Swimming Blog

USA Swimming Rule 102.9, regarding suits allowed in USA swimming sanctioned events, went into effect on October 1st, 2009.  The following is a statement by USA Swimming outlining what suits are currently allowed to be used in competition.  These suits should not be considered “FINA approved” until FINA releases its own 2010 approved suit list.

USA Swimming statement released 10/5/2009:

The USA Swimming House of Delegates, consisting of 438 coach, official and athlete members, voted to implement new swimsuit requirements, beginning on October 1. While this earlier implementation date has created some challenges, it was put in place to both avoid interrupting our short course season and protect the integrity of our competitions in the summer of 2010. 

The new swimsuit requirements are very specific and technical in nature, but deal primarily with silhouette and material of the suits.

FINA will be the ultimate judge of which materials will be acceptable. However, in an effort to provide clearer guidance to its membership, USA Swimming asked the major suit manufacturers, in good faith, to indicate which of their suits meet the specified criteria. The list of those suits is below.

Please note, none of these suits should be considered “FINA approved” until FINA issues its list of 2010 suits.Once FINA publishes its list, some of the suits below may no longer be acceptable.

Reference List for Allowable Swimsuits

ARENA
ARENA X-FLAT
a) Woman full body short leg open back
b) Woman Normal Suit (Classic)
c) Man Jammer
d) Man Brief

ARENA POWERSKIN
a) Woman full body short leg open
b) Woman Normal Suit (Classic)
c) Man Jammer

ARENA POWERSKIN R-EVOLUTION
a) Woman full body short leg open back
b) Man Jammer

AgonSwim.com
The following styles from Agonswim.com in the fabrics Paper, Streamline, Lycra, MaxResist, PolyRidge, Speedline, Duramax, Knit Polyester, PBT and Mesh meet the requirements.

Male styles
Brief
Brief Euro
Jammer
Splice Jammer
Training suit
Training suit euro

Female styles
Freeback
Freeback Youth
Knee Length Proback
Proback
Sprintback
ThinStraps
Thin Straps Youth
ThinStraps 1X
Thin Straps 2X
U-Back
BikiniBack Top
BikiniBack Bottom

BlueSeventy
Will provide a list when it is available

Diana

The below Diana suit models have received FINA approval
Diana Submarine 201M pants-short men
Diana Submarine 213W full-knee Women 
Diana Submarine 243W full-knee women

Dolfin
All suits in the Dolfin LTF series

Finis
HydroSpeed 2 Models (nylon/lycra material):
o    Female Bladeback
o    Female Race John
o    Male Brief
o    Male Jammer

HydroSpeed Models (nylon/lycra material):
o    Female Race John
o    Male Brief
o    Male Jammer

AquaTuff Polyester Models (polyester material):
o    Female Skinback
o    Female Bladeback
o    Male Brief
o    Male Jammer

NIKE SWIM
Will provide a list of approved suits once finalized from FINA

RocketScience Sports
Part Number     Name                            
SW-000-FU-O     FU RACER – Open Back       Women’s
SW-000-FU-C     FU RACER – Closed Back     Women’s
SM-000-FU-H      FU RRACER – Hipster          Men’s
SM-000-FU-HW   FU RCARER – High W          Men’s
SWK-001-LIGHT   rocket Light K                  Women’s
SW-001-LIGHT     rocket Light                    Women’s
SM-001-LIGHT     rocket Light                     Men’s
SW-002-ORBIT     rocket ORBIT                  Women’s
SM-002-ORBIT     rocket ORBIT                   Men’s
SW-003-FLIGHT   rocket FLIGHT                 Women’s
SM-003-FLIGHT    rocket FLIGHT                 Men’s
SMB-002             rocket BREIF                   Men’s

TYR
Fusion Racer (Style#RFUS6) 2006 Male
Fusion Jammer (Style#SFUS6) 2006 Male
Fusion Aeroback (Style#AFUS6) 2006 Female
Fusion Aeroback Short John (Style#ASFU6) 2006 Female
Tracer Light Racer (Style#TLRA6) 2007 Male

Tracer Light Jammer (Style#TLJA6) 2007 Male
Tracer Light Aeroback (Style#TLAB6) 2007 Female
Tracer Light Aeroback Short John (Style#TLSJ6) 2007 Female

Speedo
Speedo believes the following championship suits meet the criteria listed by USA Swimming.

Speedo Fastskin FS Pro
Female Recordbreaker, Style #7190803
Female Kneeskin, Style #7190102
Male Jammer, Style #7050170

Speedo Fastskin FSII
Female Recordbreaker, Adult Style #7190142, Youth Style #7190141
Male Jammer, Adult Style #7050154, Youth Style #7050153
Male Brief, Adult Style #7055001

Speedo Aquablade
Female Recordbreaker, Adult Style #719040, Youth Style #719039
Male Jammer, Adult Style #705966, Youth Style #705965
Male Brief, Adult #705032, Youth Style #705031

Please note, this list is not all-inclusive. Until such time as FINA publishes its list, swimsuits meeting the below criteria, should also be considered acceptable.

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.No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie on a brief or jammer; and

3.Suits must be of textile material and must not be made of any rubberized type of material such as polyurethane or neoprene.