Olympic swimmers learn from the sharks

The trend is not to everyone8217;s liking, but with the suits approved by swimming8217;s world governing body, FINA, the various versions appear to be here to stay.

Kieran Perkins, Australia8217;s 1,500m freestyle world record holder, thinks they should be banned. But he wore one anyway at the Australian Olympic trials.

8220;I8217;m not going to get beaten by somebody because I8217;m not wearing one,8221; he said.

Australian Susie O8217;Neill wore a suit cut off at the knees and shoulders 8212; similar to one she wore at the Atlanta Games 8212; when she broke Mary T Meagher8217;s venerable 200m butterfly World record in May.

8220;I didn8217;t want people to think the suit swam 2:05, but it was also that I didn8217;t want to think it either,8221; said O8217;Neill, who added that she8217;d be trying out the full-length version for the Games.

American coach Paul Bergen, who coaches Dutch world record-breaker Inge de Bruijn in Oregon, believes the suit was a factor in De Bruijn8217;s spree of seven World records in three weeks earlier this year.

He said he had run more than 300 trials in practice with 20 different swimmers, and the suit was between four-tenths and six-tenths of a second faster over 25 metres.

8220;That8217;s two seconds in 100 yards,8221; Bergen said. 8220;So I think that suit is a piece of equipment. I don8217;t see it as a costume.8221;

Tom Malchow of the United States, who set the men8217;s 200m butterfly world record in short-sleeved, neck-to-ankle suit in June, swears by the suits, even though they8217;re not exactly convenient.

8220;I wouldn8217;t want anybody to watch it,8221; Malchow said of the contortions he goes through putting the suit on. 8220;It8217;s pretty ugly.8221;

Breaststroker Kristy Kowal likened the process to putting on nylons.

As well as any aquadynamic properties, the muscle compression provided by the suits may help distance swimmers 8212; although FINA rules ban devices that aid a swimmer8217;s endurance.

Some swimmers, like Malchow, say they feel higher in the water when they wear the suits, another source of controversy since FINA rules prohibit devices that are buoyant.

British athletics great Sebastian Coe said the bodysuits and other technological advances could put competitors from poorer nations at a disadvantage.

8220;You don8217;t want athletes to be disadvantaged simply because they don8217;t have the technology available to them,8221; Coe said in May. 8220;In terms of the swim suits, we8217;ve got to be very careful that we8217;re not isolating three or four countries that are able to do this from those that aren8217;t.8221;

For similar reasons, US swimming tried to ban the suits from the US Olympic trials. They relented under pressure from manufacturers, who promised to make the suits available to all swimmers who wanted them.

8220;Call me a purist,8221; said American Olympian Gary Hall.8220;I8217;ve always believed it8217;s man versus water, or man against man.8221;

Hall also feared the publicity about the suit would diminish the credit given to swimmers.

8220;The suit doesn8217;t make the swimmer, the swimmer makes the suit,8221; Hall said. 8220;What it does is take away what the swimmer has done to break the World record.

8220;A guy up in the stands puts on a body suit, he8217;s not going to break a World record.8221;

Or, as four-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken Putit: 8220;It8217;s not going to make my mom break a World record.8221;