An Open letter from Forbes Carlile
Dr Brent Rushall's latest article very well reviews the development of the racing swim suit and draws attention to the deception of the swim suit companies and FINA inner circle which has supported what has happened to demean the sport.
Material "extending" the knee length suits, to cover up to the shoulders for males, is a live issue , this being voted for recently as a desired outcome by the manufacturers on the specious and ludicrous grounds, the pretence of "equality"! It is disturbing to hear it is no secret that this initiative is supported by some in the FINA Bureau.
However, ironically, success for the plotters could turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory and eventually help the cause of diminising the use of jammer suits to the knees. If it happens that more of the restricted, rules-controlled porous material covers the body, the slower are likely to be the times set in these falsely promoted "fast" suits at substantial cost.
When this becomes evident manufactures may well be hoisted on their own petards, left with substantial stocks of these "long suits", and jammer styles remaining on their shelves - whether or not the suits are "approved" by FINA, with swimmers returning to racing in traditional suits finishing at the hips.
Potential customers, could at last recognise the scam, the hoax which has enveloped the sport. The swim suit companies will not want to risk the prospect of such a "catastrophe". A negative benefit could only shake consumer faith in the jammer suits.
However, all this will take time to unfold. Too much time.
It is likely that by sitting on our hands whilst all this is being painfully resolved will mean continued unrest and uncertainty, with money being needlessly wasted.
As Dr Rushall points out, the manufacturers are continuing to threaten the integrity of competitive swimming by presenting false visions, mirages of hope of performance gains with equipment. It defies FINA laws. Swim suit manufacturers should not be accepted in any way as advisers or "partners of FINA" despite their advertising dollars.
Supporters of swimming clearly need to be pro-active in their advocacy, in recognising the continuing inciduous influence of the manufacturers with their attempts to shape the competitive sport for their profit.
The best and most incisive message of all will be a return to more elegant, much more economical and very likely "faster" brief suits to the hips.
Sincerely, Forbes Carlile
