ABC News: 18-months and no world records in swimming!

Both Massimiliano Rosolino and Milord Cavic state the obvious. FINA raced back to the past with the outlawing of techsuits and suggest swimming is the worst for it. Rosolino constructive criticism seems to be workable and a solid economic option for swimmers at large.:

From ABC News:

"... I think it would have been better to go back 15 months, not 10 years," said Italian swimmer Massimiliano Rosolino, who has won 60 medals in Olympics, worlds and European championships in a career spanning three decades.

Cavic and Rosolino are not the only ones who point out that men's swimming has taken a 10-year step backward.

[...]

Making men's suits cover the chests would also appease manufacturers, who are upset that they can no longer display their logos on men's chests.

Less brand-visibility, they say, means less success for the companies that support swimming the most.

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You come away from the article with the feeling that FINA World Championships will be summarily off the radar this month.

Now, ABC mentions that FINA is going to revisit the techsuit question in 2013. which is coincidentally when Michael Phelps' contract with Speedo is complete and Phelps will go lazily into retirement.

Though Wounded, Phelps has proven that he is still big than USA Swimming or FINA itself. He is their movie star, the guy who draws in the cable deals. That was proven during the 2009 World Championships when after Phelps lost to Paul Biedermann, Bow Bob Bowman threatened their pocketbook directly if the "techsuit problem" was not addressed:

From ESPN:

"...We've lost all the history of the sport. Does a 10-year-old boy in Baltimore want to break Paul Biedermann's record?" Bob Bowman said after the race. "The sport is in shambles right now and they better do something or they're going to lose their guy who fills these suits. ..."

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FINA and the national governing bodies went on to accommodate both Phelps and Bowman but United States Masters Swimming (USMS) delayed appeasing FINA for a few months allowing techsuits to be used in short course yards racing for just one more season. Since then, membership numbers have fallen circa 2011