'Itfs swimsuit doping!'

[Mulboyne]

This issue hasn't gone away.
Swimming World Magazine: Japanese Long Course Nationals - Situation of Swimsuit Issue in Japan

SWIMSUITS are becoming a hot topic again in Japan. The Japanese Long Course Nationals are where national team members are selected, but they have also become the place where swimsuit brands are working to promote their new lineups. Asics, Mizuno and Arena each have their own promotion booths setup at the Expo area introducing their statement products to the assembled athletes. Aasics has introduced the Top Impact Line, while Arena is promoting its Aqua Force Lite. Additionally, Mizuno has the SST showing a big picture of recently-contracted Federica Pellegrini in the booth. Compared to the nice setup of each of the booths, there is an anxious feeling spreading among swimming circles in Japan about the result of suit applications done by the March 31 deadline. The Japanese swimming community is anxiously awaiting the results of these allowed suits to be published by FINA.

On top of the top brands, several more individual brands have made a debut in the Japanese market since last year using the Yamamoto Corporation's material known as "Bio Rubber." This material is now being used by Blue70, TYR and about a dozen other swim brands. Here is a summary of the Nikkei article on Feb. 25 about a Yamamoto Corporation press conference:

- Yamamoto Corporation announced February 24 that more than 15 swim brands decided to use its material, Bio Rubber Swim to their swimwear such as Arena and TYR.
- Right now, order for this material for 80,000 units of swim suits were being made.

The company boasts that it owns more than 90 percent of the market share in triathlon suits globally. Today, we see pretty much five brands competing for space on the block in Japan. Mizuno, Speedo, Aasics, Arena and local brand KOZ. On the other hand, as Swimming World reported last year before the Beijing Games, the Japanese Swimming Federation has contracts with three brands (Arena, Mizuno and Aasics) to provide suits to national team members. Under this current contract, Speedo products are not allowed.

This issue caused a firestorm last year prior to the Beijing Games because athletes wanted to wear out-of-contract brands, including the Speedo LZR Racer. Thus, the Federation made the decision to have an exception for the Beijing Olympics. Kosuke Kitajima was one of the strongest examples of the exemption as he chose to wear Speedo en route to a pair of gold medals. As of today, the Japanese Swimming Federation is undecided on what to do heading into Rome on whether it will allow out-of-contract brands again. Coaches and swimmers want to wear what they want to wear, but the situation is that everyone is still waiting on the results of the swim suit applications done by the FINA-imposed March 31 deadline. That will also allow the Japanese Swimming Federation to move forward with its deliberations.

Like we have seen in global tendencies, the benefit of the fast suits in competition is just astonishing. In Japan's Junior Olympics meet from March 27-30, we witnessed a total of 145 new records:

National Short Course Primary School record: 12
National Short Course Junior High record: 27
National Short Course High school record: 16
Meet record: 90

Some of the new records are incredibly fast – really fast. The national short course junior high school record in the men's 400 IM now stands at 4:10.49 by a 14 year old. The Men's 100 breaststroke record is now 1:00.11 by a 15 year old.

[kurohinge1]

[Greji]

[quote="kurohinge1"]
Perhaps the Japanese brands have been too focused on odour resistance rather than water resistance.

]

Doesn't help. Everything in Japan still smells like fish.....

[Mulboyne]

Yamamoto Corporation, manufacturer of sportswear such as triathlon bodysuits, has unveiled a new line of swimsuits. Using the technology which has caused controversy in international competition, the company has added even more buoyancy to create what they say is a "swimsuit for non-swimmers".

[IkemenTommy]

Top Italian swimmer in tears after being disqualified when her hi-tech skinsuit bursts open at the rear

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...ship-meet.html

[Mulboyne]

Reuters: Suit ban could put sport back 20 yrs - Speedo

A potential ban on high-performance polyurethane suits threatens to throw swimming back two decades by hampering innovation, an executive at swimwear maker Speedo said on Sunday. A possible return to all-textile briefs for men as outlined by the FINA world governing body on Friday would be "a retrograde step", Jason Rance, vice president of marketing at Speedo International, told Reuters. Controversy over wetsuits made from non-textiles such as polyurethane, which critics say trap air next to the body, has overshadowed the Rome world championships which began on Sunday. "We're certainly concerned ... that we're going to throw the baby out with the bathwater," said Rance, who oversaw development of the full-length LZR Racer suit used by 14-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps. "In order to get rid of the wrong of having wetsuits in the pool you're actually going to take back innovation in the sport and throw the sport back two decades" with a return to traditional suits. He added: "My analogy would be next year at Wimbledon (tennis players Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal are about to start a game and you say, 'Hang on a minute, mate. Give me your nice carbon graphite racquet, here's a cane one from back in 1990. Have a good game.'"

FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu said on Friday that starting in 2010 suits would have to be made from textile and "in general" the change would be back to short trunks. Details will be thrashed out after another meeting on Tuesday when the exact measurements for men's and women's outfits for 2010 will be ratified. FINA only agreed in June to allow all-polyurethane suits, which have caused a flurry of world records. However, FINA is ready to reverse that decision after protests from national federations fed up with the suits controversy. Rance said Speedo, which has about 40 percent of the world market for performance swimwear, had long supported a ban on suits that trap air. Speedo's LZR Racer, which carries a $500 price tag, incorporates polyurethane panels that are glued on key parts of the suit to reduce drag but do not trap air.

"If you were to wrap yourself in cling film (plastic wrap) all over ... and jump in the water, you're going to be trapping air all over your body," he said. "To go back to the early 1990s to briefs or jammers (shorts), it wouldn't serve any purpose and would remove a lot of the excitement from the sport and create a lot of unnecessary confusion." The new suits have heightened interest in the sport among young people eager to find swimming kit equivalent in bragging rights to expensive soccer boots or other equipment, Rance said. "Now it's back to the briefs everybody used to tease you about at the pool. I don't think it's going to help the sport."