THE ROAD TO ROME

June 29: News from the world of swimming

THE SWIMSUIT SAGA ...

AUSTRALIA'S swimmers could be wearing a greater variety of swimsuits than ever before at the Rome World Championships following FINA's decision to backtrack on plans to ban non-textile suits for the remainder of 2009.

Australian coach Alan Thompson expressed his frustration with the issue when speaking on Sydney's Sky Sports Radio on Friday, saying the decision had thrown the swimming world into chaos again.

Thompson was part of the committee which in May recommended which suits should be approved, only to see that decision overturned.

"I spent about two weeks of extra time in Europe when I probably would have been better off spending it at home but I felt it was for a real gain and a real purpose," he told Sky Sports' Big Sports Breakfast program.

"We made a recommendation to the FINA executive and they chose to ignore it and that has really disappointed me and thrown the swimming world back into chaos again with these swimsuits.

"I can only hope that in July when they meet that they do work out some real good rules for next year."

Thompson praised Australian swimming's sponsor Speedo but said it was up to the swimmers to decide which suits were best for them.

"We're very fortunate having a sponsor and company like Speedo working with us," he said.

"They have a great lot of suits that we can choose from but also they make for the right for our athletes to have freedom of choice so we're not in a position to have to force anyone to wear a swimsuit that they're not comfortable with.

"I'm sure we'll have many of our athletes, including people like (Speedo-sponsored) Libby Trickett and Eamon Sullivan wearing the Speedo LZR Racer but the great thing is they let our athletes choose so they will look for the suit they think is best and we'll have all our athletes swimming in the suits they're comfortable with at the world championships."

Results from meets in Europe this week will have been watched closely by all non-contracted swimmers keen to find the suit that will most enhance their chances of success at Rome.

Thompson was speaking in the wake of German Britta Steffen breaking Trickett's 100m freestyle world record in a heat of her national trials. The Olympic champion then went on to slash the world record to 52.56 - 0.32 inside Trickett's best - in the final.

Steffen has made no secret that she thinks her new Adidas Hydrofoil suit deserves the credit for the records and that it, along with many other suits, should be banned. "Under normal circumstances, this suit should be forbidden, and I expect that by 2010 it will be," she said.

Thompson's response to Steffen's performance and comments was: "That's a very disappointing thing. All you hear about now's the swimsuits, we don't hear about the swimmers.

"For about three weeks when we had these suits banned we talked about swimming again and the performances of the athletes.

"That seems to have gone by the wayside again and will continue to, but I think it's good she actually says what she thinks and says it's the swimsuit and she says she doesn't think they should be in play.

"But you can't complain about them taking the chance to wear what's legal and certainly our athletes will do the same as well."

Thompson wasn't so definite, however, when asked about Australia's medal chances at Rome in the wake of the approval of previously banned suits.

"This has opened another can of worms, it's very difficult to say but we're always looking to improve on our performances from the last world championships and we'll be in there fighting all the way," he said.

STEFFEN CATCHES HYDROFOIL TO VICTORY

BRITTA Steffen's 100m freestyle performances at the German trial in Berlin have completely changed the landscape of that event in the lead-up to Rome.

Where Libby Trickett had dominated the European season so far, Steffen has surged ahead while wearing the aptly named ‘Hydrofoil' swimsuit.

On the SwimNews.com website, Craig Lord outlined the splits from Steffen's two world record swims at the weekend (52.56 and 52.85) and Trickett's previous world mark, set at the Australian championships in March 2008. They are:

• Steffen: 25.30; 52.56 (27.26)
• Steffen: 25.81; 52.85 (27.04)
• Trickett: 25.40; 52.88 (27.48)

As well as quoting Steffen declaring that her swimsuit should be banned, SwimNews.com also reported the Olympic champion saying:

"I'm feeling in good shape but this suit is of a different world. This is a really weird piece of equipment, one that I've never worn before.

