High school swimming disqualifies advanced suits
By Thomas O'Toole, USA TODAY
High school swimmers will be banned from wearing high-tech suits under a rule announced Tuesday by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The change, effective immediately, mirrors a recent decision by the sport's international governing body and puts more emphasis on the ability of the swimmer instead of the quality of the suit. Suits now must be of a woven/knit textile material, permeable to water and air and cannot aid buoyancy.
Boys suits can't go above the waist or below the top of the knee.
Girls suits can't go above the shoulders or below the top of the knee and can't cover the neck.
"Wow. It's a big deal," said David Marsh, coaching director and CEO at SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte and a former coach at Auburn University. "Most purist coaches like myself are happy to hear that you are able to judge a swimmer by the performance of the athlete himself."
To emphasize his point, Marsh said all he had to do Tuesday was look around the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash., site of the Speedo Junior National Championships.
Many of the top high school swimmers are there, and the meet is scouted by hundreds of college coaches. He said he asked one coach if he was noting which suits the swimmers were wearing and was told yes.
High-tech suits generally prove more helpful to lower-level swimmers than Olympians. "Absolutely," said Marsh. He said college coaches need to know how much of a difference the suit makes when they "are looking at investing the amount they are investing in these high school swimmers.
"They are adding unnatural flotation to their bodies. The suit kind of covers technique flaws. It affects how you use your energy. You don't have to kick as hard. But the biggest thing might be the psychological impact of wearing them."
The ruling pertains to 250,000 swimmers at 13,000 schools nationwide.
"These high-tech suits had fundamentally altered the sport and become more similar to equipment, rather than a uniform," Becky Oakes, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the swimming and diving rules committee, said in a statement. "The rules of swimming have always prohibited the use or wearing of items that would aid in the swimmer's speed and/or buoyancy. The technical suits and styles had evolved to a point where there was little, if any, compliance with these basic rules."
Oakes added that the rule "will help guarantee fairness in competition."
According to Bruce Howard, spokesman for the national federation, state associations "in the strictest sense," don't have to follow the national rules, but they generally do. Howard said he believes that "because of the significance and nature of this rule" all the states will follow it.
Club teams such as Marsh's generally work with top high school athletes as well as Olympic-caliber swimmers. He said that puts him in a tricky position.
"Dialing back the rules in my purist sense is probably a good thing," he said. "In my efforts to coach elite swimmers, those guys are having fun in those suits."
from www.usatoday.com/.../2009-08-11-advanced-suits-ban_N.htm
Problem--I just want to swim faster than I otherwise could. Solution--Jaked, Arena X-Glied, Blue Seventy, Speedo LZR, etc. Fringe Benefit--Makes swimsuit companies richer and swimmers poorer. Seems illegitimate to many.
I guess the swimsuit companies found us like the tobacco companies found their target market - get them hooked some how and we'll get rich – although most suit makers I would guess don’t pull huge profits. Tech suits have become an "addiction" of sorts - they obviously work to some degree and apparently more for some, at least anecdotally. And frankly if I were at the top echelon of my age group and within striking distance of a WR, I’d consider plunking down the money, once I weighed all the cost v. benefit. Because maybe moving to a new program, or to a coached workout makes that difference – but those costs are not insignificant either.
But wasn't it always the case with suits? You got a new suit for the big meets and state’s and regional championships. I always remember that toward the end of the season we all either bought or received a new suit - for me it was a "paper" suit for the specific reason that it was a "faster" suit, and along with shaving I would be faster. Those suits were more expensive, not to the degree we see today but the premise was the same - they were specialty equipment. Maybe those old suits were far more psychological than physiological in nature. Maybe shaving, taper and the general excitement of racing in those meets made more of a difference.
Again, if the suits were in the $50 range we'd all be talking about how many we have and in what colors - not about "fairness" or the haves and have nots and we'd all be excited about WRs when ever they get broken. Maybe the real solution is to drive the cost down to that range.
Problem--I just want to swim faster than I otherwise could. Solution--Jaked, Arena X-Glied, Blue Seventy, Speedo LZR, etc. Fringe Benefit--Makes swimsuit companies richer and swimmers poorer. Seems illegitimate to many.
I guess the swimsuit companies found us like the tobacco companies found their target market - get them hooked some how and we'll get rich – although most suit makers I would guess don’t pull huge profits. Tech suits have become an "addiction" of sorts - they obviously work to some degree and apparently more for some, at least anecdotally. And frankly if I were at the top echelon of my age group and within striking distance of a WR, I’d consider plunking down the money, once I weighed all the cost v. benefit. Because maybe moving to a new program, or to a coached workout makes that difference – but those costs are not insignificant either.
But wasn't it always the case with suits? You got a new suit for the big meets and state’s and regional championships. I always remember that toward the end of the season we all either bought or received a new suit - for me it was a "paper" suit for the specific reason that it was a "faster" suit, and along with shaving I would be faster. Those suits were more expensive, not to the degree we see today but the premise was the same - they were specialty equipment. Maybe those old suits were far more psychological than physiological in nature. Maybe shaving, taper and the general excitement of racing in those meets made more of a difference.
Again, if the suits were in the $50 range we'd all be talking about how many we have and in what colors - not about "fairness" or the haves and have nots and we'd all be excited about WRs when ever they get broken. Maybe the real solution is to drive the cost down to that range.
