Column by John Lohn
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, March 11. YOU hear a lot of things deckside, from coaching assessments to athletes' feelings. The positive and negative are equally spewed, filtered and unfiltered conversation taking place in every corner of various natatoriums. Here's a little tidbit from a recent high school competition, a qualifier for the Pennsylvania State Championships.
"With the new suits, there should be separate record books," one coach uttered to another. "We should have a record book before the suits came along and we should have a record book for the suit era. Or, at the very least, there should be an asterisk next to the records that were set wearing one of the new suits."
Yes, this conversation only took place in the scholastic ranks, but one has to believe that if the subject is being thrown around at one level, it's likely been a topic of conversation at other levels – college and national. Fortunately, there hasn't been any serious talk about separate record books, only idle chatter on an informal basis. Still, those mentioning the mere possibility of dual standards should rethink their stance.
No one is going to argue the impact the high-tech suits have had on the sport, their power being felt just after Speedo launched the LZR Racer last February. One has to look only at the 100-plus records established in 2008, in addition to the large amounts of time that have been hacked from previous records.
Thankfully, FINA is in the process of removing the sport from the dark cloud under which it lies. Soon, technology will be neutralized and the aquatic world will return to a state where times are based almost solely on talent, not the abilities of NASA and other engineering types. Glory days! But like it or not, the sport is in the suit era and the athletes shouldn't be penalized for playing within the rules. Adopting a split record book would do just that – penalize.
Nearly 50 years ago, when Roger Maris was chasing Babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60, Major League Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick ordered that if Maris surpassed the Babe's homer total, there would be two separate records. The reason for Frick's decision was the lengthening of the season from 154 games to a schedule of 162.
Maris had no control over his season's length. He simply went out on a game-by-game basis and tried to produce as effectively as possible. Unfortunately, his superb season was tarnished by Frick's decision and it wasn't until Fay Vincent was commissioner that the separate home-run records were abolished.
Maris' total has, of course, been surpassed, the (allegedly) juiced-up Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa outslugging the former Yankee. But as baseball continues to deal with its steroids scandals and issues, there isn't a movement to strike those home-run totals from the record books, thus handing Maris back his mark. Nor should there be a move in that direction. The baseball steroids era has been a disgrace, but that was the nature of the game for a certain timeframe (we'll never know how long) and that's the way it was. Stinks, huh?
Well, the same can be said for the suit era of swimming. It is truly unfortunate that the record book has been shredded, but that doesn't mean Phelps, Lochte, Rice, among many others, should have their accomplishments erased, or placed in a separate category. When they set their records, they were competing within the bylaws of the sport.
Once FINA puts the high-tech suits on the back burner – the day can't get here soon enough – there's going to be a lengthy period in which world records are scarce. It's going to take some patience and incredible amounts of hard work to achieve global standards. But that's better than a record book with two sets of marks.