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September 21, 2009
To: All members of USA
Swimming
From: Bruce W. Stratton, Chair, USA
Swimming Rules & Regulations Committee
Subject: Important new rules regarding
swimsuits
The purpose of this letter is to inform
you of important rule changes relating to swimsuits worn in all
USA
Swimming sanctioned and approved
competition, or in any observed swim. These new rules, which
are
effective October 1, 2009, significantly
change the types of swimsuits which may be worn in
competition.
In July, 2009, FINA, the international
governing body for the sport of swimming, adopted new rules
effective
January 1, 2010, which specify the
design and construction of swimsuits which may be used in
competition.
USA Swimming, as the national governing
body for the sport of swimming in the United States, has a
long
standing policy of following rules
established by FINA. Accordingly, the USA Swimming Rules
&
Regulations Committee changed USA
Swimming’s rules to conform to those of FINA. However, the
USA
Swimming House of Delegates subsequently
passed a motion making these new swimsuit rules effective
on
October 1, 2009, three months earlier
than the FINA effective date.
Attached are the amended rules relating
to swimwear. Also attached is a copy of the FINA press release
which
lists in detail the specifications
required for the approval of swimsuits. It will be necessary to
reference this
press release as to what constitutes an
approved suit.
The new swimsuit requirements are very
specific and technical in nature, but the most
obvious
restrictions/rules are as
follows:
1. Swimsuits for men may not extend
above the navel or below the knee and for women may not
cover
the neck or extend past the shoulders or
below the knee;
2. Material used for swimsuits can be
only textile fabric which is defined as materials consisting
of
natural and/or synthetic, individual and
non-consolidated yarns used to constitute a fabric by
weaving,
knitting, and/or braiding;
and
3. No zippers or other fastening devices
are allowed except for a waist tie on a brief or
jammer.
Many of the swimsuits currently being
used by swimmers will no longer be allowable under the new rules
and
care should be taken when purchasing a
suit to ensure it does meet the new requirements.
If you have any questions regarding the
application of these new rules, please feel free to contact
me
(bruce@strattoncpa.com).
Sincerely,
Bruce W. Stratton
Chair, USA Swimming Rules &
Regulations Committee
AMENDED USA SWIMMING RULES &
REGULATIONS REGARDING SWIMWEAR
(Effective October 1,
2009)
102.9 SWIMWEAR
.1 Design
A. Swimwear shall include only a
swimsuit, cap and goggles. Armbands or leg bands shall
not
be regarded as parts of the
swimsuit and are not allowed.
B. In swimming competitions, the
competitor must wear only one swimsuit in one or two
pieces
except as provided in 205.10.1. All
swimsuits shall be made from textile materials. For
men,
the swimsuit shall not extend above
the navel nor below the knees, and for women, shall
not
cover the neck, extend past the
shoulder, nor extend below the knee.
.1 Exemptions to the foregoing
restriction may be granted to a swimmer, on a case
by
case basis, by the Chair of the
Rules & Regulations Committee, or his/her
designee.
Exemptions will be granted only for
conflicts due to the swimmer’s verified
religious
beliefs or verified medical
conditions.
.2 Procedures for applying for an
exemption will be established by the Rules &
Regulations Committee and posted on
the USA Swimming website.
.3 No exemption to this restriction
will be granted for a swimsuit that will give the
swimmer a competitive
advantage.
.4 The decision of the Rules Chair
may be appealed only to the entire Rules &
Regulations Committee whose
decision shall be final and binding on all
parties.
C. Only swimsuits complying with
FINA swimsuit specifications may be worn in any
USA
Swimming sanctioned or approved
competition.
D. Swimsuits worn for competition
must be non-transparent and conform to the current
concept
of the
appropriate.
E. No swimmer is permitted to wear
or use any device, substance or swimsuit to help
his/her
speed, pace, buoyancy or endurance
during a race (such as webbed gloves, flippers,
fins,
etc.). Goggles may be worn, and
rubdown oil applied if not considered excessive by
the
Referee. Any kind of tape on the
body is not permitted unless approved by the
Referee.
F. The Referee shall have the
authority to bar offenders from the competition until they
comply
with the rule.
202.4. REQUIREMENTS FOR
APPROVAL
— Approval of competition may be
issued, withheld
202.5 REQUIREMENTS FOR OBSERVED
SWIMS —
USA Swimming officials for
conformance with USA Swimming technical rules in a meet
conducted
under other than USA Swimming
rules. Official times achieved as observed swims may be
submitted
for entry into the SWIMS database
if all of the following conditions are met:
.1
Swims may be observed by
assignedno
change
.2
no change
.3 At least two USA Swimming
observers, who shall be certified Stroke & Turn Judges assigned
or
approved by the LSC, must be
present, one at each end of the course, to verify compliance of
the
swim or swims, when blanket
observed (all swims observed), with USA Swimming
rules
specified in 202.4.4A, C, D and E
and 103.3.1. An individual swim being observed
requires
notification to the observers prior
to the start of the competition. The times should be
entered,
upon request, into SWIMS, the
National Times Database
205.10 SWIMWEAR IN AGE GROUP
COMPETITION (effective 9/19/09)
.1 For age group competitions, it
is permissible for an athlete to wear a single set of
garments
underneath his or her competition
swimsuit for modesty and/or privacy reasons.
