Suits like this polyurethane model worn by Elizabeth Beisel, 16, at the world championships in Rome two weeks ago, will be restricted at high school competitions this season (Andrew Medichini, Associated Press).
Governing high school officials decided Tuesday to ban all non-textile, long-length swimsuits from high school competition immediately, saying they were acting to preserve the “integrity, tradition and heritage of the sport.”
The National Federation of State High School Associations’s board of directors deliberated for less than an hour Tuesday before approving the ban, which is subject to approval by each state association.
The suit prohibition, which also bans the wearing of more than one suit at a time, is likely to rankle swimmers and parents who already purchased high-tech suits — the latest models can cost upwards of $500 each — after relying on a May 28 memorandom from NFHS that said the organization did not have enough information to regulate the new swimsuits.
The NFHS was forced to take action, however, after the world swimming governing body (FINA), USA Swimming and the NCAA announced plans in late July to prohibit long-length non-textile suits, NFHS assistant director Becky Oakes said.
“By the end of July, a lot of developments had taken place,” Oakes said.
The Virginia High School League will update its rule book immediately, according to Tom Dolan, the VHSL assistant director for athletics who is no relation to the Olympic champion swimmer with the same name. Officials at the District of Columbia Public Schools and Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association could not be reached after business hours on Tuesday.
“We … will be strongly in favor of Virginia moving in this direction,” Dolan said. “This matches us up with USA Swimming and puts us in line with what they are doing.”
An NFHS swimming and diving rules committee that considered the issue last week recommended that the board ban all impermeable suits, but gave it the option of postponing restrictions on length until next year. The board, however, decided only neck-to-knee swimsuits would be allowed for females and waist-to-knee suits, known as “jammers,” for males in 2009-2010.
“I was perfectly fine with wearing a jammer,” said former Georgetown Prep star Brady Fox, who will swim at Virginia in the fall. “I think it will bring back a lot of the natural talent in the sport. All of the time jumps in the last few years have just been unreal.”
Added Fox, “there’s no way people won’t get upset. People went out and bought all of these suits.”
Oakes said the board was sensitive to the 17 or 18 states whose high school swimming seasons already are underway or about to get underway, but had even greater concerns about those with winter or spring seasons. Manufacturers, she said, indicated that they were drastically cutting back on the supply of long-length, high-tech suits in response to the various bans, raising the possibility that athletes might have trouble obtaining them in the coming months.
“Even though we knew there was going to be some inconvenience for some fall schools, to really make this work, we felt like the best course was, ‘Let’s do it now, let’s get it in place,’” Oakes said. “What happened with these suits … the advances in technology just fundamentally altered the sport of swimming. What was once a piece of wearing apparel … became more of a piece of equipment.”
The rule as adopted by the NFHS board of directors reads as follows:
Suits worn by swimmers shall be limited to the following requirements:
a. only one swimsuit shall be permitted in competition. (A swimmer with special needs may request customization through his/her school to the state association.)
b. the swimsuit shall be:
1. constructed of a woven/knit textile material;
2. permeable (100 percent to air and water);
3. made so as not to aid in buoyancy and shall not be altered to aid in buoyancy;
4. made with no zippers or other fastening system other than a waist tie for a brief or jammer and elastic material within the casing/ribbing in the terminal ends (straps, leg openings, and waist openings); and
5. constructed so that the style/shape of the suit for males shall not extend above the waist nor below the top of the kneecap and for females shall not extend beyond the shoulders nor below the top of the kneecap, nor cover the neck.
Penalty (For ART. 2): When an official discovers a competitor wearing an illegal swimsuit by the wearing of two suits or a suit which is of an illegal construction, the official shall:
1. when reporting prior to the start of the heat, notify the competitor to make legal the swimsuit before becoming eligible to compete. If the competitor cannot comply without delaying the start of the heat, the competitor is disqualified from that event and shall not be eligible for further competition until in a legal swimsuit;
2. when the competitor has stepped up on the starting platform but prior to the starting device being activated, direct the competitor to “Step down,” disqualify the competitor from that event and he/she shall not be eligible for further competition until in a legal swimsuit;
3. when the starting device has been activated, disqualify the competitor at the completion of the heat; nullify the competitor’s performance time and he/she shall not be eligible for further competition until in a legal swimsuit.
