Why Tech Suits Are BANNED For 12 & Under Swimmers

In 2018, the United States banned technical racing suits of any kind for swimmers aged 12 and under. No other country in the world has ever created restrictions like this, so why did they do this? And how will this impact the development of youth and professional sports?
Let's dive in!



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[calvintappert]

As a 17 year old swimmer, I feel like the ban for juniors is a good idea. Especially at that age, focus should be on the swimmers technique, not their suit. I still race in a speedo vanquisher (12&U legal) for all non championship meets, and I really don’t think there is as much of a difference as many people think. At the highest level, it definitely makes an impact, but for younger swimmers you can get just as much if not more of an impact by improving your technique and race strategy.

[robfetty]

as a parent of 3 kids who all swam club before the ban, I will say it cost a lot of money to keep up. Parents who are who have the money bought their kids new tech suits all the time. It was not a fair scenario. Tech suits give both a mental and physical advantage. Younger swimmers should not have to worry about what their parents can afford. Frankly I would like to see the ban all the way up age 17.

[SpokeSeadog]

If you ban expensive suits at early competitions, the main differentiator between young athletes will be more about the talent/skill and not gear, as they grow older typically a smaller number of athletes remain competitive, but these have already been tested on skill/talent alone, meaning you have a larger pool from which to draw potential future champions by making the entry barrier lower, before you must invest money on elite equipment to remain competitive.

[cest_moi_riri]

I agree with this law. As a swimmer myself, I didnt even know about these suits before turning 13 and seeing others with them . When i was 12 all that mattered was having fun at swim meets and trying my best. I only had my first kneeskin ( a suit approved for 12 year olds ) at 13 and a real competition suit at 14. Before that age I would drop time like crazy without any special suit anyways.

[_capcon]

Im 17 and have been swimming since I was 8. I agree with the sentiment of the ban, but unless you go to the highest level of competition, I feel like most 12 year olds can barely figure out what they're doing.

I think it would be more effective to have specific meets where tech suits are and arent allowed, so they can still suit up and get all excited for a championship meet, but parents dont have to buy new tech suits for every average meet.

[ryry]

In Australia, meets in the state of Victoria does not permit swimmers under 11 and under to race in tech suits.

[dlphin_person]

I just turned 13 as an usa team swimmer and so many of my friends who moved up an age group with me have jumped on the bandwagon. I have a 12&u suit, just because of the cost, it's by TYR but it doesn't have the FINA check. I only wear it at important meets though so I know how good I do without it.

[willis]

As a swimmer and a runner, I don’t think tech suits are needed unless you are close to d1 level. They just don’t provide enough tangible benefit to be worth the 500 dollars. Unlike a super spike such as dragonflies, which provide an instant benefit of around 1 percent for 2 miles or higher, you are not at a significant disadvantage without a tech suit and can still swim very fast without one.

[robohippy]

Interesting points. I am not sure. However, kids should be in the 'equal opportunity' bracket. If money is keeping them out of a sport and they have talent, that is a crime to me.

[burt]

Usually I'm against regulations in general, but in this case it sounds reasonable.

[me]

I got my first tech suit when i was 12 ( the og carbon air), as a present from my grandparents for qualifing for state champs. Until then I just competed in normal briefs, and even after that i would use one suit for a whole season usally getting a new one for state champs (my yearly high light as I never qualified for Nationals). Now I do Triathlon and think back to those "cheap" days of beeing a swimer.

[kickinghorse]

I'm old school.
All tech suits should be banned for all ages.
The concept that a person can go faster in the water just because they can spend more money is appalling.

[Stay_forever]

I’m a club swimmer from nz and most of the national competitions are for 12 and above but 10 year olds are training to be at that level and start wearing these suits since they r 8 or 9. Here in nz the coaches incurable us to wear normal swim suits during training but these racing suits while racing to make sure that we train fairly and not think that we can buy the speed but we train for it but in races they mostly tell us to focus on technique instead of speed

[Thatoneswimmernamedr-lhvv]

I just got out of being 12, and the 12 and under race suits aren’t that bad. I can tell you this I go a 28 with one on and a 29 without (I haven’t swam it in a while) but they more so make a difference physiologically. I feel more confident in my speedo vanquisher race suit. When I turned thirteen, I got an arena carbon core fx. I didn’t want that suit, but since there was a big sale that was the one for me. (I was going to get the speedo lzr pro $140 instead of the one I got $550 I got it off for half of though $275). I think that we need them more for confidence. But you shouldn’t wear one at a small meet bc it makes you look stuck up ect. I try to go on the budget side also because they are stupidly expensive.

[antinatalist]

Whilst not banned in the country I live in, coaches discourage parents from buying racing suits for the younger competitors, so that the children focus on technique and the parents don't waste their money.

[Thtguy]

i work for a swim equipment distributor and honestly a good amount of teams we work with dont allow any of their swimmers regardless of age to wear tech suits aside from specific big meets. they dont want them to be reliant on them.

[true_xlgamer]

As an ausi swimmer The Australian swimming governing body does ban tech suits for 12 and under

[franciscovieira]

actually here in Portugal, kids 13 and under can't compete with any kind of tech suit and most clubs ask the kids to wear trunks or just normal knee shorts

[rafaelspac]

Portugal has a restriction on the age you can wear techsuits, swimmers who are in the categorie of "Infantil A(2010)" and under aren't allowed to wear techsuits

[JimStrader]

It's really pretty simple. USA Swimming wants parents to focus on kids LEARNING how to swim. It should not be about who can buy the best suit. It becomes like parents buying a kid a $300 baseball bat instead of teaching the kid actually how to hit a ball. You can't qualify for the Olympics at 12 so they aren't at a disadvantage on the world stage. The playing field is level for all of them.