Amy Shipley of the Washington Post has a swim blog called ReachForTheWall.com and I promise you I will be checking it often.
The blog has a lot of smart content and even today; when most swim news sites and blogs had very little to talk about, she broke this story regarding FINA who may compromise and flip-flop once again on tech-suits.
From Reach For The Wall:Just weeks after adopting new rules designed to end the controversy over high-tech, full-body suits, the world swimming governing body (FINA) is having second thoughts and considering tinkering with its swimwear regulations as early as January, several U.S and international officials said.
Since FINA decided in late July to allow only waist-to-knee textile suits for men and neck-to-knee textile suits for women, the governing body has been under pressure to make men’s and women’s swimsuits equal in size, the officials said.
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Her content is smart and timely, and I am going to add Reach For The Wall in my links column. Visit it often!
8 comments:
The linked article notes that the "pressure" to change to full body suits for the men has come from the U.K. and Australia federations - apparently because sponsors' names aren't easily distinguishable on men's briefs. The article's comments are overwhelmingly negative. A couple of examples:
"I competed in FINA swimming events last month (Aug. 2009) at the World Police & Fire Games, in Vancouver, BC. There were 65 sports being contested among athletes from all over the world. Of all the sports’ Governing Bodies overseeing these 10-days of competition, FINA was the one deemed to be “least in touch and most out of control” according to a random survey of athletes.
"Ahhh FINA… they have no idea what they are doing. Who is more important? sponsors, swimmers, sponsors, swimmers? So sad. Swimmers of the world unite and start your own governing body, by swimmers, and for the swimmers."
But I love this exchange:
"Tony says:
September 1, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Hell, Yeah! The sport will continue to grow!"
"Coach Erik says:
September 2, 2009 at 11:40 am
It is terrible when the only words to describe this ordeal are seen as profane in the eyes of many.
Equal coverage? When the world and FINA agrees that it is inappropriate for people to see mens’ nipples and pecs, then we should have equal coverage. Until that happens, girls get girls’ suits and boys get boys’ suits.
Way to go FINA, make swimming and yourself the laughing stock of Sport Governing Bodies around the globe.
Tony? hell, no? It is a sport of mastery not a sport of mastercard."
It all makes for very interesting reading. I, for one, have to agree with Joeri who wrote:
"Unbelievable, if true. However, this article doesn’t really provide any facts supporting the idea that FINA might want to change the rules again. It only proves that some (UK/AUS) people are not happy with the new rules. Let’s hope that FINA can withstand some pressure."
Erik has more tech suits than I do. :-P
Great new article from Shipley about the USA Swimming membership growth (especially among young males) in the aftermath of Phelps' feats in '08. I think that's a legacy he should be as proud of as medals/WRs.
http://reachforthewall.com/2009/09/02/phelpss-golden-games-spurs-member-increase/
When you're gunning for world records legal techsuits obviously become necessary - but if you have as much talent as I do the advantages become a lot less relevant. To be frank, in addition to my own negative feelings about techno doping, I'd be embarrassed to compete in a few hundred dollars worth of suit, certain that most watching would see my posted time and think "who's he kidding?" I have body and talent issues enough without the additional ridicule.
Why don't you try one? You might like it; it's not like it is crack or anything an you can pick one up for about $60 or less now.
Reach For The Wall has some stellar content, and it reads like newspaper articles. Very professional. It's described as an online product of the Washington Post. I wonder what kind of journalistic resources they have access to.
Under a $100 for a techsuit? Amazing! If I swam open water races I'd be stocking up big time - but I don't so I'm not. I like swimming masters because it provides a fair test of my physical progress and feel that throwing on a speedsuit would upset the calculations. Let the chips fall where they may. To me the beauty of swimming is that technique plays such an important role that I will continue to improve for some time despite my age. That's extremely appealing. Besides which, having a certain amount of self-conceit, I don't want to share the coming credit with anything or anybody other than my coach.
I read Reach for the Wall daily. The articles are cool, but there is also a good link compilation on the right bar that points you to other interesting articles.
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