KEY POINTS:
For the first time in its history, world swimming will have to consider speed restrictions on technology and slowing the flood of world records that is igniting bitter debate.
The villain or hero of the piece (depending in whose corner you stand) is Speedo's LZR racer bodysuit which
has helped a massive 108 world records to fall since it was introduced in a blaze of publicity in February and carried all before it at the Beijing Olympics.
Supporters, like Australian champion Libby Trickett, maintain that it is not just the suits that have led to the rush of records. Others, like former multi-world record holder Michael Gross, say it is cheating.
The latter view seems to be gaining credence. The LZR suit and its competitors do more than just give "an edge" to swimmers. It includes polyurethane panels which help swimmers become more streamlined through the water and neoprene, a flotation device. As a result, the swimmer is allowed more speed and buoyancy in the water, delaying fatigue.
The suit holds the swimmer in a corset-like grip (it takes at least 15 minutes to put on, with plastic bags on hands and feet), aligning the body in the best position and delaying the body sinking lower in the water as tiredness increases. Some estimates say swimmers get a five per cent boost in oxygen savings, allowing more speed.
Small wonder, then, that opponents of the suit call it "technological doping" and "doping on a coat-hanger". This month, 15 out of 17 of the top European swimming nations revolted after the European Short-Course Championships in Croatia, calling for world swimming body FINA to regulate use of the suits.
USA Swimming has called for a ban. John Leonard, executive director of the American Swimming Coaches Association and a leading light in the equivalent world union of coaches, said: "This is a battle for the soul of our sport. Shall it continue to be about hard work, attention to detail and athleticism, or shall it deteriorate into a soulless contest of engineering expertise?"
The head coach of British Swimming, Dennis Pursley, backed the call by European coaches after the number of world records set this year reached 105 at the European Short-Course Championships in Croatia. At that meeting, nine world marks went, including four to Amaury Leveaux alone, wearing a TYR suit.
Frenchman Amaury became the first man to break the 45-second barrier in the 100 metres freestyle and his time of 44.94s means almost two seconds has been taken off Alex Popov's record in just 13 months - in an event where increments of about 0.3s have been exceptional. Leveaux's world record marked a year-on-year gain of 2.57s.
There may be other reasons for such an enormous gain but the 1.68s between Leveaux's gold and the bronze-winning time is unprecedented. The average difference between gold and bronze in the World and European Short-Course Championships is 0.5s.
Pursley said: "It demeans the records and kind of cheapens them to an extent. Up to this generation of suits I think it's just been maximising performance but I think we're crossing the line to enhancing performance and to me that is a whole different area."
Some opponents go further, saying the suits turn swimmers into "human surfboards". Now comes news that a "doping suit" - one connected directly to the swimmer's brain and nervous system - will boost performance even further.
But Trickett said: "I think it's just an evolution of the sport - the training that has been done, the training that has changed. I think it's a combination of the professionalism in the sport, all the technology, the timing, lane ropes, blocks, everything, as well as the suits.
"I don't think it really makes sense to ban the suits across the board, because then we would be going back over a decade ago to when we were just wearing togs - and that, to me, would be a reversal in the sport. We want to keep it interesting and we want to keep people watching and excited about it. People love watching world records being broken. I honestly don't think it [the suit] provides as much of a difference as people are making out it does."
If that's the case, why did Speedo offer free suits to any Beijing Olympic athlete who wanted one? They gave away more than 3000 and swimmers sponsored by rival brands almost knocked down old ladies in their haste to get them. Of all swimming golds at Beijing, 94 per cent went to athletes wearing the LZR Racer.
Speedo, predictably, maintain that "it is the swimmer, not the suit, that breaks world records," according to their global research and development head Jason Rance.
"When you look back in history there has always been controversy. In 1928, when Speedo went from woollen swimsuits to silk swimsuits, there was moral outrage because it was skin-tight material. When we created the racer back to help Arne Borg [Swedish world champion in the 1920s] to swim faster, that caused outrage because you were showing the naked shoulder. Similarly when we removed the skirt from the female suits, which created huge improvements in performance."
But those were moral arguments; this is all about artificially aiding performance. FINA regulations state no device should aid buoyancy, speed and endurance but the governing body has so far insisted the swimmers are not using a device. That could rebound on them. Nike has already turned its back on the sport and adidas may too.
FINA are due to meet in March to discuss what to do. The manufacturers bring millions into the sport by way of sponsorship and it is difficult to "un-invent" technology.
Difficult, but not impossible. Back in 1986, world track and field authorities became concerned over safety after javelin design saw the world record fly out to over 104 metres.
It was re-designed, shortening its flight. The then world record holder, Uwe Hohn of Germany, had the world record under the old rules but Czechoslavakia's Jan Selezny became the new world record holder - at a distance of over 17 metres less than Hohn's. The record crept up and up over the years and Selezny still holds it at 98.48m, still over six metres behind Hohn's mark.
FINA may have to do something similar. They will likely baulk at banning the suits but may introduce new speed-limiting design regulations which mean the old world records will pass into history even though they may eventually be overhauled with the passage of time.
That seems to be the least they could do, given the need for fairness and the call from coaches that all swimmers have access to the same technology and for 12 months before a major event - so the prospect of the sport being "hi-jacked' by a technological advance is negated.
Until the next time.
