Ban LZR Racer

FINA, the world governing body of swimming, have convened a summit meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, today to debate the issue of high-tech swimsuits with manufacturers, scientists, coaches and swimmers following calls to ban them on the grounds that they offer extra buoyancy and therefore amount to performance-enhancing aids. Critics of the suits point to the extraordinary statistics in Beijing where swimmers wearing the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit won 90 per cent of all available medals and broke 23 world records, including Adlington's demolition of Janet Evans's 19-year-old 800 metres freestyle mark. Since Speedo launched the suit a year ago, an astonishing 108 world records have fallen. The powerful USA Swimming federation recently added their voice to the growing backlash against the new technology, calling on FINA to limit the amount of fabric on swimsuits, effectively outlawing the LZR Racer. But Jason Rance, who headed the Speedo research and development team that produced the all-conquering suit with the aid of NASA scientists, has denied that it offers any extra buoyancy and is willing to prove it in a laboratory. The issue of high-tech swimsuits has spiralled out of control since Beijing with some swimmers choosing to wear two or three suits at the same time, one on top of the other. The American and Australian federations have called for an immediate ban on the practice of wearing multiple suits. FINA will make a final decision on the new technology when their ruling 'Bureau' meet in Dubai next month.