Permitted Swimsuits and the Rules of the Amateur Swimming Association ("ASA")

ANNOUNCEMENT Permitted Swimsuits and the Rules of the Amateur Swimming Association (“ASA”)

1. Background
As the world governing body for aquatic sports, FINA has the authority and responsibility to issue regulations applying to its five disciplines. This includes the determination of the specifications applying to sport equipment.

2. Changes to FINA’s Rules
Following a meeting of the FINA Bureau in Dubai, the Bureau has revised the requirements for swimwear approval and also the nature of permitted swimwear.
The full charter can be found on:
http://www.fina.org/project/images/help/the%20dubai%20charter.pdf

The FINA rules now reflect some of the changes. These can be found at:
http://www.fina.org/project/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=119

By way of summary of the key current changes:

By-Law 8 SWIMWEAR

BL 8.1 All FINA approved swimwear to be used at the Olympic Games and FINA World Championships must be approved by FINA at least twelve (12) months prior to the start of the respective competition. In addition, it must be available for all competitors by 1st January of the year of the Olympic Games or FINA World Championships.

BL 8.2 In swimming competitions, the competitor must wear only one swimsuit in one or two pieces which shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor past the ankle. No additional items, like arm bands or leg bands shall be regarded as parts of a swimsuit.
GR 5.3 is also to be read as permitting the wearing of only one swimsuit.

3. The ASA’s Position
The ASA has now formally considered its own rules in light of the above changes.
It has confirmed that its regulation 411 (“Costumes”) shall be amended at 411.3 to read in accordance with the wording of FINA by-law 8.2, with effect from 1st September 2009.
In the meantime, however, the current wording of regulation 411 still applies.