As swim records fall, high-tech suit faces scrutiny

"Guys like Michael Phelps can roll out of bed in the morning in cutoffs and break the world record," he said. "So . . . I don't think you can give credit or fault to the suit. It is what it is. I think it's a great suit; I think it's an improvement. Is it the reason why records are being broken? It's debatable."

Speedo is not alone in crafting increasingly high-tech suits. TYR Sport Inc. of Huntington Beach is out with its own, the Tracer Light, and could face the same criticism.

FINA will be meeting with apparel manufacturers next month in Britain during the world short-course championships. The summit was scheduled months ago, according to FINA, but the timing is perfect.

"On this occasion, we'll be jointly reviewing the procedures and regulations for approval of swimwear, namely the issue of the thickness of the swimsuits," FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu said in an e-mail to The Times.

Former Olympic swimmer Steve Furniss of TYR and Isaac of Commerce-based Speedo USA confirmed that FINA had been involved throughout their suits' development.

"For us, it's an ongoing process because we're spending so much more than anybody else," Isaac said.

"It's not a process where we're spending several million dollars trying to come up with a suit and then going to them, and they say, 'Sorry.'

"We are going to them on a very regular basis with each of the steps, the fundamental components with the suit, before we're going down a way that would not be ruled legal."

Many of the complaints so far are from national federations that have deals with other manufacturers and contend that the LZR, which costs $550, creates an uneven playing field of the haves and have-nots.

"I think the criticism is sour grapes and understandable," said Mark Schubert, USA Swimming National Team head coach. "Speedo's put millions into research and other companies haven't. They're going to be kind of left holding the bag at this Olympics."

Speedo is no stranger to controversy. In 2000 similar criticism surfaced about its Fastskin suit, which was said to minimize drag by 3%. FINA approved the suit, and its decision was upheld by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport after a challenge from Australia.

Marculescu, asked if the governing body might consider revoking its approval of the LZR, replied: