FINA acted, but not quickly enough. The high-tech swimsuits that were banned by swimming's governing body last month turned the world championships into a showcase for technology, rather than swimming.

Fourth-Place Medal occasionally looks at the impact of the swimsuits in a feature called "Suit Yourself". In a world championship recap, we look at 10 suit-based absurdities:

1) The meet saw 43 world records fall, 14 more than the previous record for most world records set in a meet. That took place at the 1976 Montreal games when the East Germans sent a men's, "women's" team and chemistry team to the Olympics.

2) Since the introduction of the Speedo LZR in early 2008, more than 170 world records have been set.

3) Last August, the winning time at the Olympics in the women's 100m backstroke was 58.96. That would have been good for fourth place in Rome.

4) In the women's 200m butterfly in Beijing, Jessicah Schipper earned a bronze medal in a time of 2:06.26. The last last place finisher in the 200m butterfly finals in Rome touched the wall in 2:06.11.

5) The women's 200 backstroke record remained unchanged from 1991 until 2008. Since then, it has been lowered four times.

6) The men's 100 freestyle record has been set more times in the past 17 months (seven) than had been in the previous 24 years (six).

7) Three different women broke the world record in the 50m backstroke.

8) Australia's Christian Sprenger broke the world mark in the semifinals of the men's 200m breaststroke and then failed to place in the finals. In Beijing, Sprenger finished 26th overall in the event.

9) Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden won the women's 100m butterfly and set a world record, improving her time a full three seconds from her swim in Beijing (where she finished 27th).

10) Paul Biedermann.