On Sunday, the Eternal City will be the centre of attraction worldwide as the swimming races are due to start in the FINA 2009 World Championships which offi cially got under way last weekend. As usual, great things are expected from the best swimmers around the globe.
There is no doubt that the centre stage will be adorned as best as possible, with the world swimming body seemingly isolated in blissful illusion that all is well with a sport that was once dubbed as pure, that is, until the intrusion of performance-enhancing substances, which have otherwise tainted all sport, and lately the element of technological doping with regards to the fabric of swimsuits which has scientifically been proven to improve performances.
Ever since the floodgates were opened about two years ago when the partly-synthetic Speedo LZR emerged in February 2008 and was wedded to the USA, Australia and Great Britain, records started tumbling at a faster rate.
As a consequence the smart apparel market has been inundated with even smarter cover for the body, the latest and most controversial being the Jaked 01 of Italian make, which, with some other previously banned suits, was given the green light last month after having been outlawed by FINA in May.
The suspicion among many experts is that, when last month the world body reversed its previous decisions by lifting the ban on certain swimsuits, there were dubious reasons behind such a volte face. The conjecturing revolves around manufacturing firms having sponsorship contacts with national federations.
The Jaked 01, the Blue Seventy, the X-Glide, TYR and Aquaforce Zero, all 100 per cent polyurethane suits with all-covered non-permeable fabric which aids flotation, speed and resistance to fatigue, have made a mockery of historic standards. Yet the first one has passed FINA's test, but the others have not.
This is all rendering the sport dependant on the swimsuit and not on the swimmer anymore, with the result that the factor of level-playing as now stressed by FINA is vague, to say the least.
Skewed results sheets
The argument that all the swimmers can wear these revolutionary swimsuits does not in any way eliminate the fact that results sheets are being skewed and the thread of history is being torn.
Lest one forgets, almost 140 world records have already been broken in just over a year and that is too many even allowing for the pace of progress brought about by natural means.
In the last weeks we have seen another spate of this record-breaking madness at the French, Hungarian, Italian, German and Danish championships, and more recently during the Canadian and US trials and the European Junior Championships. Given these circumstances, new global marks are becoming increasingly meaningless.
The general opinion on these revolutionary swimsuits is that they are in breach of FINA Rule SW 10.7 which states that 'no device shall aid speed, buoyancy or endurance'.
The point at issue here may extend to the lawmakers' interpretation of 'device', probably a very loose one in that they contend that a swimsuit is not a device.
The world swimming body's latest move when appeasing Jaked 01 et al even if consequential if one gives in to 'science' but doesn't have a clue on it and eventually gets it wrong, will guarantee that no one will challenge its authority in the short term as the 13th (unlucky..!) Swimming Championships will include swimmers who will enjoy different degrees of outside assistance from a variety of suits which offer different advantages to swimmers on all the four strokes.
Yes, the world record lists will take another pounding and become even more hollow. And this all thanks to what many are contending to be FINA's inertia when failing to put its foot firmly down on this flouting of the rules of swimming.
Indeed, it's difficult to say where the swimmer ends and the shiny suit starts!
This once technique-based sport is turning into an equipment-dependant one and is being choked to death as many grey areas are the subject of endless discussion between scientists, lawyers and manufacturers.
Nevertheless, the show will soon be on as the global Shampionships (The 'S' is deliberate) are about to start. Or will it be a 'circus'...? Worse still, some say it will be a tragic-comedy.