It is normal for numerous records to be broken during global swimming events. This has been the trend as new talent emerges and standards improve.
The apex was reached at the 2009 World Championships in Rome as a massive 24 new limits were registered out of 40 events for men and women.
The buzzing city of Shanghai in China proved to be an anti-climax as only two records were broken. The reason behind this shortfall is easy to explain. Shiny artificial suits were playing havoc with what the swimming purists expected since the apparel enhanced buoyancy and hence speed.
There was no level playing as the swimmers could maximise on their speed in varying degrees due to the different properties of the various shiny swimsuits.
The eternal city was the turning point. Experts deemed that the slide towards unrealistic times had to be halted. Polyurethane suits were banned and new specifications were made mandatory.
Come Shanghai 2011 and the Swimming Championships. New thresholds in textile swimwear are established despite the evident slump in new limits.
Ryan Lochte (US) 1:54.00 in the 200m IM and China’s Sun Yang’s 14:34.41 in the 1,500m freestyle were the record breaking standard-bearers of the world’s strongest swimming nations.
Together with Australia, the three giants of this sport were a cut above France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Russia and Japan in terms of depth of talent rather than podium placings.
Apart from those of Lochte and Yang, new textile standards have been set by the likes of Americans Melissa Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Elizabeth Beisel, Ye Shiwen, of China, the Australian James Magnussen, and Cameron Van Der Burgh and Alex Dale, of South Africa and Norway, respectively.
Romance was provided by the victories of Italian Federica Pellegrini, Rebecca Adlington, of Great Britain, and Swedish veteran Therese Alshammer, besides others, too many to mention.
This has been the legacy of the magnificent Oriental Sports Centre in Shanghai, one which should see new horizons in the sport. The 2009 limits will not be easy to erase, but new benchmarks will surely be etched in swimming statistics.
Progress cannot be halted despite a blip due to changing circumstances in regulations. Updating of training techniques and the emergence of rising talent will gradually make for new global limits notwithstanding the outlawing of artificial swimwear.
This advancement was also seen in Malta with the advent of textile suits. No fewer than 18 national records (three in 2010 and 15 in 2011) and 40 age group marks (21 in 2010 and 19 in 2011) were set in both male and female categories in the last two years, no doubt evidence that we are moving in the right direction as a new era unfolds.
On the world stage the year 2011, and particularly Shanghai, will be the forerunner in this respect.