Michael Phelps vows not to swim until supersuits are banned

The chaos over the controversial "supersuits" that has engulfed swimming continued as Michael Phelps suffered his first defeat in five years in the 200m freestyle just after the world governing body announced it would ban the costumes.

Britain's Gemma Spofforth won gold at the world championships in the women's 100m backstroke, setting a world record in the process, but the defeat of Phelps sent shockwaves through the sport and his coach, Bob Bowman, said the American would not swim again until the issue was resolved. "Bob sorts my schedule," confirmed a distraught Phelps.

Both Phelps and Spofforth were wearing Speedo LZR suits, which are being superceded by the new generation of wetsuit-style costumes made by adidas, Arena and others. From next year all will become illegal but Phelps was beaten by Paul Biedermann, a German wearing an Arena X-glide suit. Bowman said that Fina had better "do something or they're going to lose their guy who fills these seats."

SOURCE: The Guardian