FINA will take as long as two months to define what the definition of a textile is for suit manufacturers!

FINA posted these suit guidelines some time ago and I am only getting to it now:

MATERIAL – The material of the swimsuits will definitively be constituted only by textile fabric(s). The definition of “textile” will be made by a group of scientific experts chosen by FINA and led by Prof. Jan-Anders Manson, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne (SUI). This definition will be available to manufacturers by no later than September 30, 2009. The first definition of “textile” to be further confirmed by this group is: “Material consisting of, natural and/or synthetic, individual and non consolidated yarns used to constitute a fabric by weaving, knitting, and/or braiding.”

SHAPE – For men, the swimsuit shall not extend above the navel nor below the knee, and for women, shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor extend below knee. Furthermore, no zippers or other fastening system is allowed.

TESTS – Only measurable scientific tests will be performed within the frame of the swimwear approval procedure. For thickness, the 1mm limit will be adjusted to 0.8mm, for buoyancy the present value of 1 Newton will be reduced to 0.5 (FINA will even consider the limit of 0 Newton), and for permeability the material(s) used must have at any point a value of more than 80l/m2/second. Permeability values are measured on material with a standard multi directional stretch of 25%. These parameters will be further considered by the above mentioned scientific group.

The above test is conducted by blowing air through the speedsuit material that is stretched; Lycra allows 100s of liters of air to pass through; I am uncertain about other materials.

The suit shape favors the women more than the men. Any mens world records set today will last for at least a generation or more. Janet Evans WR in the 400 stood for 19 years. Laure Manaudou took it out wearing a speedsuit. It would have lasted another 10-years at least if Manaudou had to wear the same garment Evans wore.

I suspect FINA will simply throw out the current world records and pretend they never happened once interest in swimming degrades. I do suspect it will.

I don't mean to be cynical but here is how I arrived at my opinion: Do we really believe that more than 2 or 3 players will survive these change of events?

With fewer suit players selling $30 swimsuits with a profit margin of say $10, will any of these players have the money to pay 7-figure incomes to athletes?

Solutions: I am liking this talk of a pro-league. For instance: Who does the US Olympic Committee go to when they want to select a basketball team? They go to the NBA! I don't think USA Swimming would like that very much and I don't think FINA would like it when the IOC came to an international pro-league and asked them for new and innovative ways to conduct a race.

The suit manufacturers should consider putting up $200,000 each and run a pro event the same day FINA SCM Championships are going off.