The national movement in the United States to limit the abilities of young swimmers to wear expensive technical racing suits that run into the hundreds-of-dollars has picked up steam. So much so, that USA Swimming has even hired an outside consulting firm to review policies and help them decide if a national policy needs to be put in place.
So far, LSCs that have made public announcements include Southern California Swimming, Maine Swimming, and Arkansas Swimming – along with Swimming Victoria in Australia. Swimming Victoria wound up tweaking their policy in the months after it was first announced, trying to clarify what suits were and were not allowed and for which swimmers.
Last month, we checked in with Southern California Swimming‘s Executive Director Kim O’Shea to feel out how the new rules have proceeded in her area – one of thee first to outlaw them for young swimmers (10 & unders all the time in this case, and 12 && unders except in high-level competitions) in the United States.
O’Shea said that the rule, which was voted in at the 2016 SCS House of Delegates meeting, had “huge support” in the area. While O’Shea was overall positive and remained committed to the ban, she did say there were some lessons learned.
“The challenge of the new rule was making sure everyone (coaches, parents, swimmers, officials) understood the January 1, 2017 start date,” O’Shea said. “A few complained of the short notice, and there have been a few disqualifications.
“Hindsight is always 20/20. We should have had more information out to our officials on January 1, explaining the difference in the seams (bonded/kinetic v. stitched). We are looking for options on how to make this a more simple identification process, without further burdening our officiating crew.”
When FINA instituted its own suit ban, while the rules they included are quite technical, they created an approval program where any approved suit could have a special FINA logo stamped on it, and thus make the job of identifying legal suits simple for coaches, athletes, and officials. While a national rule might be able to prompt a similar system, such a system is not feasible with only a handful of LSCs having instituted these rules.
O’Shea says that while the big-picture philosophy behind the change remains in-tact, the details of the philosophy, and how that translates to the exact measures of the new rule, are still being had. “There are current philosophical discussions on everything from suit materials to which ages to include in the restrictions.”
As for whether or not they’d consider expanding the rules to encompass more athletes, O’Shea said there are differing opinions, and that right now, they’re still gathering more information and weighing input.
“We have some coaches and athlete reps who are purists…they’d love to see all 12 & Unders only in lycra or nylon suits, improving through the developmental progression of their stroke mechanics and training methods as they mature physically. It’s only discussion at this time. As we continue to work with the various suit manufacturers, we’ll continue to weigh what fits the developmental philosophy for our age group swimmers.”
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I know this is old, but it still ticks me off. If it’s not about the suits, don’t make it about the suits. This makes it about the suits. Realistically at AG level the suits make very little difference, tech suits can be purchased on sale for $100 (less if you find last year’s model) and banning “features” such as bonded seams is even more stupid. No doubt the suit manufacturers will drive the price of these features down with competition, but the opposite will also be true. Suit manufacturers will start making $300 tech suits with stitched seams to be non-tech suit compliant. I saw a 10 year old pulled off the blocks for a suit that was ultimately… Read more »
On principal, I agree that there is no benefit for a 12 & under to use expensive tech suits. Not only because of the implicit cost of them but also including and not limited the added peer pressure amongst young swimmers and of course the PARENTS (biggest culprits). But more important from the biomechanics and muscles composition, the tech suits doesn’t do anything for the skinny bodies (pre-pubescent). They will probably go faster and swim with less stress, with a little tiny speedo. Having said all of the above; I DO NOT BELIEVE ON BANS, THUS I WILL OPPOSE ANY BANS. I believe that is upon each LSC to educate via vis Coaches, the reasons why they should not be… Read more »
I really do not understand what all the fuss is about. What exactly is the problem this is trying to solve? Where exactly does the motivation for this change come from? Coaches? Parents? I personally have never heard either complain. These suits only make a small difference in time and if the swimmer is not already fast, the performance impact is relatively negligible. Cost? There are good entry level “tech” suits to be had for $129 msrp. My son swims summer rec and USA Swimming in the fall. Even in our summer rec league, the less expensive tech suits are ubiquitous in championship finals. Granted this is a fast summer rec area with the end of season finals being packed… Read more »
For our sport to thrive, we must make it affordable for all families to participate. I support the ban. A tech suit would have been out of reach for me as a kid. Thank goodness I was able to fully participate without feeling like the poor kid on the team.
A tech suit ban will have no effect on the popularity of the sport.
Our sport is already expensive and out of reach for many. When I was an age grouper we didn’t have lots of money. I probably got the team suit every other year and had to make it last. That was when there were nylon and lycra versions of most suits, and I got the nylon version to try to get two years out of it, and it was cheaper. I remember being at championships against kids that wore a $50 paper suit…no way my parents would have shelled that out. I just wanted to beat the kids I raced against, regardless of the suit they wore. Sometimes I won, other times I didn’t. Never once did I think it was… Read more »
So do we ban private lessons as well, because some kids can’t afford it?
Tech suits don’t swim by themselves. They don’t replace good technique and swimmer preparation. It is ridiculous to ban legal FINA Approved suits in a free country. Some kids are more comfortable in them for modesty or other reasons.
This is ridiculous. It sounds like communism. Whats next? Banning private lessons? This decision should be at the coach and team level. If the suit is FINA APPROVED, a swimmer should be allowed to wear it, regardless of their age. It’s the parents paying for the tech suit, not the LSC. There are younger and younger swimmers competing at higher levels. Some kids like to wear a certain tech suit because they feel more comfortable in it, not just because they think it makes them faster. Tech suits aren’t miracle workers. The swimmer still has to have good technique.
Perhaps cost is not really a factor, but stopping folk from looking for short cuts at as early an age as possible is the real factor. This is a constant issue because really, if an age grouper can still take off +3 seconds on an event, then they don’t need a fancy suit. Rely on training, not gadgets and suits and drinks/powders/bars/etc to lay the foundation for future achievement at elite levels. No one swimming at club/regional/sub-junior elite levels “needs” a tech suit. Normal sized-down lycra, even with legs, works just fine. When did folk forget this and start buying into (literally) the amazing marketing of tech suits (which DO have their place, not saying they don’t)? Stop looking for… Read more »
I’m a parent and a coach. A 12&U swimmer typically swims between 300 and 500 yards per day at a meet. Their warm up and warm down is easily three time that distance. And these swimmers practice four to five times (on average) per week for 1.5 – 2 hours per practice. If your swimmers are not showing up to practices, or not putting in the hard work during practices, then don’t blame the suit.
“Perhaps cost is not really a factor, but stopping folk from looking for short cuts at as early an age as possible is the real factor.” Factor for what? I keep reading about all sorts of bans and researches conducted all to come up with… Read more »
I agree. What exactly is the problem we are trying to fix? If the issue is that some kids can afford them, some kids can’t, are we creating a “class envy” situation? Top-down edicts are problematic. As long as the suit is legal, what a swimmer wears is a personal decision.
Everyone talks about the cost, however who really pays full price for these suits? They can be found on sale on many different sites with entry level suits under 100$. For the cost of a parent’s monthly starbucks, cigarette, alcohol, or restaurant habit you can easily buy one. Its all about individual choices. No one should be told how they can spend they’re money.