Word out of Indianapolis today is that with no ability to test suits, the NCAA will continue to permit the use of all currently-approved suits for the 2009 Division championships. Today's memo reads:
Members of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee met with NCAA staff members via teleconference, Tuesday, February 24, and discussed the current state of so-called technical swimsuits and the treatment of them for purposes of upcoming intercollegiate competitions, inclusive of the NCAA championships.
As stated in a memorandum sent September 11, 2008, the committee decided to permit all technical swimsuits approved by Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) to be worn in intercollegiate competition, including NCAA championships. At such time, no scientific or other concrete evidence existed to reasonably conclude that these swimsuits provided an advantage for the swimmer that could be defined as illegal or inappropriate assistance. As a result, the technical swimsuits were deemed compliant for all intercollegiate competition.
In light of the recent proliferation of new models and designs of technical swimsuits, international bodies have begun discussions on implementing scientific measures to be used for approving swimsuits for competition. In mid-January, FINA announced it was temporarily halting the intake of approval requests from manufacturers designing new swimsuits. As a result, the committees have been forced to reevaluate using FINA’s list as the resource for approving swimsuits for intercollegiate competition.
Since the NCAA does not currently have the capability to test swimsuits, and since there seemingly is no discernible justification for treating any one technical suit differently from any other for purposes of use at intercollegiate competition, the committees have decided to permit all technical swimsuits for all 2009 NCAA swimming and diving championships.
We also would like to take this opportunity to remind the membership that, per NCAA Bylaw 12.5.4, “a student-athlete’s institution’s official uniform (including numbered racing bibs and warm-ups) and all other items of apparel (e.g., socks, head bands, T-shirts, wrist bands, visors or hats, swim caps and towels) shall bear only a single manufacturer’s or distributor’s normal label or trademark (regardless of the visibility of the label or trademark), not to exceed 2¼ square inches in area (rectangle, square, parallelogram) including any additional material (e.g., patch) surrounding the normal trademark or logo.” As we prepare for the championships, it is important that everyone is in compliance with this bylaw and it is the individual participants’ and institutions’ ultimate responsibility to adhere to the bylaw. Division I institutions are reminded also to review NCAA Bylaw 31.1.7 pertaining to bench personnel. A violation of these bylaws will result in a report being sent to NCAA Enforcement.
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