Organisers of all three rounds of the Mare Nostrum tour - in Barcelona, Canet and Monte Carlo - will enforce FINA rule and disallow the use of the Jaked01 and other suits that did not make it on to the list of 2009 approved suits on May 19. 

A spokesman for Barcelona confirmed to SwimNews today that events in the Catalan city this weekend will be organised under FINA rule, including the latest direction on suits: "No, those suits will not be worn. We will go on FINA norms as they are right now."

The series will be over before the June 19 deadline arrives for resubmission of modified suits, though the timetable for re-testing of certain models, such as blueseventy's range and the Jaked01, remains unclear. The FINA executive will consider the issue once they have data from the head of the independent testing team, Prof Jan-Anders Manson, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

In Lausanne last Thursday, FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said that it was the international federation's intention to make all decisions affecting the world championships in Rome as soon as was possible. "We are very close to the championships now and swimmers and coaches need to make choices," he said, echoing what swimmers and coaches have been saying for many months now. 

FINA also intends to make decisions related to 2010 before racing starts in Rome, with a view to making clear to suit makers what materials they ought to be rolling on production lines in readiness for January 1. A decision before Rome will also allow the world championships to be placed in their true context: for one season only.