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This is a history of the progression of the World Record for the Swimming event: the 200 Freestyle. It is a listing of the fastest-time-ever swum in the event, in both long course (50m) and short course (25m) swimming pool. These records are maintained/recognized by FINA, which oversees international competitive swimming and Aquatics.
The drop in world record times in the 2008/2009 coincided with the introduction of polyurethane suits from Speedo (LZR, 50% polyurethane) in 2008 and by Arena (X-Glide), Adidas (Hydrofoil) and Italian swimming suit manufacturer Jaked (all 100% polyurethane) in 2009. FINA's ban on non-textile suit came into effect on January 2010. FINA also release a list of approved suits.
The long course records are historically older than the short course records; the latter having only been recognized since the early 1990s.