Michael Phelps was beaten for the first time in an individual race since 2005. Has Phelps been slacking or lost his edge? Probably not. He was trounced at the at the world swimming championships by Paul Biedermann of Germany, who was wearing a buoyant polyurethane suit, the Arena X-Glide. There’s a feeling that these suits give swimmers an unfair advantage, and that’s the real reason Biedermann won over Phelps, who stuck with his tried and true Speedo. In fact, in the first three days of the championship, 15 world records were beaten. Rather an astounding feat.

Biedermann acknowledged he had an edge in his Arena X-Glide, an exceptionally buoyant polyurethane suit that has surpassed the Speedo LZR Racer worn by Phelps. All those suits are on the way out, to be banned by governing body FINA by May. But at this meet, the bodysuits are legal and Biedermann is the world champion.

“The suits make a difference,” he said. “I hope there will be a time when I can beat Michael Phelps without these suits. I hope next year. I hope it’s really soon.” Phelps, who has won a record 14 Olympic gold medals, sounded eager for a rematch. “It’s going to be fun next year,” he said, “when swimming is back to swimming.”

Biedermann [said he] competed in the best suit he could find. “It’s not my problem,” he said. “It’s the problem of FINA. They should handle it really fast.”

[From the Seattle Times]

Well they are – FINA banned the suits after Phelps’ coach said he wouldn’t swim in any races where the buoyant suits were allowed. According to USA Today, a “majority” of the swimmers at the world’s competition were wearing the suits, which is how so many records fell.

To try to get there, the FINA bureau, the organization’s decision-making board, decided Tuesday it agrees with a resolution passed last week by FINA members that restricts swimsuit material to permeable “textiles” (the full definition of which will be decided by the scientific panel) and outlaws full-body suits, which came into vogue in 2000.

Men’s suits will no longer be allowed to extend past the navel or knees. Women’s suits can’t go past the knees or cover the neck or shoulders.

[From USA Today]

In equally exciting swimming news, US swimmer Ricky Berens tore the back of his swimsuit right before his race World Swimming Championships on Sunday, baring his butt for all to see. “I kind of freaked out for just a second,” Berens said. “I felt like [the hole] was almost down to my knees. I felt like I was putting on a pretty good show.” And some great pictures.