International swimming officials said world records will be broken again under the new rules that ban bodysuits.
Swimming's governing body banned the use of neck-to-ankle bodysuits from January 1. The European swimming championships that began Wednesday in Budapest is the first major international tournament to apply the new rules.
FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu says the world records set with the aid of bodysuits will remain in the record books.
"There is no legal base that any change to the world records can be made," Marculescu said, citing a decision made at a meeting of FINA delegates in January at Bangkok.
"Life will go on and swimming will show that we are a great sport and we can continue to be one of the leaders and pillars of the Olympic movement."
Nory Kruchte, president of European swimming's governing body, says swimmers are already close to world-record pace.
"The evolution of swimming will adapt to the actual swimsuit situation," Kruchte said. "Coaches and swimmers will adapt and we will have very, very good performances here."
Men can only use waist-to-knee swimsuits and women shoulder-to-knee suits made of textile materials, not the polyurethane used for bodysuits.
Four world records were set using bodysuits at the 2006 Europeans in Budapest, while 43 marks were set at last year's world championships in Rome.