Rationale: Technical swimsuits were introduced to the world of swimming approximately two years ago. The advanced technology fundamentally altered the sport, and swimwear became more of a piece of equipment as opposed to a uniform. The rules of swimming have always prohibited the wearing or use of an item that would aid in the swimmer’s speed or buoyancy. The technical suits have evolved with little or no regard for these basic rules. In order to preserve the integrity, tradition and heritage of the sport, as well as protect and enhance the interscholastic swimming program, the new requirements and restrictions on swimwear are necessary to promote the educational values of high school athletics by promoting fair play. The immediate implementation date will guarantee fairness in competition throughout the high school swimming seasons and allow the meet officials to fairly and consistently enforce the rule.
Better late than never. Anybody want to buy a blueseventy, never been worn in the pool?
You should probably update the rationale for accuracy: Technical swimsuits were introduced to the world of swimming approximately twenty years ago.
do we know if this also applies to Arizona??
The ruling is by the National Federation. Each state association must decide whether to adopt the national rule, but it is fairly rare that a state would choose not to adopt a general rule like this.
The ruling is by the national federation. Each state association must decide for it self if it will adopt the rule, but it is rare that a state would decline to adopt a general rule like this.
What happen to January 1, 2010? Is USA swimming going to make an immediate ban, too? If so, a lot of people and distributors are going to eat a lot of money! No one can believe anything any governing bodies has to say….FINA, USA Swimming, NFHS…they’re all a joke. Between now and December 31st, 2009 what meets will allow the use of the hi tech suits?
Based on what is out there now, USA swimming meets until Jan. 1 are the only ones where the suits can be used. College and High School bans are effective for the 2009-2010 school year.
I’m one of the ones eating the money. We bought a suit two weeks ago when it looked like the NFHS was not going to rule this year. I think its for real – All American Aquatics has cut the price of blueseventy’s by $100 since last week.
USA swimmings board meets in September I beleive.I would not be surprised to see them follow in the NCAA’s footsteps and see a ban on the suits go into effect starting at the beginning of sc season, which would be immeadeatly. Its pretty pointless to wait until Jan.1st…swimmers need to get used to racing in real suits again
Once they started down the path of trying to use the suits to enhance performance, this was a train wreck waiting to happen. As my wise old dad once said, if you find yourself deep in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. The sooner the new rules are in place accross the board, the better.
To get back on topic a bit, the problem with what the NFHS did was that they issued a memo in the middle of this that made it appear that they were refusing to rule on the issue. Less than three months before school would be starting, they gave every indication that there would be no restrictions on suits this year. In that situation, those that had them would have a huge advantage this year. Those that didn’t have them needed to make a fast decision, and a big gamble: Buy a suit while you still could, or wait until later in the season and run the risk of being the only one without a chair when the music stopped. That memo and issuing the “final” rule changes really put parents in a box.
This is probably a really silly question, but I’ll ask anyway: Are the Speedo Fastskins considered “non-textile” suits? I fully understand that the LZR are non-textile suits but not sure about the Fastkins.
That is an excellent question. I think the assumption has been that the fastskin is OK, but there is no approved suit list, just a general definition. My kid’s fastskin pro feels like paper, not cloth. Is it 100% permiable to air and water? Not really sure how to test that. I know that some fabrics, if woven tightly enough will hold a lot of water for a long time. Also, what does “cover the neck” mean? How high up is “cover”. While the goal is right – to ban the suits – we are in for a period of trial and error, protests and counter protests, I think.
Men in jammers or briefs eliminates most of the opportunity there anyway. Short of an inflated bladder inside the suit, you just can’t get much benefit out of that little coverage. The women’s suits offer a much greater opportunity for mischief.
Thanks, Peter. That’s helpful.
My understanding is that the USA Swimming Senior Swimming Committee has recommended that the new FINA suit rules go in to effect October 1st for USA Swimming events. That will be voted on at the USAS convention in September.
