SWIMMING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:AS MORE world records tumbled at the world championships in Rome, Fina, the world governing body, has bowed to the inevitable and announced that the controversial full bodysuits will be banned from all competitions from January 1st next year.
Fina president Julio Maglione initially announced this week the ban would come into effect in “April or May” of next year to be replaced by textile-only suits with leggings for men, and the more traditional swimwear for women.
Bob Bowman, coach to Michael Phelps, said earlier in the week he would pull his swimmer out of future meets if the issue was not resolved.
In a further move. Fina’s technical committee say they will consider the issue of the world records set over the last two years since the bodysuit entered world swimming in February 2008 with the introduction of the Speedo LZR leggings which were used extensively during the Beijing Olympics which produced 25 world records.
In the pool last night, the world records surged past the 30 mark. In the first race Germany’s Olympic champion Britta Steffan produced a storming last 50 metres to win the women’s 100 metres freestyle, setting a world’s best for the event for the second time this week. Trailing Lisbeth Trickett at the 50-metre turn, Steffan, half a body length behind, began to hunt down the Australian in the lane beside her, passing her in the last 15 metres to claim gold. Her winning time was 52.07 seconds. Trickett had to settle for bronze, beaten to the touch by Britain’s Fran Halsall.
American Aaron Piersol kept the world records coming in the next race, smashing the men’s 200 metres backstroke time in taking gold and making up for not making the 100 metres final.
Other world records were set in the semi-finals of the women’s 50 metres butterfly by Magdalena Veldhuis of the Netherlands in 25.28 seconds, only for the time to be beaten by Sweden’s Therese Alshammer in the next semi-final in 25.07.
Outspoken Serbian Milorad Cavic, who had offered to buy Phelps a full bodysuit to replace his Speedo leggings, took the American’s world record in the second semi-final of the 100 metres butterfly in 50.01 seconds.
Phelps won gold as part of the US 4x200 metres freestyle relay squad who set the final world record of the night, cutting one hundredth of a second off their Beijing time, winning in six minutes 58.55 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Ireland’s Barry Murphy, a semi-finalist in the 50 metres breaststroke, narrowly failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 50 metres freestyle despite swimming a world-class time of 22.14 seconds, his fastest ever, which left him 19th overall. Murphy won his heat impressively but the time was just not good enough for him to make his second semi-final of the week.
Murphy may have one more race tomorrow. “I’m not sure if I’m finished. It’s between me and (Andrew) Bree for the medley relay squad but the coaches will decide that.”
Conor Leaney, swimming in an earlier heat, broke the Irish junior record in the 50 metres freestyle, while Melanie Nocher went in her top event, the women’s 200 metres butterfly, but despite winning her heat failed to progress. Nuala and Gráinne Murphy failed to get to the final of the women’s 800 metres freestyle.
Irish swimmers in action today are Fiona Doyle and Clare Dawson in the 50 metres freestyle, Karl Burdis and Donal O’Neill, who compete in the 50 backstroke and the women’s 4x100 metres medley relay squad of Aisling Cooney, Doyle, Murphy and Dawson.
