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Show Sunday, July 2. 2000. THE DAILY HERALU (www.HartTheHerakl.coni), v J '' . -- I ' --.- -I u- -- l'; y'y She noted that rally scor- ing eliminates one of the basics of volleyball: earning the right to serve for a point. TORONTO (AP) A dancing, hollering crowd at Canada's only major beach volleyball tournament this summer may have been the last here to see the sport played like it was decades ago in California and Brazil. , The beach setting and sexy uniforms will never change, but the sport's governing body believes a need to attract more sponsors - S 1 its Preventing the serving team from scoring or sidout is easier than ing winning a point when serving, Fontana said. With rally scoring, she said, teams can rely on their side-ou- t play to train nnintfl insrpnH nf ficrM. o r ing to win the serve and have a chance to score. "Now the dynamic is you want to serve. Rally score through higher television ratings requires a change from the traditional "side out" scoring system, in which only the serving team can get a point. After the upcoming Sydney Games, the second Olympics to include the sport famous for sun, beer and bronzed bodies, the Federation Internationale changes this dynamic so you don't want to serve," Fontana said. Anna Collier, who coaches the U.S. women's duo of Annett Davis and Jenny Jordan, said rally scoring also would likely do away with the jump serve. More powerful and difficult to handle than a serve from a standing position, the jump serve is far less accurate. A misfire now only costs the loss of service, but under rally scoring, it would give the other side a point. " de Volleyball (FIBV) will start experimenting with w r pi ill cvnvinr KUSStlX McPHtUKANITie Associated Press Fashion Is circular: Australian Michael Klim starts the 100-mete-r Championships in Sydney on Aug. 26, 1999. Klim is wearing freestyle finals at the Pan Pacifip Swimming swim suit that has become popular of late. the endurance, and could be worn at international meets. Since then, at least nine world records have fallen to athletes wearing some form of the bodysuit. AP Sports Writer The Olympic pool, which used to be the home of scantily clad swimmers, will look a lot different in Sydney. Some competitors might appear to be readydive. ing for a deep-se- a Others will be seem to be dressed for a trip to the beach in the 1930s. Bodysuits have revolutionized the sport, with world records falling almost every week to swimmers who have found that the more skin they cover, the more quickly they get from one end of the pool to the other. "There's no doubt in my mind they're faster," said Mark Schubert, coach of the U.S. men's team that will compete in Sydney. "I'm not sure if some of that is emotional or psychological. But obviously there's some difference there." This major advance in includswimsuit design ing use of a fabric known as "Fastskin" that was designed by marine bioloraises a perplexing gists question, however. Is swimming now being ruled by technology rather, in swimsuit technology are as much a part of the sport as water. In the early days of the Olympics, male competitors wore a precursor to the bodysuit, comprised of a tank top and extending to the upper thigh. Taking advantage of changing social norms, swimmers began to shed much of their covering because shaved human skin provided less resistance in the water. Another major leap occurred in 1974, when the Lycra suit replaced a looser-fittinmodel. Before long, the record book had a new look, too. "No one back then said the only reason the records were broken was because of the suit," Schubert pointed out. The resurrection of the bodysuit is not an overnight development. Prior to the 1996 Atlanta Games, Speedo introduced its "Aquablade" model, which covered women from the neck to just above the knees; men from the waist to the knees. The fashion change took some getting used to, but swimmers jumped on board when they realized there was now a fabric with even less resistance than skin. Speedo took its fabric A group of U.S. swimmers, experimenting with attire at a the high-tecmeet last weekend in Santa Clara, Calif., shaved two seconds off their nor- mal times. That's a huge difference in a sport where races are decided by hundredths of a second. "It helps you keep your body higher in the water," said American star Lenny Krayzelburg, world record holder in the 100- - and backstroke. "When you keep you body higher, you keep you stroke technique going and that improves the times. That's the most important thing h body-huggin- sustaining proper technique throughout the race." From Schubert's standpoint, the technology should be controlled, not stifled. As long as FINA sets up stringent standards and everyone has a chance to wear the same type of suits, he doesn't see a problem. Count on much of the American team to be wearing the suits at the g that technolo- goes only from his Ian Thorpe wore a bodysuit while setting three world records at the Australian Olympic trials in May. Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands donned one while establishing five world marks. Two weeks ago, Tom Malchow zipped up a sleeveless bodysuit to record in break a the butterfly. "Swimming is very much a mental sport," Malchow Teen-age- : more predictable for television, more attractive for tel evision pro gramming, explained Bobby Clarke, the FIVB delegate to the Nokia Open 2000 played at Toronto's Woodbine Beach. Hardcore volleyball fans know the game and the r 200-met- said. "Whether it is wearing designer goggles or a pink bathing cap with flowers on it, if you feel better with them you will use . ing its past and could damage Beijing's hopes of winning a vote next year to hold the 2008 Olympics. Perhaps no group of athletes at Sydney will be more them." Swimming Association, said in an interview. "It's true that in the past, a few athletes, a few individuals, gave us a very bad image. The worst was Perth." He also counted seven Americans testing positive since 1972, with two escaping with warnings. drug-soile- d effort. Fontana argued the game will become simple races to the winning margin with less chance for thrilling comebacks, like the one Sunday in which the Brazilian men's team of Emanuel Rego Scheffer and Jose Loiola overcame deficits of 9-- and 14-- 8 to win the gold medal over John Child and Mark Heese of Canada by a 16-1-4 score. 0 sports are entertainment, Clarke said, broadcasters championship matches into a men's and women's r time slot without fear of a marathon match upsetting the schedule. The 15 points needed for victory probably would increase, but with a point scored on every serve, the matches , manager would finish more quickly. "I don't know about you, but these chairs get awful uncomfortable after two hours," Clarke joked. Indoor volleyball has moved toward rally scoring, so the shift by beach volley- to ate players always grumble when rules get changed. He noted there was squawking this past year when serves that hit the net but still carry on into play were allowed for the first time. NOWr-Jie- saidr "players kind of like it. They're practicing it." qualify for Sydney. si! ... sA for Australia's beach volleyball contingent, said the sport needed more sponsorships to grow and survive, so satisfying television was important. "They've got to package the game so it can be sold " he said. To Clarke of the FIVB, head-shakin- g with-teamm- The Canadian duo had than a dozen serves with a chance to win, but failed to convert. All of that drama which had the crowd screaming with almost every shot - would have been lost under rally scoring. "Do you change the game so that someone who doesn't know the spoit can understand it?" Fontana asked. "Or do you say, This is the game, watch it once and learn it?' " Ben Jones, the program more can fit a tournament's two Arce that the sand with- out getting points for the bottom line," he said. "We're all looking for the magic formula that's going get us a 15 rating." With rally scoring, Lisa take side out play, with players having to dig and dive across scoring, so they understand when lengthy rallies result with neither side getting a point. It's the uninitiated that the sport hopes to attract by simplifying the scoring, Clarke said. "We're entertainment. All ball .seems inevitable, and despite from forthright opposition players and coaches. "I don't think that's a good thing .for the sport," said Barbra Fontana, who just missed a bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics and is battling along can't the tense mental battles of side-ou- t No more dopes: China gets tough on swimmers BEIJING (AP) Seated in a bar snorting snuff, sipping beer and flicking back his long hair, Nils Lindstedt looks an unlikely drug enforcer. But when he demands a -urine sampler Chinese ath-- letes must comply. Swimmers, runners, row- - "You chance," Collier said. Another possible casualty of rally scoring would be two-hou- body." -- After all, improvements e waist to his knees. "I have tried (the full bodysuit) and I did like it a lot," he said. "I just like the feel of the