Each manufacturer has been given the suit submission and testing requirements for suits to meet the new FINA rules. The first date for submission is September 1st. The second is in November. The High School and NCAA rules do not provide as much definition or any testing procedure to their policies, as FINA does. Whether or not those organizations will accept the FINA list of approved suits as sufficient to meet their definition of “textile” or permeability is yet to be determined or published.
Per FINA all suits are to be tested. All suits have differing permeability factors and construction. At this point a traditional polyester or lycra suit in the cut described by the governing body of the event you are participating would seem to be the safe way to go at least until the FINA list is out. Your coaches will need to find out what is acceptable for each HS federation or the NCAA.
As for the recent tech suits you still have: I have had talks with some very successful coaches out here at the US Open and Junior Nationals about the value of the most recent tech suits in training. Aerobic development, stroke development, recovery swims/workouts can all benefit from the use of the latest suits in training. Certainly not as an every day use, but similar to how other items are used periodically in training.
I believe there should be some recourse for compensation to those left with an unused hi tech suit. We’ve got one and due an injury, wasn’t able to use it this summer. Following all the news releases through May, June and July from FINA, it looked like we’d get some use out of it before the January 1, 2010 deadline. I agreed with the NCAA & NFHS ruling for the season that goes into next Spring. But if USA Swimming comes back in their September meeting to ban the suits prior to January 1, 2010 it would be in conflict with the FINA ruling plus it’ll leave alot of individuals and business to eat a lot of money. I know some local distributor is looking at bankruptcy. Right or wrong rather it be at home or in the business community, when a rule is made you stick by it.
Lets say USA Swimming bans the hi tech suits on Oct. 1……What will the USA Jr. National Team wear when they go to swim in the FINA World Cup Meets in Stckholm and Berlin in mid November? If they wear the suits they’re pushing the world to swim in, the Europeans will kick their butts all over the pool because they will still be in their hi tech suits.
They can ban the suits within our boundries to start.But yes, if they didnt wear the suits we would get our buts kicked in all probablility unleess you could get the other contries to agree which is possable.The suits and the records that come with them are a joke
Susan B ; your recourse = you or yours train harder and earn the times without the super suit. That or perhaps Obamanation will start using stimulus money to rebate the poor folks who paid $300+ for a suit they can’t use…gimme a break.
Can’t anyone be responsible for themselves, take ownership of anything, and just move on anymore? Do we all need to be compensated for everything?
If you’re talking about “ownership”, FINA changed the legal suits three times in less than 90 days plus now USA Swimming is making their changes on top of FINA. For two years USA Swimming supported the use of the LZR. They provided them to their Junior National Team members at their competitions. Never heard anyone from USA Swimming wanting to ban the suits. If they did, they kept it to themselves. At the start of the World Championships, USA Swimming pushed FINA into the current ban without even letting the USA swimmers know that their were going for a complete ban. If so, we could have gotten rid of the suits to the people going to Rome.
Problem here is that FINA & USA Swimming kept changing the rules in May, June and July. Now September is coming. How would you like your tax codes changing that often?
By the way, our swimmer qualified in 5 events at the Omaha Olympic Trials swimming in a “Knee Fastskin Pro”. If I understand the ban, that suit is still legal Penguin.
