Two of the country's largest regional swimming authorities are banning expensive technical swim suits for junior competitive swimmers.
Swimming Canterbury West Coast and Auckland Swimming say there is little advantage to be gained by swimmers aged 12 and under wearing these expensive ‘racing togs’ which can cost hundreds of dollars and last about a year.
Photo: Li Zhao
This follows the introduction of similar policies in Western Australia, parts of the United States and in Brazil, where research shows many of the benefits of wearing a technical or performance suit don't apply to young swimmers who are not fully physically developed.
One of the main benefits of wearing a technical suit is muscle compression and they were developed for much older and top flight international swimmers.
However peer pressure and a belief young swimmers will make faster times if they wear these suits is costing some parents dear.
And Swimming Canterbury West Coast says these expensive suits it can be a barrier to getting involved in the sport.
Debbie Rahurahu, the administrator at Swimming Canterbury West Coast, says the suits have become a kind of “parental arms race”.
“The suits are designed for top flight Olympic world champion athletes … they’re not designed for 12 year olds and under with developing bodies who are competing at local club meets.”
Even though the suits have practically no value to young swimmers, the manufacturers still make them, she says.
“If people will buy it, they will make it.”
A high level technical suit for a girl can cost nearly $1000 and a top of the range pair of ‘jammers’ for a boy can cost $700, she says.
“They make them right down to a size that will fit a ten year old because people are willing to pay that sort of money.
“It’s almost become a parental arms race, where parents are bowing to the pressure as well as the kids because the kids see their teammates racing in one of those suits that they’ve seen their idols racing in.”
Rahurahu says young swimmers would be better off concentrating on their techniques.
“We think that at age 12 and under swimmers should be concentrating on technique: on their fitness and their own abilities amd growing their confidence in the water.”
She says a swimmer that age will gain many seconds by learning to start and finish well and execute good turns, “whereas a technical suit for an Olympian is only going to gain them tenths of a second".
“The idea behind the suit is they compress the muscles and so therefore hold the body in a more streamlined shape, and to a certain degree prevent that build-up of lactic acid which causes the swimmers to tire and experience pain,” she says.
That doesn’t apply to a 12 year old because they don’t have the muscle build up for that to be effective.”
The suits are a hassle to get on, too, especially for girls.
“Some of these togs for the girls, because they need to bring them up over their shoulders, some of the girls need assistance from other swimmers to get into the togs.”
The expensive ones even come with gloves to stop them getting ripped by fingernails, she says.
