FIVE-TIME Olympian Mark Foster has hit out at Federica Pellegrini and Speedo’s new performance-enhancing swimsuits for robbing Newcastle’s Jo Jackson of her 400m freestyle world record.

Pellegrini reclaimed the women’s 400m freestyle world record last weekend when she took gold in the final at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara.

Pellegrini swam four minutes 00.41 seconds to snatch the record back from Britain’s Jackson, who swam 4:00.66 in Sheffield at the British Championships in March.

Foster is convinced performance-enhancing swimsuits have damaged swimming and says it will take more than 20 years to set the record straight.

In the last 18 months, more than 100 world records have been broken, including the 50m freestyle mark by France’s Frederick Bousquet in April.

Both record times were achieved by swimmers wearing the Jaked 01 swimsuit, completely comprised of polyurethane, rather than the first of its kind, the Speedo LZR, which only had patches of the material.

The Jaked 01 looks set to be outlawed in 2010, along with the Arena suits that have already been banned, but Foster is adamant the sport is already in too deep and the current mess will take decades to put right.

“Jo’s record was only beaten because Pellegrini was wearing a Jaked suit, that’s a fact,” said Foster at the launch of the Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week 2009.

“If you put Pellegrini, Rebecca Adlington and Jackson in a Jaked suit then the two Brits would win. But if you put those two in their regular Speedo suits then Pellegrini would win, the suit makes that much difference.

“It’s sad in a way because all of the records that existed mean nothing with these new suits but they can’t go back because it will take 20 years to get back to where the world records are now.

“I really don’t know who guides them because it can’t be swimmers, it must be people who don’t know a lot about sport because there are far too many mistakes.

“The whole situation has been badly handled, FINA really should have set their stall out ages ago. We’re in too deep now.

“Everyone could see this coming when the LZR suit came out because it upped everyone’s performance and when that material became legal, companies just started making whole suits out of it.

“In a 50m freestyle race the new suits can take nearly half a second off your time, more in breaststroke. This World Championships will be suit wars.”

■ Schools, community centres and organisations who are interested in finding out more about Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week 2010 should visit www.schoolsportweek.org