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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[@calvintappert3597]

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.

[@robfetty6497]

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.

[@kickinghorse2405]

Agreed.

[@futileexistence6913]

This is stupid I'd rather pay 400 dollars every 4 months for my child to get a college scholarship then have my child in debt for the rest of their lives

[@JakeClark3672]

@@futileexistence6913okay but the point is not everyone can afford to do that.

[@futileexistence6913]

@@JakeClark3672 alright to make it 100% fair everyone should be bald have no googles caps and swim naked

[@gracedavenport2831]

@@futileexistence6913if no kids in the US can wear tech suits then the competition is even. It has nothing to do with scholarships.

[@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.

[@myun78]

0:28 THAT SWIM CAP IS MY CLUB TEA, 🎉🎉🎉

[@_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.

[@AshworthMild]

I was 18 when Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals. We still got plenty excited and hype for our championship meets before tech suits were a thing, I can assure you. In those days, the hype was taking off your drag suit and wearing that year's official team suit.

[@bluu292]

I agree with that. Im currently on a club team at the moment but I can say that I'm one of the top 30 in new england for my events. For my competitive level I think it is fair to spend money on tech suits so people can be faster and place better but say a 12 year old who only qualified for the lowest championship buying them a $500 suit is just plain stupid.

[@cest_moi_riri2709]

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.

[@ryry9694]

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

[@burt591]

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

[@d0lphin_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.

[@cordiacuthbert4868]

Me too!

[@co-mX]

Seeing the west clermont wolves pool jump scared me, I used to practice there 😂

[@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.

[@stt5v2002]

Do you think there is really such a thing as equal opportunity? Some kids have a parent who can take them to practice at 5:30 am on a school day. Others don't. Some kids can eat the highest quality food, others can't. Some kids have better coaches than others. Some kids have a dad that teaches them to be the very best swimmer that they can be. Others have a dad who wants them to have fun and try lots of different things. Some kids were born with better genetics for swimming. Some kids have strength training equipment at home and others don't. Some kids live 2 miles from the training pool and others live 30 miles away. Money is always relevant. How could it not be? Every aspect of every sport involves a monetary cost. I don't think we should be naively idealistic about this.

[@robohippy]

The point I was trying to make is that it "should" be equal opportunity, even if it isn't. The thing is that we should make efforts to help those in need.

[@bluu292]

@@stt5v2002 I agree but disagree with that. I think that it doesn't matter so much about the money but the discipline you put into the sport(and kinda genetics aswell). I will admit I am lucky enough t have parents that can drive me to 3-4 practices per week at night but its nothing compared to some of the other kids I race. Some of these kids can go 7-10 times per week, have the healthiest food, have a parent or parents that can teach them everything privatley but even still I work and I am as fast or faster than those kids. Yes it dose matter about the money a little but IMO its more about the discipline, and effort your willing to put in with your current situation.

[@Thatoneswimmernamedr-lh5vv]

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.

[@kickinghorse2405]

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.

[@futileexistence6913]

With this logic runners should run barefoot

[@fancyfaceb]

I agree with you 100%!

[@gracedavenport2831]

I am so glad that tech suits were not available when I was swimming competitively. I bought my seventeen year old one for her senior year because she has worked so hard…and she dropped a ton of time…but they are super expensive…

[@kickinghorse2405]

@futileexistence6913 Fun point. That said, my suits in the 90's were never more than $20 different in price to the most expensive suit a guy could buy. They were all "speedo" cut. Now, whether you're talking about shoes or a pair of speedos, most pale can afford them. I think you missed the point.

[@futileexistence6913]

@@kickinghorse2405 I understand your point but and I really don't care about what suits you had in the 90s with that logic I'm assuming you also think people should use race cars from the 90s in NASCAR and F1

[@franciscovieira7059]

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

[@willis4799]

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.

[@m0e566]

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.

[@true_xlgamer3571]

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

[@ethanslatter8331]

That's not true I was at Qld states last month and just about all the 12yr olds had tech suits on.

[@true_xlgamer3571]

@@ethanslatter8331 Was it a big meet like state championships or country, cause it is put in place but rarely inforced at smaller meets.

[@ethanslatter8331]

@@true_xlgamer3571 It was QLD state championships

[@rafaelspac8894]

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

[@antinatalist9995]

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.

[@Tht1guy63]

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.

[@tuvawalen9646]

I didn't get competitive drinking until I was 15 and I know someone who is 14 and doesn't have it better than me who doesn't wear the competitive suits

[@soniaalbu6070]

The USA is not the only country. In Romania, starting this year, tech suits are banned under the age of 12. It is possible that the same rule may be in other countries also

[@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.

