keep sports clothes.
I would guess Speedo just submitted all their suits so they can advertise that ALL their currently available racing suits passed FINAs scrutiny.
On the other hand, if our belief about suits from before September 2007 being OK turns out to have been correct, then I think this marketing theory is sound.
The next question for USMS and USAS will be: how will this be policed?
This is a good point...maybe they'll have to be a certificate stamped on the suit but then that could be forged etc.
A "non-removable" mark on the suit, not prominent yet easily accessible to meet officials, is the certification method; see rule 4.6.
Another legality question: I thought suits with long arms were not allowed, yet I saw two guys at nationals wearing the full-on legs and arms?
I was surprised to see those long-arm suits too, because like you I thought long arms were already out. And if we noticed, surely the officials noticed.
Here, straight from FINA, are their "requirements" for swimwear approval. They answer some of the questions people have posed here, but not all of them.
www.fina.org/.../SWIMWEAR APPROVAL.pdf
That's true, but I don't think the pre-2007 suits needed to be tested.
Many people including me shared this belief, but I cannot figure out or remember why we did. I will be very grateful to someone who can remind us why we thought so. The USMS "guidance" repeats the "rule" that suits approved before September 2007 are OK, but the memo linked above suggests otherwise: Rule 4.1 is "All swimsuits to be used during the period of application shall be submitted, even if previously approved."
Remember, the title of this list is "FINA 2009 List of Approved Swimsuits". It makes no reference to "tech suits" and certainly makes no distinction between tech suits and workout suits.
One might argue that this is all "common sense", but I would disagree.
I would disagree as well. For instance, the rules in this memo do seem to say that for a swim to satisfy FINA standards it must happen in one of the suits on FINA's "approved" list, period, not in a fifteen-year-old The Finals suit that happens somehow to have survived in a dark corner of the drawer where you keep sports clothes.
I would guess Speedo just submitted all their suits so they can advertise that ALL their currently available racing suits passed FINAs scrutiny.
On the other hand, if our belief about suits from before September 2007 being OK turns out to have been correct, then I think this marketing theory is sound.
The next question for USMS and USAS will be: how will this be policed?
This is a good point...maybe they'll have to be a certificate stamped on the suit but then that could be forged etc.
A "non-removable" mark on the suit, not prominent yet easily accessible to meet officials, is the certification method; see rule 4.6.
Another legality question: I thought suits with long arms were not allowed, yet I saw two guys at nationals wearing the full-on legs and arms?
I was surprised to see those long-arm suits too, because like you I thought long arms were already out. And if we noticed, surely the officials noticed.
