USA Swimming Bans Hi-Tech Suits for Youth

USA Swimming banned hi-tech suits for age-groups at its annual convention in Atlanta on September 28th, according to the Washington Post. About 65 to 70 percent of USA Swimming's house of delegates, which consists of hundreds of voting members representing swim clubs at all levels across the country, voted to ban suits that extend past the neck, shoulders or knees. USA Swimming's Club Development Director Pat Hogan said that delegates were concerned that the Speedo LZR suits, among others, which can cost as much as $500, would drive promising youngsters who couldn't afford them out of the sport and possibly avoid proper stroke development. Here is a statement from Hogan, "We're in a position where we want to grow participation in our sport." We don't need to have false barriers to participation. The cost of those high-tech swim suits, for a young swimmer, doesn't really make sense. We've helped protect and create a level playing field in 12-and-under competition where truly the type of suit you wear doesn't make a difference."

I think this is completely ridiculous. At young ages these "hi-tech" suits are basically used at the end of the season. Hence, why you'll find at the high school level or younger that these suits are commonly known as "end of the season suits", or "performance suits". Just because you go out and spend 500 bucks on a suit does not mean you are going to go faster than someone that uses a suit that its 24 bucks. Sure, I would buy an end of the season suit when I was in highschool, but that was for the conference meet, sectional meet, and then at state when one of our relays made it. And no, I did not go out and spend 500 bucks on a full body suit, or legs suit. I went and got a $50 speedo. And with only spending 50 bucks, I was still able to beat kids that wore the expensive suits. It's all about how hard you worked during those 5 months of the season, not some expensive piece of fabric. Also it depends a lot on your coach knowing your limits and how well they can taper you at the end of the season. Tapering involves a gradual reduction in an athelete's workout demands in order to allow the body to recover from the stress, and I was fortunate enough to have such a great coach.

The fact that they feel the need to ban these suits is nuts. It's all about the feeling during a race. We had the MVP swimmer of our conference on our team and he tried a full body suit. Guess what, he hated it. It made him slower. So what one feels compared to another wearing a suit can be completely different. So they should allow kids to figure out what they think feels right. It shouldn't be up to other people. People make such a big deal about it, they give the impression it's the suit that makes the swimmer. But what we need to be stressing is the hard work and practice is what makes up the swimmer, not some stupid piece of fabric.