"You don't die in the last metres and you feel no pain. I felt like a speedboat in water and never in my life would I have believed that a human could glide like that."

Steffen and Trickett now share the 10 fastest 100m freestyle swims of all time. Prior to the German trials, Steffen's best was 53.05, whereas Trickett had swum under 53 seconds on five occasions - the most recent at this year's Duel in the Pool in Canberra in May (52.89).

Another standout performance from the German trials was from Paul Biedermann, who swam the third fastest 200m freestyle of all time, with a European record 1:44.71 - in an old-style swimsuit.

He is now behind only world record holder Michael Phelps (1:42.96) and Ian Thorpe (1:44.06) on the best-ever list and will expect to go faster should he pull on a new-style suit in Rome.

Biedermann set German records in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the weekend.

Daniela Samulski set a world record in the 50 backstroke of 27.61, inside the old mark of 27.67 jointly held by Australia's Sophie Eddington. There is significant confusion about the world's best time in this event as Russia's Anastasia Zueva has swum faster than Samulski three times but is unlikely to be credited with the record because of a combination of non-approved swimsuits and not being forced to take a drug test in Monaco.

The stunning effect of the new swimsuits on display in Berlin was shown in the performance of new European 200m breaststroke record holder Marco Koch.

Koch swam 2:08.33, almost four seconds inside his previous best of 2:12.25. While his best-ever 100m breaststroke time before this season was 1:01.98, in the 200m final he turned at the 100m in 1:01.71!

ADDLINGTON LEADS BIG BRITISH TEAM

GREAT Britain has selected a team of 40 for the Rome World Championships, with head coach Dennis Pursley describing the team as ‘a good mix of veterans and young, up-and-coming swimmers'.

"Our aim within the first year of the Olympic cycle plan was to try to get inexperienced swimmers competing in the premier events on the calendar such as the World Championships in Rome and this will be a good development opportunity," Pursley said.

The team is headed by Beijing golden girl Rebecca Addlington and also includes the likes of Jo Jackson, Hannah Miley, David Davies and Liam Tancock.

Addlington and Jackson swam one of the fastest 800m freestyle races of all time at the weekend's Scottish National Championships in Glasgow.

The Olympic champion finished in 8:16.81 - less than three seconds outside her Beijing world record - while Jackson pushed her all the way to finish in 8:17.81, a six-second personal best to set up an intriguing clash in Rome, which Addlington predicted would be even faster.

PELLEGRINI DOES ITALIAN JOB ON 400M FREESTYLE WORLD RECORD

JO Jackson did not contest the 400m at the Scottish Championships and also saw her 400m world record broken at the weekend.

The new mark was set by Italian Federica Pellegrini at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy.

Wearing the Jaked01 suit, Pellegrini swam 4:00.41, 0.25 seconds inside the record Jackson set at the British championships in March.

Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer Faber and Italy's Alessia Filippi set national records in their respective 200m backstroke events at Pescara; France's Frederick Bousquet swam 27.17 in the 50m freestyle; and Tunisia's Olympic 1500m champion Oussama Mellouli backed up from winning the 200m medley in 2:04.05 to less than half an hour later also win the 400m freestyle in 3:42.71.

LEVEAUX THREATENS SWIMSUIT BOYCOTT

REUTERS reports France's Olympic 50 metres freestyle silver medallist Amaury Leveaux has threatened to boycott next month's world championships if nothing is done to ban performance-boosting bodysuits.

"If nothing changes ... it is possible that I say: no, I do not swim," Leveaux, who is sponsored by TYR, told French sports daily L'Equipe last Thursday.

"Out of respect for my sponsor, I will not wear anything else. I prefer to go on holiday, have some rest and good luck to whoever wins."

Leveaux says he can't understand why FINA has approved the unmodified Jaked01 suit while forcing others, including TYR's Titan model, to be changed before gaining approval.

Asked about the impact of his potential boycott on the French 4x100m relay, he said it was possible that he would race in the relay but not the 50m because he would not wish to penalise his team mates.