CBS Sports National Columnist, Gregg Doyel, tears into both FINA and Speedo!

First the bloggers, now the press is pointing fingers at Speedo! I guess I am not crazy.

Speedo should really do that interview for us and clarify how they do business. From CBS Sports:

"...Socialism is at work because FINA, the swimming governing body, has bowed to the sponsors who control swimming. Not contribute to swimming. Control it. Some of the equipment companies that make the biggest contributions to swimmers in particular and the sport at large, like Speedo, have had their trunks pulled down by lesser-known companies like Arena and Jaked. The irony is beautiful in that Speedo started this revolution, introducing the LZR that dominated at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but now Speedo has been passed like its swimmers are wearing concrete flippers. And Speedo doesn't like it. Breaks my heart.

[...]

"... You can almost see Schubert's lower lip quiver. The United States might not have swum as well as usual in Rome, but we pouted our asses off. Bob Bowman, Phelps' coach, threatened to withdraw his swimmer from future international events if the swimsuit controversy wasn't addressed, which is hilarious given -- again -- that Phelps' revolutionary (at the time) LZR swimsuit in Beijing helped him win eight medals and set seven world records. ..."

[Link]

Gregg Doyel does make an error thinking Nike is still in the swimsuit business but overall his arguments are well stated.

'USA Swimming' to 12-year-olds: "You're too young to wear a speedsuit!"

Amy Shipley in The Washington Post writes: "...USA Swimming's Club Development Director Pat Hogan said delegates were concerned that the pricey suits, which can cost as much as $500, would drive promising youngsters who couldn't afford them out of the sport and possibly deter proper stroke development. ..."

"We're in a position where we want to grow participation in our sport," Hogan said. "We don't need to have false barriers to participation. The cost of those high-tech swim suits, for a young swimmer, doesn't really make sense."

Added Hogan: "We've helped protect and create a level playing field in 12-and-under competition where truly the type of suit you wear doesn't make a difference. ..." [Link]

In my opinion the first paragraph doesn't wash; the one where he says, "...deter proper stroke development." You wear a speedsuit at a race not in practice because they are fragile. By then you should have a proper technique and know what how to swim.

The next paragraph translates to me as speedsuits don't make sense due to the high cost and negligible result. (Did I read that wrong?) However a sudden reversal takes place in the next paragraph whereas "tech-doping" becomes a very real concern and they have to level the playing field!

TYR, blueseventy, Arena, and I wish I could say Nike but they just threw up their hands and said, "we're so outta here!," are going to suffer as a result of this ban. USA Swimming wanted to ban speedsuits up to age of 18 but realized US Swimmers could lose in international events if not allowed to wear one! Well, is that an endorsement that suits are "tech-dope" or what?!

Consequently the aforementioned manufacturers just got their speedsuit incomes drastically cut; probably by more than 50%. The only manufacturer that can absorb that loss is Speedo, the one company that has exclusive deals; (PLURAL) with USAS! I so can't wait for that TYR lawsuit to go to trial!

Here is a statistic from: The SportsOneSource Group: "... Said Nike was a distant third in the $US200 million ($240.3m) performance swimwear marketplace - which encompasses consumer swim goods for exercise rather than leisure. Speedo holds roughly 60 per cent of the market share, TYR comes in second at 20 per cent and Nike is third at 13 per cent. ..." [Sydney Morning Herald Link]

Where is blueseventy or Arena on this food-chain? Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, once said of Netscape: "We're going to cut off their air supply." I see that happening here.

'NIKE' pulls out of swimwear battle! - This is why the Speedo/USA Swimming monopoly accusations may be credible!

CNBC: ...In a somewhat surprising move, Nike has pulled out of the Olympic swimwear market

Sources told CNBC that, last week, officials with the world's largest shoe and apparel maker told college swim coaches who they have contracts with, that the company would no longer be developing the latest and greatest for championship swimmers. Those suits, for obvious reasons, are used by swimmers at the majority of top programs whose coaches have a Nike contract. ..." [Link]

Nike is done with us and we came so close to having their marketing muscle popularize our sport! As a painful result, Nike swimmers are now unemployed and that includes Olympic hero, Jason Lezak, whose friends are going to hold a fund raiser for him so that he can continue to swim for us and represent the United States in the 2009 FINA World Championships of Swimming in Rome: [Link]

I am setting up a donation button for him soon thanks to Paul Carter and Club Assistant.

Rant: I predicted that the covert product placement by Speedo within the USA Swimming ranks could have some swimsuit manufacturers just quitting and leaving the speedsuit market altogether; I didn't think it would be Nike.

For instance: USA Swimming Olympic Team Coach, Mark Shubert, who is also an employee of Speedo, is categorically quoted in a TYR lawsuit brief on page 8 - Line 6, stating that the Speedo LZR would give a swimmer a "2% advantage" over any other suit. He provided no documentation to verify his claim and the next paragraph contains another gem: "I would strongly advise them to wear the [LZR] at trials or they may end up at home watching it on NBC. ..."

Here is the legal brief that TYR filed with all the quotes therein: [Link]

For USA Swimming to allow this statement to be made despite documented suit malfunctions, and no documentation to verify the "2% faster claim," they essentially told the global market that USA Swimming endorses only the Speedo LZR. (Also note that Speedo is the only suit manufacturer allowed to advertise with USA Swimming properties which include both their magazine and website.)

In my opinion the consequences are as follows: a bunch of NIKE swimmers just lost their jobs as a result of this covert product placement for the LZR and the ramifications may ripple.

So, has Speedo and USA Swimming poisoned the marketing waters for every other speedsuit manufacturer by getting a National Governing Body with the weight of the USA behind it to endorse the LZR? A jury will decide and Speedo better hope I don't get picked as a member of that jury.

Regarding the rumor that 'Nike' is interested in 'blueseventy.'

There is this rumor floating around at Olympic trials that Nike is interested in blueseventy - it centers around the fact that a friendly dinner took place between executives from both companies and that a Nike athlete or athletes[?] have worn their suit[s]. This friendly dinner has seemingly been construed as a deal. There is no more evidence than that.

Nike glamorizes urban decay within a swimming pool full of graffiti

UPDATE: A slightly longer version of the ad has replaced the original:

This looks like some forgotten aquatics center circa "a-long-time-ago" withering away into dust within some poor urban landscape. However, here comes Nike to transform it into a stage filled with trendy graffiti and well paid soccer players who will duel a computer generated stick figure to see who has the most 'skillz.'

Where, and what happened to this pool and why?

Nike Stick Pool II
Uploaded by nexusxm5

Ian Crocker has a website

The Gallery is my favorite part of his site since it features ads he has done for his sponsor, Speedo. In my opinion Speedo has become the Nike of Swim related print ads. They make swimming look as fun as it really is.

Here is a link to Ian Crocker's gallery page. Scroll down to the link that says ads. [link]