Like any activity in life, sports is in progress mode, especially where performances can be measured in real terms, like track and field events and swimming, to mention a few of the foremost disciplines that spring to mind.

Improved performances in sport are consequential to several factors, excluding the notorious malpractice of athletes resorting to performance-enhancing substances. Better and more streamlined training techniques, optimal psychological preparation and stronger physical qualities resulting from improved nutrition are doing the trick.

Nor can one exclude the technological advances, such as more sophisticated timing equipment which could possibly herald the splitting of a second into thousandths, and above all, the athletes' apparel, which can push competitors to surpass expectations and step into uncharted territory.

Swimming is a typical example.

This sport has been revolutionised lately in terms of rate of progress due to the apparel factor.

The new swimsuit technology has accounted for a myriad of records in the past year, prompting many to question the validity of these new limits to the extent that there are some experts advocating an outright ban on the bodysuits or at least placing their use under a tight regime of control.

This has placed the world ruling body in a dilemma.

On the one hand, this quantum leap in improvement may push forward the case for stricter measures over the use of these suits, and on the other, there are those who will forever defend the latest generation swimsuits, contending that the tide cannot be held back, once uniformity through their universal use is guaranteed.

But only last week at a meeting in Lausanne, during which FINA met representatives of no fewer than 16 swimwear manufacturers, coaches and other experts with a view to considering changing the regulations regarding official requirements for swimwear approval, has the bull been really taken by its horns.

The world body at last has decided to put its foot down and analyse more closely the effects of the 2008 model swimsuits which placed the sport in the fast lane and led many experts into thinking that the progress in terms of records resulting from the use of such apparel is artificial.

Properties of material

Tests regarding the properties of the material, such as permeability and buoyancy factors, besides other scientific ones, will take their course, but the indications are that the Speedo LZR generation of swimsuits and other similar ones will be outlawed, even if such a decision will not be implemented until next year.

FINA's readiness to examine their requirements for accepted swimwear shows that finally they have acknowledged that not all is well in the swimming world.

Many predict that the sport lawmakers will seek to rectify what has been regarded as unreal progress in swimming by the liberal use of the smart body wear. However, nothing is certain and, in any case, the air may not be cleared overnight.

The Rome World Championships 2009 may be an intriguing interlude since some changes, if any, in swimwear requirements will not come into effect before January 1, 2010.

However, the stage seems to be set for an overhaul in these specifications and it is anybody's guess as to what changes will be made until the world event this coming summer and later.

Meanwhile, it is hoped that there will be some light at the end of the tunnel as this sport grapples with an uncertain future.