PRESS RELEASE
N°59/2009
FINA BUREAU
MEETING
Rome (ITA) - July 31,
2009
Rome (ITA), July
31, 2009
final list of
FINA Commissions and Committees for the period 2009-2013. For each
of the
technical
committees of the five FINA aquatic disciplines, the number of
members was increased
from 12 to 15.
This new composition is aimed at supporting the development of FINA
sports in
the five
continents and is due to the improvement of the number of
affiliated FINA National
Federations
worldwide, which is actually of 201.
These new
technical committees will meet before the end of the year to
establish their four- year
plan of
activities, to be presented at the next FINA Bureau meeting on
January 15-16, 2010 in
Bangkok
(THA).
Moreover, the
Bureau reconfirmed its position in relation with the requirements
for swimwear
approval,
reinforcing the decision of the Congress on July 24, 2009. These
rules include the
following
conditions for swimwear approval:
Surface covered:
Men swimsuit shall not extend above the navel nor below the knee
and for
women shall not
cover the neck or extend past the shoulders nor shall extend below
the knee.
Type of
material: The material used for swimsuits can be only "Textile
Fabric(s)" defined for the
purpose of these
rules as material consisting of, natural and/or synthetic,
individual and non
consolidated
yarns used to constitute a fabric by weaving, knitting, and/or
braiding.
Surface
treatment of the textile fabric: Any material added on to the
surface of the textile fabric
(e.g. coating,
printing, impregnation) shall not close the original open mesh
structure of the base
textile fabric.
The treated material shall further comply with all requirements in
particular in
regard to
thickness, permeability and flexibility. This part of the rule does
not apply to logos and
labels. This
applies to both the manufacturing level and the actual use of the
swimsuit.
Flexibility: the
material shall be flexible and soft-folding.
Regular flat
material: The material shall be regular and flat. The material
shall not form
outstanding
shapes or structures, such as scales.
Outside
application: No outside application shall be added on the
material.
Variety of
materials: Different materials may be used in one swimsuit provided
they are textile
fabrics as
defined above and they comply with all other criteria including
notably thickness and
permeability
(measures to apply to total layers). Combination of materials shall
further not create
outstanding
shape(s) or structure(s). Layered materials must be completely
attached/bound/stuck
together except
where required to protect sensitive parts ("privacy
layers").
Thickness: The
material used shall have a maximum thickness of 0.8mm. It is
clarified that this
maximum
thickness does not apply to seams as far as they are functional and
their thickness and
width result
from their natural function.
Buoyancy: The
swimsuit shall not have a buoyancy effect above 0.5 Newton measured
after
application of
vacuum.
Permeability:
Material(s) used must have at any point a permeability value of
more than 80
l/m2/second.
Permeability values are measured on material with a standard
multidirectional
stretch of 25 %.
However, measure on material which cannot be significantly
stretched will be
effected on
unstreched flattened material.
Construction: No
zippers or other fastening system is allowed. Seams shall be
limited to functional
systems and
shall not create outside shapes.
External
stimulation or influence: Swimsuits which include any system
providing external
stimulation or
influence of any type, including pain reduction, chemical/medical
substance
release,
electro-stimulation etc. are prohibited.
Consistency:
Swimsuits effectively manufactured and used shall correspond to and
be fully
consistent with
submitted samples. Any modification before use (including
impregnation) is
prohibited.
Customisation:
There shall be no variation/modification for individual swimmers
from the
models
corresponding to the samples submitted for approval.
The new
requirements for swimwear approval will be enforced
from
of approved
swimsuits by FINA Executive on June 19, 2009 and published on the
FINA website,
is valid until
December 31, 2009.
Approval of
swimwear in the future will be done at least 12 months before the
next FINA World
Championships
(50m) or Olympic Games. Moreover, the manufacturers will have
the
responsibility
of making those models available on the market (available on sale
to Federations
and competitors)
at least six months prior to the next coming FINA World
Championships or
Olympic
Games.
As announced by
FINA President Dr Julio Maglione, the Bureau appointed a Commission
led by
Prof. Jan-Anders
Manson (from EPFL in Lausanne, SUI) and formed by scientific
experts and an
athlete’s
representative to control the swimwear approval process and to
monitor the
development of
the swimsuit industry based on the rules established by the FINA
Bureau and the
measurable
scientific tests on buoyancy and permeability.
– The FINA Bureau met
today in Rome (ITA) and approved theJanuary 1, 2010. The list
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
FINA Communications Department
-• Tel.:
(41-21) 310 4710 • Fax:
(41-21) 312 6610 • www.fina.org
or withdrawn by an LSC in accordance with the
following regulations:
.4 No competition shall be approved unless a
sufficient number of USA Swimming officials, certified
by the LSC at a minimum of Stroke and Turn level,
are present to observe and certify that
the conduct of competition and all times achieved
in such competition were in conformance with
all applicable USA Swimming technical rules
including, but not limited to, the following:
A Article 101 (all) Start, individual stroke and
relay rules
or Article 105 (Disability)
or Article 701 (Open Water)
B 102.2.2 & 3 Entry limit per day
C 102.9.1A, B, C and E Swimsuit restrictions
D 102.16.4 A (1) & (2) Requirements for
official time/performance
E 102.16.4 B & C Timing Resolution (including
table)
F 103.2.3, 103.3.1, 103.4 Minimum standards for
facilities
103.12.1 & 2 and 103.14
or Article 702 (Open Water)
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