New Jersey Swimming announced in a tweet this morning that its House of Delegates voted today to ban tech suit use for swimmers ages 12 & under.
UPDATE: NJS House of Delegates just banned tech suits for all 12 and unders. Please see https://t.co/tHybtNmYLr for more information
— NJ Swimming (@NJswimming) October 7, 2017
A group of New Jersey coaches proposed the ban to Admin Vice-Chair Kip Hein and he drafted legislation while the group was at the USA Swimming Convention in September. The convention included a Coaches’ Forum on banning tech suits for age groupers, attended by both Hein and New Jersey Swimming Age Group Chair Pat Collins.
“I have always believed in the progressive, long-term development model for our sport,” Collins told SwimSwam. “I will not wade into the discussion about cost nor accessibility, but rather take this on from a philosophical standpoint. I believe this will best serve our younger athletes and give them something to look forward to and strive for when they are older.”
The LSC’s Technical Planning Committee met last week and voted to recommend the following legislation to the house. The legislation was proposed to the House of Delegates and passed. The official proposal is as follows:
NEW JERSEY SWIMMING AGE GROUP TECH SUIT RESTRICTION POLICY
1. Swimmers 12 years old and younger may not compete in a “Tech suit” (ie Bonded or mesh seamed suits) in a New Jersey Swimming, Inc. sanctioned or approved meets *Age is determined by the 1st day of the meet*
2. There is no “Tech” suit restriction for swimmers age 13 & over.
3. A “Tech Suit” is defined as a suit that has bonded seams, Kinetic Tape, or Meshed Seams, and or have the FINA approved tag verifying the suit. (The list of suits below are in this category, and a more comprehensive list will be posted online next week)
4. Rule Enforcement and Penalty: Swimmers that race in a restricted suit will be disqualified from that event. Swimmers who are wearing restricted suits will not be permitted to compete in said suit. However, they are able to change into an acceptable suit to swim. No extra time before their race will be given to change suits. If there is any question about a suit, it should be addressed to the meet referee prior to the start of the session.
5. Implementation for meets prior to the effective date of January 1, 2018 will be as follows; Swimmers in restricted suits will get a warning for the 1st event that is swum in a restricted suit, and both swimmer and coach will be notified. The swimmer will not be disqualified. For all events after this warning event in the meet-they must be in a non-restricted suit or they will be disqualified or not allowed to swim.
6. Coaches and Officials will be responsible for monitoring this Policy. Coaches need to educate their teams and be willing to speak up if they see a swimmer with a suit on at a meet. Officials should have the list of restricted suits available as a reference.
The final proposal will be posted on the New Jersey Swimming website this week.
Restricted Tech Suit List
- BLUE SEVENTY: NERO
- JAKED: J12 WATER ZERO, LIMITED EDITION J11 STEEL, J11 WATER ZERO, JKATANA, JKEEL, JRUSH
- SPEEDO: LZR X, LZR ELITE, LZR ELITE 2
- TYR: TRACER SERIES, AVICTOR, AVICTOR PRELUDE, AP12
- COMPRESSION NIKE SWIM NG
- ARENA: POWERSKIN OPEN BACK, ALL CARBON SERIES (AIR, PRO, ETC)
- DOLPHIN: TITANIUM
- AQUASPHERE MP EXPRESSO
- FINIS: VAPOR
- HUUB: FINA TECHNICAL
Non- RESTRICTED Tech Suit List: (classic hip cut or knee skin)
- SPEEDO: AQUABLADE (male & female), POWER PLUS (female), FASTSKIN 2/FSII (male & female), LZR PRO (male & female)
- ARENA: POWERSKIN ST (male & female), POWERSKIN XP
- TYR: FUSION 2, THRESHER
- DOLPHIN: GRAPHLITE SERIES, LTF PRO SERIES, PLATINUM 2PRO
New Jersey is the newest member of a growing movement within LSCs to ban tech suits in youth swimming, which already includes Southern California, Maine, New England, and Iowa, as well as Australia’s Swimming Victoria and the Brazilian Swimming Federation. USA Swimming has hired an outside consulting firm to determine whether a national policy should be implemented, with the report due in November.
My daughter is twelve years old and she is getting the non restricted tech suit and she loves it and it also gives her lots of confidence and mental strength
This sounds like an “official’s nightmare.” Most officials are volunteers. Now they have to regulate whether or not a swimmer should be disqualified for wearing a “restricted” tech suit, that is otherwise FINA approved and LEGAL!! This is ridiculous.
My child is 16 so it doesn’t affect us. However, this “ban” sounds like communism. If a suit is FINA approved, the swimmer should be allowed to wear it if their local club and coach approves of it. Tech suits don’t replace good technique and excellent preparation.
THIS IS GARBAGE
My top 10 order of importance in determining peak performance in 12 and unders. Suit material / construction is dead last.
technique
specificity of training
volume during practice
frequency of training
rest / taper leading up to meet
preferred time of event
rest preceding event
warmup routine 5-10 minutes prior to event
nutrition after last event / leading up to event
suit material / construction
Exactly! You make an excellent point Mike. Tech suits don’t swim by themselves. The swimmer has to be prepared.
I just wonder why this kind of actions(tech suit ban) spread in the US. In my country, Japan, there is no rule about swim suits for young age.
Too many rules now on the youth. Sooner or later you’ll want all under 12s to be in lifejackets 24/7.
12 yr old in a Sr event– restricted?
Meet Referee is in charge of enforcing and disqualifying the swimmer?
This is a great decision. Unless you’re an elite-level NAG threat under the age of 13, there is nothing you can gain from getting into the “tech suit cycle” that young. Leave the tech suits to older swimmers with more to gain from potential scholarships/representing Team USA.