It should be about swimmers

International swimming holds the attention of sports fans once every four years, during the Olympics.

So, it was a bit of a shock to watch the Beijing Games and see men and women stand on the starting blocks wearing slick black wet suits.

As a fashion statement, it was da bomb. As a competitive statement, it was troubling.

In the 2008 Olympics, 25 world records were broken in men's and women's swimming. Since then, 21 more world records have been set.

That's beyond amazing. It borders on scandalous.

There is more at work here than deeper pools -- 3 meters instead of 2 -- and wider lanes, both of which lessen turbulence.

Space-age wetsuits worn by the athletes have more to do with the records than the swimmers inside the suits. That never should be allowed to happen.

The controversy reached a boiling point this week at the world championships in Rome. Michael Phelps, who set four individual world records in Beijing, was beaten Tuesday by Paul Biedermann, who wore an Arena X-Glide suit.

Phelps was in his Speedo LZR Racer, which he wore in the Olympics, and which at the time, was the suit to own. Now, the X-Glide is to the Racer what a Mustang is to a minivan.

FINA, the international governing body for aquatics, plans to ban the X-Glide, but refuses to set a date. That shouldn't be hard.

Immediately.

FINA never should have allowed the Speedo LZR Racer in the Olympics. Competitive swimming is not about wetsuits.

Technology marches on. Running shoes are lighter than ever and runners wear aerodynamic jerseys and shorts.

But just five track and field world records were set at the 2008 Olympics. And 29 current world records were set before 2000.

Tennis rackets are bigger and provide more power. New and improved clubs give golfers more distance and control of their shots.

But nothing has done for athletes what these wetsuits have done for swimmers. Permitting swimmers to wear these suits almost is the equivalent of putting aluminum bats in the hands of major-league baseball players.

Imagine that for a moment. What once were long fly balls would become home runs. Every hitting record imaginable would fall.

FINA has done nothing but create problems with these wetsuits. Every record set in a high-tech outfit can be questioned.

Even the swimmers admit the suits are a determining factor in a race's outcome. After he beat Phelps, Biedermann said he hoped one day to be good enough to beat Phelps without the X-Glide.

FINA should have closed this door before the Olympics.

Swimming is supposed to be about the athlete and the water, not the buoyancy provided by the polymers in the full-body wet suit.

These suits go far beyond a swimmer shaving his head, arms and legs to eliminate every particle of drag.

With these space-age wetsuits, winning is based more on whose sponsor has the better technology than on who has the best training methods.

FINA wants to study the issue and determine which suits should be allowed. You don't need a scientific commission to determine that. The answer is easy.

None.

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .