Tech Suit Drama!

There's so much news out there right now about these swim suits it's crazy. Here is the cliff notes version:

• "Tech Suits" came out in late 2007 with the Speedo LZR co-developed with NASA
• Since then ~150 world records have been broken, pretty much every single record in the book
• In the last year or so, other companies have developed polyurethane suits and suits made from neoprene that aid in flotation such as the "Jaked", "BlueSeventy" and "Arena X-glide"
  
• The Speedo LZR is now one of the worst choices in tech suits
• FINA (the governing body of swimming) outlawed a few of them, only to reinstate them quickly
• FINA ruled last week that as of January 1st, 2010, ALL tech suits must be "textile jammers". This means that suits for men must not extend below the knee or above the waist, womens suits must not extent below the knee or above the shoulder and must have an open back. There can be no zippers and must be comprised of fabric, no non-permeable material.

I hate all the drama, I wore a Speedo LZR a few times leading up to and including the 2008 Olympic Trials and I sort of regret it. I thought it was where swimming was going because it was what everybody was wearing. After July 2008 I abandoned the "tech suits" and vowed not to wear another one. I, for one, am really pleased with the recent FINA ruling. The recent World Championships are further proof that PERHAPS... lesser swimmers can beat greater swimmers because of a swim suit. It's made me realize how pure swimming used to be. Just you and the water, very equal. I really hope the FINA ruling sticks and we can get back to real swimming and leave all this suit drama in the past. If so, it will probably be referred to as the "dark years" of swimming.