Japan is cracking down
on its competitive swimmers. New rules will ban swimmers from competition for life if they dye their hair, have brightly decorated nails or wear earrings. Officials are determined to put a stop to swimmers showing up to competitions dressed like musicians or artists, rather than athletes.
Male and female swimmers caught sneaking into each others rooms at Japanese training camp, where the sexes have separate sleeping quarters, will also find themselves in hot water.
"The United States and Australia are also setting these criteria," the Japan Swimming Federation's executive director Masafumi Izumi told local media Wednesday.
"We have had many recent controversies (in Japan) with marijuana in sport and at universities, and this is about swimming taking a stand on its own initiative."
The JSF's stringent new plan has been written into its charter following an executive board meeting Tuesday and swimmers will have to sign a letter of oath.
Rule-breakers face being booted out of the team and sent home in disgrace, a suspension of up to five years or even a lifetime ban.
"It is more an enhancement of the rules," the JSF told Reuters. "It's a policy top swimming countries like Australia and the Americans follow."
Jewelry in the pool is a big no-no, for a lot of reasons, so that makes sense. But gymnasts get to wear makeup, fingernail polish and glitter to perform, even at the Olympics. Most swimmers are so obsessive about shaving seconds off their speed times that they shave their bodies, and most don't wear nail polish anyway. Unless someone comes up with some kind of high tech nail polish that reduces friction in the water, of course.
