Controversy over cap rules have reared its head again, this time in regard to the pre-race ready room procedures. The Danish federation has filed a formal protest to FINA over allegedly unfair application of the cap rules that limit where and how a manufacturers logo can be worn.
Read the press release below from the Danish Swimming Federation:
On the 28th July shortly after the finish of the heats of the women’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay, the Danish Swimming Federation officially protested to FINA of an unjust and unequal treatment of the Danish team in the call room area.
The reason behind the official protest is that the relay team both in the first and last call room were unjust and unequal treated compared to other athletes and teams.
The protest to FINA:
…Our team have not been treated equal with other swimmers regarding the cap approval procedure. Several countries have been using an identical cap from TYR this morning and, furthermore, 3 other Danish individual starts were permitted to use the swimming cap. Countries are Switzerland and Germany. The lack of equality in handling a system of approval that is not clear is disturbing athletes. The logo is correct and right size according to the FINA/IOC rules.
Some questions:
– how come the call room staff asked the team to turn the TYR caps inside out…same cap, material etc.?
– is the sign of approval from FINA equal to a manufacturer logo?
– where are the visible signs (like on swimsuits) that caps are approved?
– would the TYR cap for instance be approved with an Adidas logo?
The only check of caps and goggles in the call room is of the manufacturer logo, and not the type of cap.
The Danish team completed the heat with the spare caps from the Danish team without logo from a manufacturer and qualified for the final, but only few seconds before entering the pool deck it was decided that they could start without the TYR caps.
The official response from FINA has been a confirmation: “that the swimwear’s rules have been consistently applied”.
The Danish Swimming Federation is very critical towards the system of checking whether caps and goggle are approved by FINA. FINA must establish a fair and transparent system of checking whether the goggles and caps used by the swimmers are approved. A manufacturer logo as approval sign is not sufficient.
The Danish Swimming Federation urges FINA to follow only the rules set-up by IOC for allowing which caps and goggles can be used. And then for future to set-up a clear and transparent system for checking exactly which goggles and caps are approved.