USA Swimming may need some stimlus money with all the manufactures going out of bussiness. With the reduction of money coming in from the suit makers, USA Swimming will end up rasing the fee to operate. People have to realize, the high cost of the suits were built in to pay the Millions of $$$ to Phelps and others. I’ll bet Speedo (WRC.N) made very little off the LZR. The next suits that come out will probably be $250 or more. The manufactures are going to have to make up the loss
Susan B., why would anyone compensate swimmers who ran out and bought suits good for 3 swims? Who will compensate all the swimmers who were knocked out of finals or had their state, district, or local records knocked down by people in full body flotation device suits if they didn”t wear them or couldn’t afford them????? Will you compensate them for their hotel and swim fees? How will you compensate the swimmers who paid to travel to large meets only be bumped out of finals by hudredths of a second by someone in a a full body Blueseventy while they wore an Aquablade? Who will compensate swimmers who didn’t make cuts for meets because others in full body tech suits took their spots? Who will compensate the world record setters who worked all their lives to set those records and then had them shattered by swimmers in technology enhanced suits who would probably never have qualified for those meets without the suits? Who will compensate the really gifted swimmers who have set records but whose records and times will always be tainted by questions of their suit’s role? Travel to a large meet costs much more than a suit, and when the swimmers lose spots or medals or chances at finals, how do you calculate the damage and loss to the swimmer and their family? What about swimmers who got spots on college teams due to times enhanced by the suits? While others didn’t? As Penguin said, everyone lost in this fiasco, and the best path is to move away as quickly as possible and rebuild. Let’s not taint another short course season with this. Hopefully suit manufacturers will be able to go back to creating the coolest and fastest suits they can with only textiles – suits that enhance spirit and not actual speed.
Susan B.
You bought a suit your swimmer was unable to use because of illness/injury this past summer. Who is to say your swimmer wont get mono or something else sc season and will be unable to use the suit. Its a risk you take when you buy it..If you want a refund, take it up with the distributer..
It sounds more like you have a swimmer that wants to hit faster times and was unable to get a chance this summer.
Relax, everyone will be in the same suit and college coaches are well aware of what the suits do and who swims in them.
And I wouldnt worry to much about Speedo..I am sure they will get the NASA engineers to help them develop a new “legal” suit
The bodysuit has been around since the year 2000. It took the governing bodies 9 years to determine the suit was no good for the sport? Makes one wonder what idiot is in charge. When governing bodies make rules one expect them follow them, not come back and change it several weeks later and a few weeks after that. The money is no problem with me. Its the principal. Make a rule and stick by it.
A.T., most LSC reimburse travel, hotel, food cost and swimsuit cost when going to an National or Junior National meet. If your LSC doesn’t, its your lost. The difference between a Fastskin Pro an LZR bodysuit is the cost is a dinner for 4 at a nice restaurant. If you’re computing cost and fairness, a lot of top swimmers and junior swimmers are moving across the country to get the training they want. I can easily list 20 that have. Should they be banned for that because they have the money. Fairness comes in a lot of “colors”. Next complaint we’ll hear of those who moved to these club as being unfair because their getting better coaching and better facilities. Coaches of these clubs will not complain because its more money into their pocket for getting the Toyota “Gold Medal” award and swimming fees. Also, the local high schools benefit from these swimmers that have money to move and enhance their swimming at a top level club. The local high school swimmers in the area get their “butts” kicked. The high school coach gets National recognition as being a “top notch” coach when he actually did nothing earn that award. It was the club coach who really did the job. Is that fair? There are a lot of hypocrites in our ranks. As long as it benefit them, no problem. And who benefits, a few coaches that have been in control for the last 9 years. When they started losing their importance in the sport, they fought back with a strict ban that takes the sport back to the 1990′s era. Hearing those coaches talk, I came under the impression that they were upset because bad coaches and bad swimmers now had become good swimmers without going through the required hard work. Where does it hurt those coaches? Their wallet. Its all about $$$$. Now any swimmer wanting to enhance their competitive swimming skills will move to a club that has a top rated coach and program. Now who is benefiting financially?
You mean like Dagny Knutson?..
Get a grip, so 20 swimmers have crazy parents that will uproot their families so their kid can be the next star..I dont know who your group of friends is but mine all think its nuts too, but you choose to call it an advantage? Get your priorities straight.
I would argue talent rises..Biesel ,Ziegler the Crippens and the hundreds who achieved great success by staying in their back yard. I would imagine Lee would have swum just as well had she not moved and would still get into the college of her choice.Not all great swimmers come from NBAC, not all great swimmers go to UT or get better once they are their. They start out with talented kids, probably a higher percentage then other teams then add great coaching but their are great coaches everywheret to go with talent.
As far as the suit, yes long suits have been around since 2000 but not LZR that retails for 550 (mens body) and only last 4 or 5 swims (thats if the zipper doesnt break).
