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A Brief Word On Bodysuits: Nothing May Be Worn Under One

Mar 18, 2009  - Craig Lord

Hear ye, hear ye, world of swimming. Briefs are NOT allowed to be worn under a body suit. That's NOT allowed under FINA rule as of March 14, 2009. 

Asked for clarification in the case of Therese Alshammar, of Sweden, Cornel Marculescu, Executive Director of FINA, noted the clarity of FINA approvals guidelines, contained in  the Dubai Charter agreed last weekend. Those guidelines state:

  • h. USE: The swimmer can only wear one swimsuit (FINA Rule GR 5.3). 

"That means nothing must be worn underneath. One suit only. That's it," said the Director. "We are not having anything that is open to interpretation any more. One suit means one suit."

In Switzerland, where national championships are about to begin, rule GR5.3 is about to be misinterpreted, according to a reader from that country who is keeping a good ear to the ground. 

The Swiss federation asked for clarification of the one-suit rule and was told by FINA: one suit. However, they have then, apparently, decided to allow the wearing of briefs (nothing to preserve the modesty of breasts, just other bits, as in the Australia case). The basis of that is bound in the words in GR5.3 "“In swimming competitions the competitor must wear swimsuit in one or two pieces ... ” .

I write it in plain English: that rule was designed to accommodate the wearing of bikinis by open water swimmers back in Perth 1991. It in no way should be interpreted as allowing one suit over another. A bikini top and bottom constitutes "one suit". A brief under a bodysuit constitutes two suits. Not allowed. 

A further word from FINA to federations: suit checking should be carried out BEFORE races. Officials must be vigilant, says FINA, and must take out swimmers who arrive at their blocks wearing one suit on top of another, including briefs under a body. NOT allowed, as of March 14.

At Australian and British trials, briefs have been worn under bodysuits by several swimmers. In Britain, coaches have been warned that the practice must stop.

Officials need now to enforce FINA rule and spread the word to their swimming communities to avoid avoidable disqualification.

That's pretty clear to me. Hope that's clear to all those calling for clarity too.