Ryosuke Irie
Wednesday 20th May, 02:52 PM JST
TOKYO —
Swimming’s world governing body FINA has not approved the swimsuit
worn by Ryosuke Irie, who recently broke the men’s 200-meter
backstroke world record, and will reexamine it after it is
modified, his swimsuit maker Descente Ltd said Wednesday.
The announcement came after FINA approved 202 of the 348 swimsuits
from 21 manufacturers it reviewed while saying 136 other swimsuits
need to be modified as they do not fulfill the requirement stating
that ‘‘swimsuit material shall not be constructed to or include
elements/systems which create air/water trapping effects during
use.’’
Descente said it will resubmit the same swimsuit for FINA approval
after modifying it within 30 days as requested by FINA.
‘‘I am terribly sorry for all the trouble we have caused
swimmers,’’ Descente President Etsuro Nakanishi said. ‘‘It’s
disappointing for the moment, but we will modify the swimsuit as we
try to help swimmers perform their best.’’
Switzerland-based FINA also rejected 10 swimsuits for not passing
the tests of buoyancy and/or thickness.
At the inaugural Canberra swimming meet between Japan and Australia
on May 10, the 19-year-old Irie clocked 1 minute, 52.86 seconds in
the 200-meter backstroke, 1.08 seconds off American Ryan Lochte’s
mark at last year’s Beijing Olympics.
‘‘I hope my time will eventually be approved as a world record. But
no matter what the outcome is, I aim to set a world record and win
a medal at the world championships this summer,’’ Irie
said.
Swimmers wearing Speedo’s high-tech LZR Racer suit broke record
after record in the Olympic year in 2008, prompting other sporting
goods makers to step up efforts in swimsuit development.
In March this year, FINA decided to establish its own independent
swimwear control/testing program.