Of course that creates an economic disadvantage. Thats 200 more then the fs pro body and 400 more then fspro jammers..The suits are banned because they create an unfair advantage on several fronts, just one being economic another being performance. Their is a great article by John Leonard that talks about the suits and their economic impact not just on club swimmers but college and high school too.Here is a link..it is on the american swim coaching website…..http://www.swimmingcoach.org/
Scroll down until you find it
I’ve read the article and not all his facts are correct. And, Dagny stayed home at the same high school unless she recently moved. You guys were talking about “fairness” and having a LZR is an economy advantage and an advantage in the water so is moving from state to state. But FINA & USA Swimming have no control over that. If the money keeps coming in, everyone is happy. As for the life of the LZR, we’ve had at least 20 swims out each of the LZR over the last 2 years. The secret is, taking care of the suit. We have suits 16 months old and still have a excellent tight fit. Some swimmers try and get into a suit that is 2 or 3 times smaller than the recommend. Who is the blame for ripping that suit? We took all the body measurements and if they were slightly out, we went down like a 26L to a 26 for example and still had good results. If those that were ripping their suits are only blame for not following manufacture’s guidelines. And, the girls need to cut their fingernails….Our swimmer will do well in any suit. Oh, we’re still at the same high school. We love the area.
Its ridiculous to try and compare the economics of moving state to stae and buying a suit..Most parents ,fortunatly are not obsessed enough to disrupte their family’s life to move..I dont see that as a mater of economics, I see it as a mental haelth issue..
Ansd I think you missed the point when I brought up Dagneys name..yes, she is at home in ND swimming in an outdoor pool with her parents car lights aimed at it so she could see.Much like Ian Crocker and countless others, despite not having world class coaching or facilitities she has thrived because of her talent and drive, i.e you dont need to move to succeed.
You say your daughter has a lzr..would you actually feel good about her winning and getting a record if she out touched a girl in a regular suit..or would you be a parent that said “oh the suit didnt make a difference” or how about if your daughter showed up and the other 7 swimmers had on Jaked’s or Arena’s and your daughter came in last..would it be the suit?
As far as the suit lasting, I was on deck at trials last year when PVK had to switch to a pro beause the lzr zipper broke. I watched the Olympics and saw Dara hold up the meet so a nother swimmer could change..same story many times at ncaa’s at nationals and at the open.Twenty times? that has got to be a record..The good news is, your swimmer got their LZR’d times in, now you can retire the suit and it will truly be who the better swimmer is..No more high school kids in lzr’s and thank God we dont have to watch another summer league all star meet with kids wearing 500 dollar suits (nvsl had a 9 year old in a blue seventy and a girl in a Jaked)
Yep, I was at the Trials as well “on deck”. If the competition was going to be in a Jaked, Arena or LZR or a one piece drag suit, no problem. Our swimmer has something for whatever the competition is. Cavman, you act like the swimming in an LZR is the “End of the World” and the who swam in it were “cheats”. The competition was a level playing field. For economics, the parents should start pushing to reduce the clubs to reduce their monthly fees. If paying $425 for an LZR is unjust, then the $2000 – $3000 annual fees to the clubs are unjust for many families as well. Most high school and club coaches are over paid and over rated. Also, if one’s swimsuit was torn prior to a race the race should have gone on. Did anyone stop races prior to 2008 if there was a swimsuit issue? I’m fan of the LZR, but not the polyurethane suits.
Forgot, now we’ll be buying one swimsuit for high school / college and another swimsuit for USA Swimming / Fina. Two sets of rules, two suits and double the money. So much for saving money. What does one expect from a bunch of idiots…I know what you’all will say. Buy one for NFSHS rules and use it for both. Yep, we’re back at the same thing of which suit is better. What will everyone being wearing at the meets following the FINA rules. Well, the swimmers doesn’t want to be in a low perforamce suit…Back to the suit issue again. What bunch screw ball idiots we have running the NFSHS & NCAA. Ya, you’ve got a college education 1+ 1 = 1
I applaude the NCAA and the NFSHS for doing whats best for the athletes and following in the NCAA’s footsteps. They simply adopted the FINA/USA swimming rules 3 months earlier then the Jan.1st deadline. The good news for you is that if your swimmer decides to swim for a college you wont have to worry about suits anymore because the school will take care if it. Also, not sure why you will need different suits this year anyway. Once USA swimming adopts the FINA guidelines which may be as early as this fall, the suit guidelines will be the same .Even if they wait until Jan 1, the guidelines will still be the same so come time for NCAA’s, high school champs USA swimming spring champs and the 2 grand prix meents in late winter..everyone will be on the same page.Unless your swimmer is going to Short course worlds (in which case they can wear one of their 20+ wears LZR’s) their is no problem for you.
