I think it is going to end up that anything goes in terms of material, but coverage will be regulated. There is too much ambiguity in the definitions of permeable and textile.
I think it will be jammers for men and short-johns for women....
If I could go back I would have load up on $25 FINIS amphibians...
Parents
Former Member
But the suit manufacturers already have suits in production. B70 just announced it was releasing new suits in Nov. and Speedo has the new LZR Pro. Will these new suits, which make an attempt (I guess) to be "permeable" be history if Lefty's prediction is accurate?
If the suit manufacturers are smart, they should do their level best to convince FINA that there is a "middle" ground - namely the one suggested by Lefty - form factor regulated, but material not. They could do this by trying to meet the FINA rules head on and not try to circumvent them at all, while still throwing in as many material innovations as the rules allow. This lets FINA not lose face and not feel threatened as the regulating body. At the same time, it opens the way for a dialog about why suit innovation is desirable (and non-threatening) and allows the suit companies to continue production of new (and more expensive) suits. For a suit manufacturer, this new technology is critical to revenue growth since there is only so much you can do with lycra and polyester and you can't count on massive growth in the number of participants as your revenue increase mechanism.
That said, B70 is being clever here. They "get" that open water swimming is a relatively untapped market -and a growing market - and that they have expertise from their wetsuits that cross-markets pretty well. Doubly true in that the open water market is much less regulated WRT to suits, both at the FINA level and at all the other levels where FINA has no jurisdiction. If Speedo, Tyr, etc stay solely focused on the fight over pool suits, B70 will stake a large claim to the OW market before the others wake up to what is going on there.
Fascinating, really.
-LBJ
But the suit manufacturers already have suits in production. B70 just announced it was releasing new suits in Nov. and Speedo has the new LZR Pro. Will these new suits, which make an attempt (I guess) to be "permeable" be history if Lefty's prediction is accurate?
If the suit manufacturers are smart, they should do their level best to convince FINA that there is a "middle" ground - namely the one suggested by Lefty - form factor regulated, but material not. They could do this by trying to meet the FINA rules head on and not try to circumvent them at all, while still throwing in as many material innovations as the rules allow. This lets FINA not lose face and not feel threatened as the regulating body. At the same time, it opens the way for a dialog about why suit innovation is desirable (and non-threatening) and allows the suit companies to continue production of new (and more expensive) suits. For a suit manufacturer, this new technology is critical to revenue growth since there is only so much you can do with lycra and polyester and you can't count on massive growth in the number of participants as your revenue increase mechanism.
That said, B70 is being clever here. They "get" that open water swimming is a relatively untapped market -and a growing market - and that they have expertise from their wetsuits that cross-markets pretty well. Doubly true in that the open water market is much less regulated WRT to suits, both at the FINA level and at all the other levels where FINA has no jurisdiction. If Speedo, Tyr, etc stay solely focused on the fight over pool suits, B70 will stake a large claim to the OW market before the others wake up to what is going on there.
Fascinating, really.
-LBJ
