All swimsuit manufacturers are very important partners to FINA, Member Federations, swimmers, coaches and officials, substantially contributing to the growth of our Sport.
Consequently, FINA, in partnership with the manufacturers, implemented the following:
1. Regulations on swimwear approval have been formulated in close co-operation with the manufacturers, whose participation and contribution was essential (available on FINA website www.fina.org);
2. The FINA swimwear approval process has been implemented since 21 November 2005 without any subsequent specific remarks made by the manufacturers on the process;
3. FINA is always willing to examine issues in connection with the swimsuit approval. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no objective scientific evidence on the alleged buoyancy advantage provided by ‘SPEEDO LZR Racer’, ‘TYR Tracer Light’ or any other swimsuit approved by FINA;
4. On 12 February 2008 (i.e. before any discussion on swimsuit arose), FINA invited all the swimwear manufacturers to participate on a meeting on 12 April 2008 in Manchester (GBR) on the occasion of the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m). The stated purpose of this meeting is to review and update, if considered necessary, the procedure and requirements for swimwear approval;
5. We underline that at FINA competitions, the rule GR 5.6 - “the manufacturers must ensure that the approved new swimsuit will be available for all competitors” - will apply.