LEN members have become the second officials of FINA to lobby the international governing body to which they are affiliated for a change to regulations on swim suits. 

In a statement today, President of LEN Nory Krutchen confirmed that the European Swimming League had discussed the issue at a meeting last Saturday during the European short-course Championships in Rijeka and had concluded that action must be taken and a new framework put in place as soon as possible. FINA has bylaw powers at its disposal that would bypass the need to wait for a vote in Rome next July and implementation of new rules only 60 days after any decision at Congress.

The LEN President said: "The LEN governing body is aware of the ongoing controversy, and expressed its worries in regard to the future evolution of the situation. Therefore, taking all circumstances into consideration, the Bureau has decided to contact FINA to contribute in finding an acceptable solution to the existing problem. More specifically over such topics as: number of suits worn, fabric/material used, and certification of the suits."

He noted that it was LEN's belief that FINA was "working on a viable resolution to the overall matter and will do its best efforts to make this available as soon as possible".

LEN's statement contained statistics for the championships in Rijeka that blow all previous records of records out of the water. The continental count was 32, while seven world marks fell. Celebration is tempered, as LEN realises, by the fact that progress relied so heavily on suits that work in different ways and affect different swimmers in different ways. That chaos and the unlevel playing field it has produced cannot continue, say the USA federation and the world's leading coaches from the USA and Europe. Australia, in danger of losing its role as a trend-setter and voice of reason in the sport, remains silent. 

Dale Neuburger, of the USA, was the first member of the FINA Bureau to urge the international federation to revisit all aspects of suit regulation. The LEN Bureau - FINA men and women themselves - have joined the chorus. Good for them.

Cornel Marculescu, Executive Director of FINA, is working hard to find a solution and has pledged to listen to the views of coaches in Singapore in January at a meeting where the suits issue is paramount, and suit makers in Lausanne in February. The advertising claims of suit makers is high on the agenda, FINA noted in a statement last week. That issue is important - but is also secondary to the action that needs to be taken if Rome 2009 is not to descend into the chaos on show in Rijeka. It is not just the message of suit makers that needs to change (in some cases - for Speedo told us the truth, let's not forget), it is the substance of what they are making to place on the skins of swimmers.

Now that LEN, the USA, European coaches have all acknowledged that urgent change is needed, the time is ripe for Mustapha Larfaoui, president of FINA, to end his silence and show true leadership. His sport is bleeding. What he needs to do is clear: pledge to use the by-laws open to the FINA Bureau and make the March meeting of the ruling body a moment of decision and action. By March it will be clear what everyone wants. By March, FINA has it within its powers and constitution to formulate and trigger immediate bylaws that would allow suit makers, coaches, swimmers, federations and the good folk of the Eternal City now ploughing vast amounts of money into the sport for the organisation of the World Championships next summer, to understand the direction that swimming has chosen to move in. 

A public pledge from president Larfaoui to sort the mess out by March is paramount. The alternative is a circus in Rome fit to break the foundations of the sport. Election year beckons. Take a leaf from the book of Julius Caeser, Mr president - and beware the Ides of March. Coaches and federations are not the only ones watching. So too are potential sponsors and partners - all of whom have critical decisions to make in 2009 as the world economic crisis takes hold. Unlikely that money will flow into a pool poisoned not by the reporting of the chaos reigning but by the chaos itself.