by John Lesko

When it comes to the Speedo LZR Racer, FINA wants answers according to the Sydney Herald-Sun.

Rebecca Williams and Jim Wilson of the Sydney Herald Sun write:

"FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu last night told the Herald Sun the suits would be a key agenda item at next month's world short course championships in Manchester."

I want answers, too. However, my questions are different.

Over the past month or so, I watched the names of our sport's greats, past and present, as they tumbled from the record boards. Popov, Van den Hoogenband, and Hoff have now been replaced recently with Sullivan, Bernard, and Rice. I watched this sudden progression with a feeling in the pit of my stomach that straddled the line between wonder and terror. Anyone who is a fan of the sport has to appreciate new, exciting ground being broken in the quest for more speed. The old is in the process of being swept away, and a brave new world of human performance is being ushered in by a new generation of athletes and technology.

So, why am I uneasy?

Experience tells me that amid exciting times, the logical tends to take a back seat to the visceral. The players tend to focus more on the fact that they can in the near term, rather than asking if they should over the long term.

In short, the new, exciting, and untested of today is the "Law of Unintended Consequences" fodder of tomorrow.

One has to ask the question: What is the impact of this on the age group swimmer, and thus tomorrow's elite athletes?

When you have soaked the amount of resources into your swimming that the average elite swimmer has, and are fighting for hundredths of seconds, $500 for a suit looks like a can't-miss investment. It's simple economics. No risk, low cost compared to what you've invested so far, and a new way to drop time at a point where your pathways to more speed diminish by the season.

For an age group swimmer, the calculus changes. I cringe every time I hear someone say "elite age-group swimmer". In my opinion, fast young swimmers being "little olympians" is one of the great myths perpetrated by the swimming community at large. Fast or slow, experienced or inexperienced, the age group swimmer is for certain one thing, and that thing is an unfinished product. The middle of the pack age group swimmer and the "elite age group swimmer" have a lot more in common with each other than either do with the athlete/pitch-man pulling down a million dollar apparel deal.

One of the great strengths of swimming is that success can be viewed fairly objectively. Swimmers learn very early on that there is a direct connection between work and results. It's the main reason why so many swimmers grow up to be productive members of society and all-around good people. As the perception grows that racing suits are standard equipment and diving without one puts you at a massive competitive disadvantage, this strength of the sport as it stands today begins to get undercut as the perceived worth of hard work diminishes.

The swimming community is so closely-knit that we often spend too much time talking to each other about us, and rarely take a step back to look at ourselves the way the rest of the world does. My interactions about swimming with my non-swimmer friends goes something like this, almost to a person:

Question 1: "Boy, that Michael Phelps is something. Do you think he will really win all those gold medals?" (Yes.)
Question 2: "Wow, those fancy swimsuits are expensive. Do they really work?" (Yes, but only if .01 is worth $500 to you.)

This is really scary. What this means is that the real danger to the sport may lie beyond everyone's immediate perception. The heirs to the crowns of Phelps and Hoff may have their careers cut down before they even begin.

Here's what will happen. Mom and Dad say: "Nope, too expensive." and hand them a basketball instead. Promotion of our athletes is certainly important, but what is more important is putting more bodies in the water and broadening the base of our sport.

Competitive swimming is now a big business, and the athletes on TV are businesspeople. Their ability to support themselves depends largely on money that comes from their apparel contracts, and they are being paid to say what they say and wear the suits that they do. They're simply reaping the rewards of their years of hard work and dedication. That suit whose virtues they extol exists because of their success, and not the other way around.

So, my advice to the elite swimmers of the future is this: Put the suit back on the rack, get our your training suit and go to practice, because racing suits don't swim fast... people do.