tech suits and Ian Thorpe

Since my best times were swum when I was in college and I am now in my sixties, my goal now is to try to duplicate the times I swam when I was 14 years old. That's actually pretty impressive. I'm 42 and my times now are pretty comparable to my times at age 14.

That's actually pretty impressive. I'm 42 and my times now are pretty comparable to my times at age 14.Agreed. And, looking at the kids today, I think my 45 year old self is akin to a really good 14 year old girl (excluding Katie Ledecky and Becca Mann!).

It wasn't a wetsuit but an extremely tight-fitting Adidas suit designed by Kim Roberts of London. Kim supplied me with the same Adidas suits, but alas, mine were not made to measure. Kim met Ian Thorpe from time to time to measure the great man himself, to make sure his suits were always the correct size. They were so tight that after being used for just one race they were cut off him by an assistant, with a pair of scissors. These Adidas suits were incredible. They allowed me to swim 5 or 6 seconds faster, per 100 metres. I never got to wear the latest suits before the ban came in, which I was told were much faster than my Adidas suits. Consequently, life is thoroughly depressing, knowing I can't get anywhere near to my best times!

At the 2010 Nats in Atlanta my goggles broke on the way to the blocks for the 50 BR.I used to carry a spare in my pocket but after years of no problems I got careless(never again.)With no time to get new ones I thought"it's OK,You swam in college without goggles." What I realized after the first stroke was in college I swam BR with my head up and now was swimming looking down.I could not see the target for the turn and finish and had to use the Braille method.That probably cost me .5 sec,in my last 50 in a tech suit.

Mike, You hit the nail on the head.

Who's Mike? btw, I swam age group, high school, college with no goggles. (They weren't used at 1972 Olympics either). No backstroke flags, either. Turns were fine, head position was fine, eyes were red all the time, and when walking home after a late workout in the winter, all the streetlights had halos around them (and also my hair froze). However, without backstroke flags, I once crashed into the wall on a 200 IM on the backstroke leg, breaking my hand and getting a concussion. I finished the race and then they wanted to take me to the hospital. I was arguing, "I've got the 100 fly coming up, you need my points, but lost that argument. Nowadays, I take exactly the same number of strokes per length, and notice that I am always counting when swimming backstroke.

The second sentence to FINA rule SW10.8 states simply: "Goggles may be worn." Great innovation: not only do they protect the eyes, you can see underwater. Without ripping up the record book. The basic reason I tacked my standard FINA complaint onto the Thorpe thread is because a 'swimsuit' that goes from neck to wrist to ankle, takes forever to get on and has to be scissored off, wasn't seen as violating rule SW10.8. Earth to the swim world, FINA is corrupt. I'm still trying to think of another instance, in any sport, where an Olympian bragged a few days after winning about how he cheated, but wasn't stripped of his gold medal and world record. Maybe someone can think of an example. BTW, exactly how long after winning a gold medal and setting a world record do we have to wait before we explain how we cheated, and still get away with it? Budding age-groupers need to know. Certainly you can't jump out of the pool and blurt it out during the on-deck interview? Should you wait until after the medal ceremony, so you have the gold in hand? Maybe you should wait a few days, or weeks, or months, just to be careful? Or is the waiting period 'subject to FINA interpretation?'

I can't imagine how goggles add speed, however they do allow swimmers to train for many more hours. I think you will find that swimmers produce slower times when not wearing goggles.

I'll test that out at the pool next week. a 25 all out without goggles and then a 25 all with goggles.

I'll test that out at the pool next week. a 25 all out without goggles and then a 25 all with goggles. a good test to see how much the laneline hurts when you don't swim straight. :bolt: