Following a nationwide trend that has included a ban on tech suits at younger level age group meets in Southern California, Swimming Victoria has prohibited them at their own events.
The organization announced a change to the Rules of Competition starting July 1st 2017, they will be prohibiting the use of technical/performance suits for athletes 11-years-old and under.
The purpose of the ban is to encourage young swimmers to stay in the sport, and allow more of a focus on confidence and building technique among young swimmers. This will remove the pressure of the expensive cost that associate with the technical suits.
We have reached out for clarification on which suits are and are not allowed, and whether there had been complaints about modesty in the new rules, but did not receive a response from Swimming Victoria. According to the picture they posted to their website, knee skins are restricted, but the below photo is the only guidance given – which means there’s no information about whether technical suits that are hip-cut are allowed.
Update: Swimming Victoria indicated that briefs wouldn’t be the only style allowed, telling SwimSwam that “trunk styles, aqua shorts and mid-thigh length are all fine.” Swimming Victoria said it understood the original silhouette “did not communicate that as well as we need it to,” and that the organization is working on an updated version of the graphic.
A similar rule recently passed in Southern California, regarding tech suits at age group meets. The new rule prohibits tech suits for swimmers 5-10-years-old from all Southern California Swimming sanctioned meets. The new rules restricts suits with bonded seams, kinetic tape and meshed seams. If a suit has any of these it is not allowed, even if not on the Restricted List. Some suits that are on the restricted list include: Blue Seventy Nero, Speedo LZR X LZR ELITE LZER ELITE 2, Nike Swim NG, Arena Powerskin, and Finis Vapor. Approved suits include the Speedo Aquablade, TYR Fusion, and the Arena Powerskin ST.
Swimming Victoria Events that will be affected by this change:
- Winter Interclub
- Metro Short Course Competition
- Victorian Country SC Championships
- Victorian Age SC Championships
- Long Course Distance Meet
- 7-10s Competitions
- Victorian Sprint Championships
- Victorian Qualifying Meet
- Victorian Age Championships
- Victorian Country Championships
- Victorian Relay Competition
- Victorian Country Inter-district
- All Junior Competitions
There are several reasons as to why Swimming Victoria implemented this ban. Not only do they feel that it will keep the younger swimmers interest in the sport, but it will provide an encouraging environment and allow the youth swimmers to feel less pressure about the competition. The specific reasons listed by Swimming Victoria are:
- There is no documented evidence that supports performance benefits of technical suits for athletes 11 years and under.
- Personal best times should not be the only evaluation or measure of success for younger swimmers. Technique and skill development is essential for all long term swimmer development. It is crucial that as swimmers progress through the sport they have developed a solid foundation in technique and stroke development to enable them to achieve higher results in the latter years of their career.
- The cost of technical suits makes them unattainable for many families. SV does not want to add any extra financial pressure on parents with unnecessary purchases.
- These suits aren’t designed for young swimmers. The manufacturers design these suits for older athletes. One of the main benefits of wearing a technical suit is for muscle compression. Children, who are not yet developed, are not impacted by this benefit. Swimmers cannot ‘grow into’ these suits.
- A common misconception amongst younger swimmers is that without a technical suit, a swimmer cannot swim fast. An age group swimmer does not need a performance suit to swim fast; swimmers will improve and attain PBs regardless of the sort of suit they are wearing due to gradual increase in training and skill development.
- The aim should be to build mentally-strong swimmers, confident in his or her own ability and training ethic rather than an athlete depending on a technical suit to get an improved result.
- Technical suits are required as you get older when your skills, conditioning and physique are developed. At that time, the fraction of a second drop you’ll get from the suit will actually make a difference.
As more and more tech suit bans continue for age group swimmers, we look to see who else will follow Southern California and Swimming Victoria.
Someone please explain how excluding is somehow “inclusive”. I’ve heard people say “it’s not about the suit” and I agree, which is why suits shouldn’t be banned. It’s not about the suit, so don’t make it about the suit. You don’t need a $400 suit to be a competitive 10 year old, but you don’t need to ban a 10 year old just because his/her parents bought a tech suit. We had a 10 year old pulled off the blocks in the middle of a meet by an official for a suit that was ultimately deemed OK. How is that making the sport better? Having one standard makes it easy. If it’s FINA approved, it’s FINA approved. Having a second… Read more »
Spot on! Banning a FINA approved suit is ridiculous. I don’t have a child that age, but if someone is crazy enough to buy a 400.00 suit for their 11 year old, it’s their choice. But they could shop around and find a much more reasonable price.
What’s really weird is that kids under 11 who realistically have less “junk” to expose want to wear more modest suits than the older swimmer when they seem to want to squeeze into the smallest possible brief or traditional girls suit possible ?
Pic makes it look like these suits cause headaches too!
The jammers thing just seems weird. There are plenty of jammers that are not tech suits and cost $300 or more. And if you’ve ever seen most little boys wearing jammers, they are so loose that they are almost board shorts.
I bet this needs more clarification. Boys used to not join the sport for fear of wearing that tiny suit. Jammers have helped tremendously. Also, Speedo has suits now for both genders that “look” like a tech suit, but not made out of tech material. It’s probably a slower suit for the girls than a traditional suit, but it looks cool. Ha!
But I LIKE THIS. C’mon USA Swimming, jump on and ban tech suits for 12 & Unders! Don’t wait for the LSC’s.
Mac – I think you’re spot on. In the United States, after Michael Phelps, the biggest driver of growth on the men’s side in the last decade has probably been the ability to wear jammers. So while the tech suit ban for young swimmers is probably good for the sport in the long-haul, eliminating kneeskins and jammers is probably not.
No guidance was given by SV other than the photograph, which seems a little strange to me. We’ve asked for clarification and followed-up, so hopefully they get back to us soon.
Yes, the modesty issue is one of the reasons why this is personal and should be individual choice between the swimmer, coach, and parents. Education rather than top-down edicts would be a better approach.
I understand the idea of banning tech/performance suits. I do NOT get the idea of banning jammers. Feeling exposed in a briefs suit has always been a drawback for some new swimmers, and the invention of jammers was a terrific change.
I would like to think they recognize that, given the suits they are allowing.
Perhaps they used a jammer as a representation of a non-allowed suit and a brief for an acceptable suit as you don’t really see tech briefs as male tech suits are jammer style.
people here in the United States are so insecure about themselves that for young kids before reaching puberty it’s OK to wear briefs but once you reach puberty and begun growing hair that’s when you need jammers . as a kid I always liked wearing Speedo briefs and I know many friends that did too on the swim team .A swim meet is the only place for a kid to wear Speedo briefs and not get made fun of It’s the only place that excepts it Kids need to understand that it is OK to wear speedo briefs at a swim meet and is optional at a regular swimming pool or beach. parents just need to let their kids know… Read more »
I find that the “jammer” ban is a bit interesting, of course these aren’t American boys. On our swim club when my boys started they only wanted the jammers as they were a bit unsure of swimming in a brief. Now a brief is the way to go for them BUT there are still a number of boys on the high school team (and only one or two on club) that feel a bit “exposed” in a brief and so they only want to swim in a jammer.