Calls for swimming record rescindment

Yesterday I suggested FINA rollback the world records to end of the Beijing Olympics and start over. Some real sports writers had the same idea:

Super outfits show fairness is not swimming's strong suit

"It's not Biedermann's fault that FINA, swimming's international governing body, made a serious mistake by not banning all "wardrobe doping" last year, well before the Beijing Games, before the sport's record book became little more than a science fiction novel.

FINA says it will ban ultra-fast bodysuits next year. No polyurethane will be allowed. Only "textiles," a word that is yet to be defined by FINA.

But it's too late.

The sport already is in turmoil, its record book dominated by outrageously fast times that almost certainly will be untouchable for years to come after the ban takes effect. Unless the sport sets aside all records starting with the LZR, which would include all those times you cheered from the Beijing Olympics, great young swimmers coming up now might go an entire career without approaching a world record.

Swimming is sounding a lot like Major League Baseball these days, which is not necessarily a good development. Asterisks, anyone?"

More perspectives:

Does DeScenza gain or lose by her world record? Suit yourself

"The backlash against the suits has forced FINA to go back to the future, and it seems likely that few of the records set in 2008 and 2009 by swimmers in Speedo, Jaked or Arena suits will be broken for years to come by swimmers in all-textile suits. Even Phelps, who set plenty of world records without the LZR, will be hard pressed to lower the times he has clocked with it.

FINA now can choose to return to the records as of Jan. 1, 2008; put asterisks next to any records set after that; or simply leave the current records as is. All those choices make FINA look stupid -- which is an accurate reflection of the only quality the international federation has displayed unequivocally regarding the swimsuit issue."

A Mere Mortal in these Advanced Times

"A new FINA rule will say that from now on suits must be made from "textiles." But that hardly remedies the situation in Rome, where swimmers are screaming with outrage over the bizarre times, such as Biedermann's 1 minute 42 seconds flat in the 200, a record that may never be equaled. Swimming great Dawn Fraser has labeled the meet a "laughingstock." Biedermann himself admitted after rocketing past Thorpe's mark in the 400: "I expected someone to break the world record. I didn't expect it to be me," and estimated the suit was worth two full seconds."

and

Swimming at the moment is just a matter of what you're wearing. We all want to see records, but if they're broken in every heat, and anyone can swim alongside a Phelps, then what is the value of a race?

I hope a drumbeat arises for this. No one is calling for the winners to give up their medals. But make a record mean something again, FINA.