The Sweet Spot

Get the inside scoop on the week that was and the big issues facing sport World News Australia presenter Robert Grasso.

Hypocrisy out of the pool

29 July 2009 | 16:09 - By Robert Grasso

World News Australia sports presenter Robert Grasso can't help but call out Australia's hypocritical media as the World Swimming championships degenerate into a farce over the use of 'fast-suits'.

Swimsuit_poly_2907_Getty_B_23762052

The controversial 'fast-suit' have been credited with helping swimmers clinch 15 world records at the World Swimming Championships in Rome (Getty)

As the meltdown continues over the fall of swimming world records in the eternal city, I couldn't help but notice the hypocrisy in certain sections of the Australian press.
 
"The Farce Suit" headlined one tabloid in relation to the controversial wafer-thin polyurethane outfits officially rubber stamped by FINA for the World Championships in Rome.
 
"11 World Records? Let's give them flippers too".
 
That may be well and good. However it's interesting to note that of the six new world record holders mentioned by the newspaper - not one of them was Australian.
 
This despite Queenslander Brenton Rickard being clad in one of the under fire "Jaked" outfits after smashing the 100 metres breaststroke world mark.
 
Our past Olympic greats, including Keiran Perkins have gone so far as to liken the situation to "technological doping".
 
It seems that's the case as long as an Australian didn't set a new world benchmark in one.
 
When that scenario arises, all we tend to here is how an Aussie pulled off  a magnificent swim in the pool.
 
Then there's the issue of allowing the swimsuits in the first place at the World Championships.
 
Personally, I think they shouldn't have been authorised. It's already set up a public relations nightmare with debate still raging over the legitimacy of allowing world records to stand in suits which will be banned next year.
 
However  there is one thing people have forgotten in this entire mess and that is, all swimmers in Rome were allowed access to the controversial outfits.
 
Wearing an Arena X-Glide suit, German Paul Biedermann smashed Michael Phelps' World record in the 200 metres freestyle.
 
A commentator hailed it "a win for technology".
 
Perhaps.
 
Maybe it was a win for stupidity given Phelps decided not to use the technology available.
 
And paid the price.

Share article: 
top

Comments (4)

30 Jul 2009 8:47 AEST

wilhelm

From: sydney

fast suits

fair enough, but you have to admit it looks crazy when the same record is broken twice in a few heats, and the point is poorer countries won't be able to afford to kit out their competitors in $900 suits.

Agree (2 people agree)    Disagree (1 people disagree) Report this
 

29 Jul 2009 20:50 AEST

Howard

From: Sydndey

So true

Parochialism is alive and well in the Aussie press thats for sure!

Agree (4 people agree)    Disagree (0 people disagree) Report this
 

29 Jul 2009 20:01 AEST

m.m

From: qld

How can I be likes Hercules

Who paid the price , for what , I don't care if anyone is first or last , as long they not using drugs and other means to be faster better and the attitude I show them all I am the best ! No one in any sport is there with- out an idea what's going on . So I lost fair and square , the rest is history

Agree (0 people agree)    Disagree (1 people disagree) Report this
 

29 Jul 2009 16:47 AEST

m

From: victoria

-

So true about Aussie swimmers, if there was more of them in that group, the issue wouldn't even be mentioned. And it's also true that Phelps himself used a high-tech suit (albeit not as high tech as the German swimmer's), to set his world record. I'm not a big fan of these swimsuits, their only purpose is to make you swim faster, which in my mind is unacceptable in a sport in which you are competing with swimmers, past and present (of which those in the past had no access to such technology).

Agree (3 people agree)    Disagree (0 people disagree) Report this
 

Join the discussion

You have characters remaining.
Validation (
) :
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.

PLEASE NOTE: All submitted comments become the property of SBS. We reserve the right to edit and/or amend submitted comments. HTML tags other than paragraph, line break, bold or italics will be removed from your comment.

About this Blog

World News Australia's Robert Grasso analyses the week in sport. Follow @RobertGrasso

Robert Grasso Robert Grasso is an award-winning Senior Sports Journalist, Producer and Presenter for SBS World News Australia.

 
ADVERTISEMENT

Other Blogs

TV
Food
Films
Documentary
World News Australia
Sport
About SBS
Business
Internet and Technology
Cycling Central
Festival Reports
Tour De France