[@awsomerobyn2603]

We have a ban like this in South Africa. Can’t wear them until you turn 13 But why not allow the cheap suits? Some suits are literally 50 dollars. Just get those

[@lorelei_and_hadley]

I swam at a meet today and the girls next to me and they were wearing tech suits with a fina logo and no check

[@cxnradiz2072]

Rules are the same in South Africa for 12 and under.

[@user-sy4ec3em5o]

I literally buy the cheap swimming suits for competition because i believe it's the training that goes into the swimming that counts...

[@sg-qm2ts]

tell that to Paul Biedermann

[@user-sy4ec3em5o]

@@sg-qm2ts That guy is nothing without his fancy suit

[@gay4tay.]

the 13-14 tech suits are banned for 12&u however there are tech suits younger kids can wear

[@millerann]

Those are knee length but are not considered technical suits. They don’t have bonded seams and are not the same material.

[@gay4tay.]

@@millerann aren't paper suits the same material but younger kids can wear them at meets

[@renees1922]

I didn't know they existed, been swimming since 2008 or 2009 when I was 4-5.

[@ToProsca]

Do you live under a rock or you just don't care about the competitive swimming?

[@michaelfan9572]

in australia 11 and under cant wear tech suits

[@chernobylobsessed32746]

Just got my 13 and over suit and I barely got into it-

[@hristodjongalov8368]

at the age under 14 tech suits are useless in the age under 14 they should turn the focus on the workouts and on the swim technik so when they are close at the times in race i mean in 100 or more racers in 1-2 tenth then you need faster suim suit not when you can be faster with 3sec just because you are young...

[@KF-pp3dx]

I agree with others, I think the restriction going to only 12 yrs is not enough. I think these suits should be banned up to 18 yrs old and not be allowed in any age group or school (is high school) competitions. I’d accept allowing them in national competitions, but as someone who had to quit swimming on my club team as a kid because of the cost back before tech suits were even a thing, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to compete without being able to afford hundreds of dollars on a suit. Heck, my family had a hard time keeping up with the cost of basic lycra and polyester suits! This sport is expensive enough as it is. We don't need to push kids out because of unnecessary costs like tech suits.

[@itgetter9]

Well look there . . . the good ol' USA did something right. I think it's more democratic to do it this way, so that every kid has a fair chance in the competition, regardless of their parents' income.

[@miguelangelcollazo5081]

What is the point of tech suits if everyone wears one? Aren’t things back to square one?

[@everest1338]

Actualy in France tech suit are forbidden for kids (i don't know the exact age)

[@goncalooliveira7278]

In Portugal itsn't allowed too

[@_sop2810]

First! Love your videos

[@RadiantFoxx]

In Ireland it’s also banned

[@barbaratyler2183]

I am very old school and don’t think they should have tech suits at any level…seems comparable to steroids or doping.

[@annieschultz1242]

It is up to the parent

[@DanielaTraykova]

My favorete sports

[@MathieuDeVinois]

Keeping it affordable is a very good reason though.

[@stephanieandrews6092]

So I’m supposed to spend hundreds of dollars once my kid turns 13…

[@ninesehyper]

It barely even affects kids that young. I support it because tech suits to kids seems kinder predatory.

[@mooksama1290]

Hello! Can u pls do a video on how to swim the 200 breastroke

[@jamesoldman3021]

I believe all tech suits should be banned. I would recommend going back to the suits of the 1960's which were a small speedo type. No matter which sport it is it should be able the athletes ability not about the fabric they can use.

[@pikakz3063]

I'm against tech suits, cuz i dont have one

[@stt5v2002]

Very few swimmers under 18 get much benefit from a tech suit. The suits give a very small advantage. I would estimate something like 0.1 sec in a 50 free. But young swimmers almost always have massive defects in their technique. Learning to breathe correctly is worth 10x the suit. Learning to turn correctly is worth 20x the suit. Learning to dolphin kick is worth 30x the suit. And if you don't know these things, you have no chance of winning a serious event. It really doesn't matter if some kid with a tech suit gets 17th place instead of 18th. The suit will not get you to the podium, and the podium doesn't actually matter anyway. Tech suits make a difference in the Olympic final and when you are trying to get / keep a world record. That is not your kid.

[@Swimgirly123]

It shouldn’t be banned in my opinion I know my parents would buy me the suit

[@vickytbh]

thereotically

[@SprintTri57]

But let’s legalize carbon plated running shoes and crush all the world records

[@andrewjyates2118]

Kids like to dress like their hero's and want to emulate them. Kids can buy shirts... of their sports hero's from other sports, so why not swimming, albeit, that costs should not be so high for Kids as these many of these kids will go on to compete at a older level. Let kid's dream about being like their hero's. Use this promote these hero swimmers and make swimming more financially viable for more swimmers to become professionals.

[@nathenwong6096]

p2w