Kerim Okten/European Pressphoto AgencyHonestly, it was only a matter of time. Stank-0 remembers the uproar over the suits during the Beijing Olys. Stank-0 had extensive discussions about the Cube during the 2008 Olympiad.
The article talks about how the swimming federation is mulling a ban on these new supersuits.
The ban on polyurethane suits was ratified, as were the guidelines for how much skin the racing suits can cover. When the new rules go into effect, suits will stretch only between the waist and the knees for men and from the shoulders to the knees for women. And yet, there is no firm date for when the reforms will take effect.
Other swimmers feel more strongly about it.
“It’s sort of like the baseball era in steroids,” the American breaststroker Eric Shanteau said. “Some people are like, ‘It’s fine,’ and some people say it’s cheating.”
Stank-0 wonders as does the NYT writer how much of this is sour grapes because the Arena X-Glide has bested the Speedo LZR Racer.
It does bring up an excellent question, does a skin tight, water buoyant, streamlining suit fundamentally change the sport? Isn't that like all the gear that baseball and football players wear? On the one hand, swimming is a sport of hundredths of seconds so any little advantage will make a world of difference (sounds like baseball).
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