The NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee has decided to allow all new-technology suits approved by FINA (the international governing body for swimming) to be worn in intercollegiate competition including NCAA championships.
The decision reverses their earlier declared intent to extend the moratorium that prohibited the use of any suit not commercially available prior to January 1, 2008.
The change was announced in a memo sent to NCAA coaches on Thursday. It stated that the, "committee did not have any scientific evidence" that the suits provided illegal assistance. Without. "concrete evidence" of illegal assistance, the suits, "will be deemed compliant forall intercollegiate competition."
Left unsaid, however was the potentially harmful financial impact the suits could have on NCAA teams, the prospect of an anti-trust suit, or even a veiled threat.
Phil Whitten, Executive Director of the College Swim Coaches Association of America, was more direct, however. "The NCAA's decision comes as no surprise given, for example, just the issue of policing who is wearing which suit at meets all around the world."
Whitten, for one, would have liked to see the NCAA address the high cost of the new suit technology. "As things stand now, it is those schools with limited budgets - particularly in Divisions II and III - that are most likely to be impacted by this decision."
Though NCAA President Myles Brand has used his bully pulpit to argue against the escalating cost of intercollegiate athletics, fiscal regulation is something the NCAA cannot do. In 1999, coaches sued the NCAA over income limits. The NCAA was forced to settle for $54.5 million and end remove income restrictions. A year earlier, an aluminum bat manufacturer accused the the NCAA of unlawful restraint of trade and filed $267 million suit against the association.
While no suits have been filed, the representative of one manufacturer offered that had the moratirium been upheld, they would be forced to reconsider their longstanding support of collegiate swimming.
Whitten, however, is looking for a less litigious, more honorable solution, "We would like to see the major swim suit manufacturers -- Speedo, TYR, Nike, Aqua Zone, Diana and Adidas, among others - find ways to reduce prices significantly."
Northwestern's Bob Groseth, offered a different idea. Make a set of standard specifications and allow manufacturers to bid on the suit, or submit samples for testing and approval. In some ways, such a model would resemble NASCAR's "Car of Tomorrow" technology. The Car of Tomorrow program was designed to reduce costs and create a more equal playing field in stock car racing. As a privately-owned corporation, however, NASCAR is not held to the same antitrust standards as the NCAA, a registered non-profit organization.
One swimming non-profit is already getting more of a lesson in anti-trust legislation than it had barganed for. US Swimming is facing a lawsuit brought about by TYR Sport, Inc. TYR alleges that the national governing body has engaged in practices that violate the Sherman Antitrust Act. [Full disclosure: TYR Sport, Inc.is a principal underwriter of CollegeSwimming.com]
The committee left itself the flexibility to change its mind once again, but also noting that it would, "continue to monitor and stay abreast of this topic" in case future developments might warrant a change.
