pretty much any shoe will make a runner faster…like the shorts, where do you apply the cut off? You’ve already posted (but not accepted) that you are prepared to buy your son an advantage…
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I do understand where you are coming from, especially in under 14 age groups, but I think you are directing at the wrong thing in this case; you want to cut barriers down to competing then the shorts are the least of your worries. They aren’t buoyant or anything special, they are just more hydrodynamic due to hidden seams and have a water repellent coating and also worn very tight. Its not the length, some suits are actually worn shorter, or lower or higher waist, choice of length is about comfort. The reason they are so good is that they have smoothed the surface by hiding seams internally and they repel water effectively, how do you “ban” something like that legislate where seams must go?
The headline “up to 2 seconds” is against the use of ill fitting suit typically used for training, but as I said above El Nino swam faster in a slower pool with Funky Trunks on a day after hitting a massive PB, likely because he was looser and more relaxed at a fun event with his mates, or hit his turns better, or got a better dive! At junior levels they are only going to make you faster on a good day when you swim well, which kids never do consistently
Also I will highlight again, if you buy a suit too big, it wont work, it you buy a suit and use it too much, the water repellent coating deteriorates, and if your technique isn’t pretty decent to start, forget any benefit. That’s why most kids never wear them at L3 opens. They are quite delicate and not something to wear at every meet, especially if sitting around all day like most opens.
For the record he is 15 now, first proper suit he got for his first counties in January as I had told him I would if he qualified. He wore it for one County qualifier to get used to it, Counties, a Regional qualifier, then Regionals, wore it at the 2IM club champs, the event at the weekend because he was targeting the 50/100br for winter regional times.
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It was fine, I found a roll of 50’s down the back of the sofa.
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Which is exactly why the decision was made in 2009 to limit men to shorts, when even I’d been wearing leggings or full suits since ~2002. Yes maybe that didn’t go far enough, but it’s a big difference on what it was.
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I’m not sure much more could be done either beyond reducing the amount of elastine/polymide further so they cant be worn so tight with so much compression, but then the Arena Primo is 60/40 but Speedo is 30/70 the other way and little to call in performance! and the problem isn’t length in this case, but the clever “glued” seam designs. Cycling/tri have made huge gains in suits due to seam designs and sometimes you just have to say, yep well done you’ve maximised the potential, and regardless, the next rule will just be a new boundary to work with and the next level of suits will come out within a couple of years again, and cost even more because of the investment in testing.
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Maybe the greeks had sports uniforms correct.
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El Nino has…
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Chapeau!
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All that olive oil in the pool 
I think trying to specify the material etc would be a minefield, which is why, in the case of men at least, it would be simpler to just further limit how long they could be, thus any benefit would, one assumes, be that much less ?
Where is that pool?
Serious question @Doka, how safe is the crutch on a wet pool deck?
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Good man
5m59 or better 
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I have done no such thing, not as regards swimsuits anyway, his “race” cossie cost £20, including carriage.
I admit I spend loads of dosh helping him in other ways, particularly in how much time I spend with him. If he’s not racing or we haven’t got anything else on, I take him for an extra training session on a Saturday and I am one of the very few parents who watches most of his training sessions. I have to be there anyway as it’s not worth driving home and back again and tell him if he was working as hard as he thinks he was, what his pacing was like and tips on his stroke / turns etc. As alluded to before, he is my child, so he shows little interest… I hope he appreciates the fact his Dad shows so much interest in his swimming, I think he does.
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Pretty much any other sport requires more stuff and/or specialised training access, swimming requires a pool !
I struggle to think of any sport or hobby that if you do to a serious standard is cheap.
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Parkour (nothing)
Breakdancing (music?)
There’s quite a lot of sports that need a lot less than swimming, especially once you consider the time limitations of pool swimming only being available at strange times.
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As well as the other two - skateboarding? A new deck every few months, 25quid a month?
At an indoor swimming pool there’s definately some jeopardy. I’ve only once come a cropper & that was in the shower area with shampoo in the mix, just have to be carefull. These carbon fibre sticks have a much grippier rubber on the end than the NHS jobs.
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