How will FINA rules affect blueseventy?

Napier New Zealand March 18th 2009

blueseventy’s CEO Steve Nicholls is confident that blueseventy will be able to adapt to any rulings that have come from the FINA Dubai charter.

“We’ve been involved, along with FINA and the other major manufacturers for the last few months in making sure that our products are meeting any restrictions, both in the immediate and long term future” said Nicholls.

Fina’s rules, issued in a two-stage process, will limit suits on thickness, buoyancy and other areas as of March 31st this year. This will be the standard until Jan 1st 2010, when the restrictions of phase two will come into effect.

“Phase one should not affect the legality of our current suits at all. All our in-house testing has shown that our current suits meet all of the phase one restrictions, including those relating to buoyancy. There has been a lot of incorrect information, and personal viewpoints ushered into the public arena, and we feel that some of these tests will help reduce the confusion that seems to be out there.”

“Phase two, will limit suits based on permeability, and dependant upon what that permeability ruling is, theoretically we may need to adjust our designs to make sure we retain a viable swimskin product beyond 2010. Since the FINA think tank in February, we’ve changed our design focus around those possible rulings and have some exciting concepts already in the pipeline.”

That’s for the future. For now blueseventy suits are fast becoming the suit of choice for swimmers globally, none more so than in the US college season, where blueseventy Nero suits took more State championships than any other brand. The current suits should remain in circulation until Jan 1st 2010 when, pending the new permeability rulings they may be phased out.

Commenting on the rulings, Global sales and marketing manager Dean Jackson said “We’re committed to being a long term partner of FINA, and swimming, that’s why we’ve invested back into the sport already, with sponsorship of US masters, and the FINA open water 10km Marathon series. This means that we are listening to coaches, athletes and others in order to ensure we are designing products that meet with the direction of the sport that FINA is charged with protecting. “