Phelps not invincible as FINA moves to level things

This proved true in Rome during the championships held in the Italian capital from July 17 to August 2, when an astonishing 43 world records were broken - 28 more than at the last championships in Melbourne two years ago.

The reason for the record flood was simple: polyurethane.

Since the material was first introduced in the form of a few panels in the Speedo LZR Racer, which U.S. superstar Michael Phelps wore during his unprecedented haul of eight gold medals at last year's Beijing Olympics, world records have fallen like ripe apples from trees.

A progression in swimsuit design saw the first all-polyurethane swimsuit launched a few months before the start of the world championships. Since then, times have become even easier to break, resulting in the incredible records tumble in Rome.

Phelps, who was one of the few of the top swimmers who did not wear an all-polyurethane costume, lost his air of invincibility, as German Paul Biedermann beat him easily in the 200m freestyle, touching the pad more than a second ahead.

The swimsuit situation became so ridiculous that swimmers were even changing their costume between swims.

Chinese butterfly swimmers Zhao Jing and Gao Chang, for instance, were unhappy with their first swims and both changed to Jaked 01, one of the all-polyurethane suits.

The change obviously worked wonders, as they won gold and bronze respectively, with Zhao getting a world record.

However, both swimmers, like many others, opted to blacken-out the Jaked logo on their swimsuit as their federation is sponsored by a rival company.

Even before the championship started, the sport's governing body FINA realized that they had a problem on their hands — or better said — in their pools.

Unlike previous competitions, where the focus was on swimmers and swimming, most of the interest in Rome was on the swimsuits and the times that could be achieved with - and through - them.

FINA thus set about to level the playing fields, or better said - to level the swimming pools.

In Rome, the FINA executive reacted by confirming a ban on bodysuits from next year and said it would also be introducing strict textile restrictions.

Under the new rules men are permitted to wear suits that extend from the naval to above the knees, while women's suits must have a bare neck and shoulders and end above the knees.

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