Coach: Olympic swimmers wore 2, 3 suits

ADELAIDE, Australia, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Swimmers at the Beijing Olympics were wearing layers of new high-tech suits to give themselves more buoyancy, an Australian coach charges.

Alan Thompson said FINA, which governs international competition in swimming, should ban the wearing of more than one suit at a time and ban all new suits while the role of technology of the sport is debated, The Adelaide Sunday Mail reported.

Federica Pellegrini of Italy was wearing a double swimsuit when she won the 200-meter freestyle, Thompson said.

"It's not illegal but it should be looked into," he said.

Duncan Armstrong, a former Olympic winner, said the new suits have created dubious records. He blamed FINA, not the swimmers.