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Fina cracks down on hi-tech suits

World swimming governing body Fina has moved to limit the impact of the controversial hi-tech swimsuits.

Last year saw an astonishing Protected content records broken, 79 of them by swimmers wearing one suit, the Speedo LZR Racer.

"Fina wishes to recall the main and core principle is that swimming is a sport essentially based on the physical performance of the athlete," said a statement from swimming's world governing body.

The first swimsuit to combine stitch-free, ultrasonically welded seams, water-resistant fabric and strategically-placed polyurethane panels (designed by Nasa), the LZR took the swimming world by storm last year.

At the Olympics in Beijing, LZR swimmers, most notably Michael Phelps, won 94% of the golds on offer and broke 23 of the 25 records set in the Cube.

But opponents of the hi-tech suits argue the buoyancy they create amounts to "technological doping".

Is it a problem technology doping or it's the access to it that is causing the disparity? Did Fina take the right desicion?

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