US, Australians disappointed by FINA ruling to approve banned swimsuits

US, Aussies disappointed by FINA’s suit ruling

World swimming superpowers the United States and Australia have expressed mutual disappointment at FINA’s decision to approve modified versions of swimsuits that were initially rejected for competition.

“We are highly disappointed by the FINA ruling released Monday, but in order to keep USA Swimming’s rules in compliance with those of the international governing body, we will immediately adopt the revised list of approved swimsuits,” USA Swimming president Jim Wood said Tuesday.

“Moving forward, we encourage FINA to carefully examine this matter in order to ensure the best possible future for our sport.”

FINA said Monday that it has approved more than 100 additional models for next month’s world championships in Rome. The sport’s world governing body said the manufacturers have changed their suits to ensure that they do not create “air trapping” effects to artificially enhance speed and help with buoyancy.

It said the evidence of how air trapping helps performances was complex, and that it would take time to develop controlling and testing methods for each swimsuit. It will continue to assess swimsuits as they evolve and issue new rules regarding acceptable criteria for 2010.

Wood said USA Swimming would continue to push for stricter restrictions on swimsuit technology.

Alan Thompson, the Australian national coach, was a member of the swimsuit approval committee that met in Lausanne, Switzerland, in May and again last week. He called the decision a step back from what was first announced.

“It’s disappointing because I felt we had made considerable progress on this issue when we first met in May and we were looking to move forward and get back to talking about athletes and not equipment,” Thompson said.

“In the last three weeks we’ve had a number of meets in Europe and the U.S. and everyone has been talking about swimming again, but now everyone is talking about swimsuits and taking the focus of what is really important in our sport, and that’s athletic performance.”

To promote a level playing field in Rome, FINA said all manufacturers need to make all suits available ahead of the world championships in July. FINA’s latest decision makes more than 300 suits approved for the world meet.