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.

Following the ruling by FINA on May 19, 2009, regarding approval of swimsuits for international competition, USA Swimming’s Rules and Regulations Committee has announced an amendment to rule 102.9, covering swimsuits at USA Swimming competitions.  The committee has also outlined specific rules applying to swimsuits allowed at the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championship Trials. These amendments are designed to provide consistency with the rules as established by FINA.

Effective June 1, 2009, swimmers competing in USA Swimming-sanctioned or approved competitions will be governed by the following rules.

Only swimwear approved by FINA, as reflected on its published list of approved swimwear, may be worn in any USA Swimming sanctioned or approved competition.

Additionally, since the FINA-approved list only addresses “new model” swimsuits submitted by swimsuit manufacturers, swimmers will, until otherwise directed by FINA, also be able to wear traditional swimsuits provided the suits meet the following criteria:

1. For female swimmers, the swimsuit shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulders or past the pelvis, and

2. For male swimmers, the swimsuit shall not extend above the navel or below the knees.

There are currently 202 suits on the FINA-approved list. If and when FINA approves additional suits, those suits will also be allowed in USA Swimming competition.

At the 2009 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and World Championship Trials, the following rules apply, in addition to the above.

Only those permitted swimsuit models that are available to all competitors may be used. To avoid confusion, availability is defined as follows:

1. The swimsuit manufacturer is present at the event with its approved swimsuits available for all competitors on a purchase, loan, give-away or other basis, or
2. The swimsuit manufacturer has provided to USA Swimming a written representation in the form requested by USA Swimming, that its approved swimsuit will be made available before July 7, 2009 to all World Championship Trials competitors and before June 14, 2009 to all Open Water World Championship Trials competitors on a purchase, loan, or giveaway basis through retail stores, the internet, or other means.

USA Swimming will publish a list of swimsuit manufacturers who have made this representation once they are received. Competitors may rely on this list as approval to wear a particular swimsuit model at either event.

On March 18th, USA Swimming released the following statement regarding the use of multiple swimsuits in competition.

There have recently been a number of questions regarding the use of two swimsuits during competition. Although the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations do not specifically address this, FINA has interpreted its General Rule GR 5.3 to allow the use of only one swimsuit during competition. Our Rules & Regulations require that USA Swimming’s technical swimming rules conform to those of FINA. In order for our interpretation to conform to that used by FINA, the following interpretation is being made, effective immediately.

For purposes of Article 102.9 of the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations, Swimwear, the use of more than one swimsuit at a time during any USA Swimming sanctioned or approved competition is prohibited.