At the Rome 2009 world championships, the 13th of their kind organised by FINA, the international swimming federation, since Belgrade in 1973, most swimmers were given freedom of choice as to which suit to wear. Their choices had little to do with brand loyalty in many cases, though some swimmers prize loyalty.
The winner of suit wars was arena, its X-Glide having sped swimmers to 14 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze and 13 world records
Rome 2009 was about doing whatever it takes before the sport of swimming is revived in 2010.
The Rome 2009 Suit Wars medals table and the world-record count among the suit makers:
SHINY MEDALS TABLE (no relays)
- X: 14 12 10 (36)
- J: 9 12 16 (37)
- L: 6 2 7 (15)
- H: 4 6 1 (11)
- D: 1 2 1 (5)
- One extra bronze, joint 3rd 200m breaststroke, men
WORLD-RECORD BONUS - solo swims only (quartets too mixed up)
- X: 13
- J: 13
- H: 7
- L: 5
KEY: J = Jaked01; X = arena X-Glide; H = adidas Hydrofoil; L = Speedo LZR; D = Descente Aquaforce