I wouldnt worry too much about the fall anyway, if your swimmer is a senior they will be too busy figuring out what college to go to and if they are not everyone by the spring and summer will be on a level playing field.
mclean, explain you comment….”Unless your swimmer is going to Short course worlds (in which case they can wear one of their 20+ wears LZR’s) their is no problem for you.”
Lets all take a look at this: Some of the local age group swimmers swim in the FS Pro and FSII both legal suits and probably swim faster than most senor or college kids. High Tech suits should be banned and swimmers shouldn’t feel the need to put on a flotation device to drop time. It should come down to hard work and dedication. And if you went out and spent $400 a one of these suits, you really didn’t have a lot of confidence in your swimming otherwise you wouldn’t have bothered..
Susan B. I have a hard time figuring out why you are upset the suits are banned.Is it purely because you lost money like the rest of us who bought the suit against our better judgment?
I believe what was meant was you dont need to buy two suits, that the rules are going to be the same very soon. And if you do find a meet where you can where a tech suit, you can where one you all ready have.I think you said yours lasted 20 wears.
As you have previously stated, your swimmer qualified for 5 events at OT’s ( thats more then anyone else in pvs) and they did so in a fs pro..so you should not be complaining about suits, your child will obviously get the school of their choice with those 5 OT cuts and will do great with out the suits this year.Actually, it should be a relief to you that they dont allow them anymore and that only talent and hard work will get results.
You know, I wonder if they will still be allowed at summer league next year.
Cavman: Your statements (“only talent and hard work will get results”) basically says everyone wearing one of the hi tech has no talent and lays around on the sofa watching tv and eating “bom-boms and playing video games hour after hour. Then they showed up at the pool and set records that they don’t deserve. Thats a joke! Your statement is an insult to a lot of swimmers. 99.9% of those swimmers will still kick your swimmers “butt”. Our swimmer does 4 morning workouts, 5 afternoon workouts, 3 – 1hr session with PT(core & strecthing) & 4 hrs dryland a week. Thats 25 hours a week and the swimmer loves the physical aspects of feeling good and healthy. Some play video games, our swimmer loves working out. If you weren’t good in a hi tech you’ll still be a “Loser” in a lo tech suit. The times are all “relative”. Of course swimmer with the hi tech suits will beat the records. Three years down the road, WR setting would be back to normal pace. The suit doesn’t swim for you, you still need the stroke, technique and power.
So wait does the FS Pro, II and like I all qualifiy as “high-tech” suits?
Good Question?
I look at some online documents on swimsuit material. From what I gather, the material in the Pro & FS II was developed for the Seoul Olympics. I read another article about the VP of Marketing for Speedo saying the rule changes take the sport back to 1996. I guess one could say everything for the last 13 years really doesn’t count if FINA is going back to the swimsuit material used in 1996. So what records really do count?? I guess we’ll what happens..
What “textile” is deemed legal then?
listern to this bull about banning long suits??
okay i am an owner of a fastskin pro and my best friend has a LZR we would race in our swim suits and i would win, we both train with the same coach and do the same workout at the same pace, she never holds back and i never hold, it doesnt matter the swim suit its the person wearing it!
k, morgan, u might just bve a faster swimmer..
but thats the thing, i stopped swimming in the summer while she continued…..so personally i think there is no way that a swimsuit can help, it may a little bit but in the end its the person who works harder.
Yush I agree with MoRGAn its bullshit taht they are bannning the good suits