Shouts From The Stands: Is The Ban On Kneeskins For 12-and-Under Girls Unfair?

SwimSwam welcomes reader submissions about all topics aquatic, and if it’s well-written and well-thought, we might just post it under our “Shouts from the Stands” series. We don’t necessarily endorse the content of the Shouts from the Stands posts, and the opinions remain those of their authors. If you have thoughts to share, please send them to [email protected].

This “Shouts from the Stands” submission comes from Anastasia Orlic, a high school swimmer from Washington, D.C.

I am a high school swimmer, and in the world of competitive swimming where every second — or really, every hundredth of a second — counts. For many young female swimmers, speed and efficiency in the water often begins at a young age, especially when compared to their male teammates. If you look at times for 12-and-under swimmers, you’ll find that the girls are frequently faster than the boys. However, as they get older and go through puberty, that changes drastically.

In 2020, USA Swimming banned certain technical suits for 12-and-under swimmers. Technical suits, or “kneeskins” as the female version of these suits are called, offer swimmers compression and other hydrodynamic advantages. These enable you to move through the water with reduced drag. Although not all types of technical suits were banned, those made out of certain types of material such as spandex and nylon, enhance performance and are no longer allowed. The main objective for this ban was to lower the cost of participating in the sport since families often felt pressured to “keep up” by buying these expensive suits for their young swimmers. Suits that are allowed for 12-and-under swimmers cost around $100-$200, while the performance-enhancing suits that are not allowed start at about $600. Although this sounds like a noble goal, it appears that USA Swimming did not consider that, for many young swimmers, kneeskins represent more than just a competitive edge, but allow for peak confidence and can make swimmers excited to race at a meet. More importantly, USA Swimming seems to have given little to no consideration to the fact that these new regulations disadvantage 12-and-under girl swimmers much more than their male counterparts because boys and girls progress through this sport differently.

The number of young girls and boys who participate in competitive swimming is relatively equal, but there is a shift in middle school as puberty tends to affect the two groups differently. As boys get bigger and stronger, they almost always swim faster. This sustained progress incentivizes boys to swim through high school and sometimes beyond. Thus, a rule about the type of suit boy swimmers can wear at 12 will have little impact in the long run since boys hit their stride later. For girls, however, the story is often different as puberty does not bring increased muscle mass but instead causes body changes that can make them slower (e.g., wider hips, increased fat mass, breasts, etc.). These physical changes sometimes lead to frustration and discouragement because it is hard to continue dropping time, and this results in many girls quitting.

By banning kneeskins for younger girls, USA Swimming may exacerbate this problem. Girls at this age often need the compression and other advantages provided by tech suits. As their bodies change and they watch the boys begin to speed past them, the physical and psychological advantages provided by kneeskins may be just what girls need to get over the hump and keep swimming. Unfortunately, USA Swimming didn’t seem to consider these differences between girls and boys when adopting the ban. I can’t help but wonder what things would look like if the situation were reversed? If it were the men that had longer swim times because of their bodies. If I dare answer, I would say that the ban on certain tech suits for 12-and-under swimmers may have never happened in the first place. It’s time to rethink this unfair policy and work toward a solution that is more supportive and understanding of the unique challenges faced by female swimmers if we want them to continue in the sport.

ABOUT ANASTASIA ORLIC

Anastasia Orlic lives in Washington, DC and is in 10th grade at the Maret School. She has been a competitive swimmer for 10 years, and swims both for her school and Nation’s Capital Swim Club.