Craig Lord's rather inflammatory article www.swimnews.com/.../6918 on the possibility that USMS will depart from FINA vis a vis allowed swim suits raises a fundamental issue:
If masters swimming allows a more lenient policy regarding suit technology than FINA swimming, will this help or hurt our status in the swimming world?
I love the high tech suits, and I think FINA has been boneheaded in many ways, but I personally think that the creation of a two-tier system--regular swimming and masters "handicapped" swimming--would be bad for our sport and only marginalize us in the world of athletics.
If the choice comes down to two options--abide by FINA's suit rulings OR permit suits like the B70 for masters (if it is outlawed by FINA for "real" swimmers), which side would you support?
Makes it sounds like the other gossip about FINA not counting masters times at all or unless they were wearing an approved suit is BS then ...
I don't know, Craig Lord's article (which has been recently updated slightly) certainly seemed to imply that FINA wasn't going to enforce the suit rules with masters swimming, similar to anti-doping controls.
Forget about FINA for a second...I am a big believer that there should be minimal differences between USMS and USAS rules. The trend lately has been trying to lower barriers between the two (eg, the dual sanction thing) and this would be a huge step backward, IMO. "Observed" swims at masters meets would now also have to include what suit was worn, not just following USAS rules (eg, no butterfrog).
I am also of the belief that butterfrog should be eliminated, but that's just me....
Makes it sounds like the other gossip about FINA not counting masters times at all or unless they were wearing an approved suit is BS then ...
I don't know, Craig Lord's article (which has been recently updated slightly) certainly seemed to imply that FINA wasn't going to enforce the suit rules with masters swimming, similar to anti-doping controls.
Forget about FINA for a second...I am a big believer that there should be minimal differences between USMS and USAS rules. The trend lately has been trying to lower barriers between the two (eg, the dual sanction thing) and this would be a huge step backward, IMO. "Observed" swims at masters meets would now also have to include what suit was worn, not just following USAS rules (eg, no butterfrog).
I am also of the belief that butterfrog should be eliminated, but that's just me....