water on my "technology a step further last year by introducing the "Fastskin" suit, which is said with drugs or something like that." new-wav- in several forms. The most striking is the skintight outfit that covers a swimmer from ... well, not head to toe, but close, beginning at the neck and stretching all the way to the ankles and wrists. Other athletes have chosen to wear less, such as a model that covers the upper torso but not the arms and extends only to the tops of the knees. Krayzelburg prefers a suit . Olympics. "Personally, I think it's kind of exciting," Schubert said. "Certainly, it's not the same thing as cheating ' ruled in; November that Fastskin bodysuits do not ' aid speed, buoyancy or The gy comes g 200-met- than athleticism? FINA, the world governing body of swimming, to decrease drag by another 3 percent by mimicking the effect of shark skin in water. Other companies followed suit, so to speak. - rally scoring, in which a point is awarded each time the hall goes into play. Gone would be long stretches with no scoring, replaced by a simpler system that makes games a standard length. "We're trying to make it 3 full-leng- New bodysuit causing stir as world records keep falling By PAUL NEWBERRY Page BT Beach volleyball making changes 4T i PrGvo, Utah m 1 V Banned substances are harder to get in China 4 A customs Australian scrutinized than China's then in other countries, hr "13 of id swimmef53iz:19s""wi,re sa Lindstedt, whose firm, inspectors' discovery 1 i a decade of shame and glory conducts tests for interna- - Tvialsof" growth - hormone I for Chinese swimming, with tional organizations that hidden in Chinese swimmer soured Yuan's Yuan luggage the ers, weightlifters performances govern sports. Posters World Swimming stars of today and theispeovershadowed by the worst advertising performance-enhancin- g the fuls of tomorrow all get doping record in the world. drugs appeared Championships in Perth in Thirty-twChinese recently in some Chinese 1998. Deepening the dis- tested by the tall, relaxed Swede. As a foreign doping swimmers were caught for universities, state media grace, four other Chinese CHUNGThc Associated Press tested positive for a banned . tester based in China, drug offenses in the 1990s, reported. Chinese swimmer, stretches But despite foreign suspi- . diuretic used to mask Drug free: Qi Hui, a Lindstedt has an inside two -- of them twice, and in on June 26. She is considered one after steroid abuse. to Beijing cions the practice were three another track on the contrary, disqualThe scandal led China to of the top hopes for the Chinese team. Chinese sports officials deny Chinese sports machine. So ified from a domestic compeinstitute what swimming when he says he's not tition for having excessive ever having run a systematic East German-likdoping officials say is the world's cials say leads swimmers year, a 16 percent increase expecting another Chinese red blood cell counts, accordof Hall even at toughest to scandal at the Sept. though "Swimming's program, ing and coaches to turn to over 1998. AH were nega1 Sydney Olympics, his Shame," a history of doping least one East German regime. New rules threaten drugs, China also institut- tive, Zhang said. Of offenses by Brent Rushall, a coach did help China's Chinese swimmers with a ed rules to withhold 80 FINA's 191 words carry weight. "I'm quite sure that there sports scientist at San Diego swimming program. tests in Asia last possible life ban, if officials percent of swimmers' or nearly 75 will not be any positive State University. Instead, officials blame deem it necessary, for a prize money for four year, 143 first-tim- e steroid offense were on In contrast, the next individuals. tests in Sydney," Lindstedt If they test positive percent years. "In China, we have a say- - tougher than the minimum during that time, they forsaid in an interview. They - worst offenders, according Chinesewimmers. Two can't afford the loss of face." to Rushall's calculations, ing: 'A rat's dropping can four-yea- r suspension feit the money. chemical and For China, the pressure is were the seven Soviet or spoil a whole cauldron of required by swimming's China also stepped up for three banned were of on. Another scandal would Russian swimmers who soup,' " Zhang Qiuping, vice governing body, FINA. perswimmers, testing To curb the greed offi- - forming 699 tests lasf years. set back progress in overcom- - have failed tests since 1978. chairman of the China . no -- world-beatin- g o " C'HIfcN-MI- drug-tainte- d drug-deplete- d e 15-Oc- anti-dopin- g t. -- g . |