The French federation will press  the case for an imposition of new suit rules at the European s/c championships in Istanbul in December a couple of weeks before the January 1, 2010 international ban on bodysuits and non-textile materials. 

 After taking its own decision to ban the shiny suit from this month, rather than wait for FINA's January 1, 2010 deadline, the French federation will lobby members of the European Swimming League (LEN) at its congress on September 18-19 in Copenhagen to draw a line this year. The issue is clear: why spoil another European s/c championship with more of the shiny suits that made a mockery of the continent's last winter showcase, in Croatia, last December as a precursor to the Rome circus.

Jean-Baptiste Renet at L'Equipe reports the news that France will not wait until January 1, 2010 to ban shiny suits: From September 15, they will be gone from Gaul, where swimmers did not benefit financially from the arrival of so-called "technology" and received no more money in 2009 than they got in previous seasons. 

The suits were worn widely in France, as elsewhere, but the money that flowed from suit makers into French swimming - to federation, individuals and clubs - through TYR and arena, in the main, is backing that will remain, while the majority of swimmers who wore Jaked01s and other such suits this summer will remain in the same position as they were before: unsupported by anything other than what they have long had as their biggest material reward - a free suit now and again. 

The France decision, one which recognises the FINA rule that holds that all decisions taken at Congress will come into force 60 days after Congress voted, means that men will wear shorts and women a traditional suit with material allowed down to a cut above the knee, what the French are calling a "shorty". The French s/c champs at Chartres from December 4-6 will be held under those conditions.