Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:01:50 GMT

That was probably an S2000. They were about as comfortable as swimming in a water polo suit. But they were durable! I actually loved the S2000.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

gobears — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:58:25 GMT

That was probably an S2000. They were about as comfortable as swimming in a water polo suit. But they were durable! I had a similar incident a few years ago, back when FSPros were the height of suit tech. A tiny, both skinny and short, 10 year old boy was given the smallest FSPro Speedo made (maybe a 24) that was so big, it looked like he was wearing 80's style leg warmers instead of a swim suit. A properly fitting jammer would have been much more advantageous to the kid, but mom and dad just *had* to give him the most advanced suit, regardless that it was far too big for him. :shakeshead: S2000! I think that was it. Too funny...:)

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

swimmieAvsFan — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:45:10 GMT

One of my favorite stories about this was when I was coaching age groupers around 15 years ago. I can't remember what the "in" suit was - maybe an Aquablade? - it was a Speedo with a zipper in the back. One of my 10 year old swimmers' parents bought her one of these tech suits for $80 or so because she was going for a Zone time. When she walked out on the deck with her suit it was all my assistant and I could do not to smile or laugh. The parents must have gotten her a size 34 and she was this tiny ten year old. The suit was all wrinkled and gapping. She would have been much better off in a well-fitting lycra suit. That was probably an S2000. They were about as comfortable as swimming in a water polo suit. But they were durable! I had a similar incident a few years ago, back when FSPros were the height of suit tech. A tiny, both skinny and short, 10 year old boy was given the smallest FSPro Speedo made (maybe a 24) that was so big, it looked like he was wearing 80's style leg warmers instead of a swim suit. A properly fitting jammer would have been much more advantageous to the kid, but mom and dad just *had* to give him the most advanced suit, regardless that it was far too big for him. :shakeshead:

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:12:45 GMT

For those who want to debate the significance of buying high performance gear for their children.:argue: NO

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

gobears — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:09:33 GMT

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:45:33 GMT

I think it depends on the maturity of the kid and exactly what "sweat equity" (hahaha) the child has in the situation. I think it is one thing to buy some top quality painting supplies if your kid is working 500-1000 hrs/yr on their artwork. Whether they can earn a living or not at their painting is immaterial....they are acquiring a lifelong hobby and creative outlet for balancing their life. But other parents go buy a new piano if their kiddo takes two lessons and can do a half-hearted rendition of chopsticks.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

swimslick — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:44:02 GMT

Luckily with the banning of rubber suits, these days there is a wide price range for tech suits/leg suits. I don't see any problem with buying a kid an $80 Finals X-Cellerator, a $95 TYR Aeorback Fusion, or even the low-end $120 Arena Powerskin. If a kid works hard and has set specific goals for themselves, then I don't see a problem with 'prewarding' them with a reasonable tech suit. If the kid really wanted nothing but a LZR or something more pricey, then it would become something to be earned via making cuts, saving allowance money, getting good grades, etc. or some combination like that. It would be a good life lesson....ya know, work hard for what you want? Back in my day, all my tech suits were earned by making the Zone team, where we were provided with a team paper suit (and later an S2000). I would wear that suit for next season's meet until they disintegrated. I then would beg my parents to buy me a new $70 paper suit.... "Do you really want me to wear this old see-through suit, mom?!?" :D

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

habu987 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:34:12 GMT

I don't have kids (yet). But if they will ever get into swimming and it comes down to this discussion, I learned this from my parents (when I was that little kid and begged for my first tech suit): as soon as they qualify for nationals, I will get them their first suit. Overall, you don't need a tech suit to swim fast. It's all mentally IMO. I still have tech suits from 10 years ago and still swim in them (yes, they are still legal). I use them maybe 2x a year for taper meets. I agree that you don't need a tech suit to swim fast, but it sure doesn't hurt! Once I have kids, I'll follow the same pattern my parents did with me--they bought me my first pair of Aquablade jammers, then after that I had to buy all my meet suits, including the brand spankin' new, state of the art Fastskin legskin I bought for my last few championship meets. They didn't care if I was wearing a tech suit or regular Speedo jammers at any meet, ranging from a local fun meet or Sectionals or anything of the sort.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

aquageek — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:12:38 GMT

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Britt03 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:09:26 GMT

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 11:27:16 GMT

I hated the shiny suits when they were legal because they took forever to get on,if you didn't have the right one you were at a disadvantage(Joe has a Jaked and I'm stuck with this clunky old LZR) and they were fragile(after 45 min of struggle I have on,now I'll bend over for the start,:censor: $500 gone and I'm traumatizing the timers.) But, the B70 Nero Comp solved both of those problems; it was the perfect, magic suit. Now that they are gone I miss feeling younger(wow,I haven't done that time in 10 years) and being able to go to a non-taper meet with my slightly stretched out suit and go faster than if I'd shaved.You and me both.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:16:29 GMT

I hated the shiny suits when they were legal because they took forever to get on,if you didn't have the right one you were at a disadvantage(Joe has a Jaked and I'm stuck with this clunky old LZR) and they were fragile(after 45 min of struggle I have on,now I'll bend over for the start,:censor: $500 gone and I'm traumatizing the timers.) Now that they are gone I miss feeling younger(wow,I haven't done that time in 10 years) and being able to go to a non-taper meet with my slightly stretched out suit and go faster than if I'd shaved.Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've lost til it's gone. :mooning: I was just listening to that song while doing my holiday baking! :banana:

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

habu987 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:56:23 GMT

For younger kids, I don't really see too much of a point--as others have said, the kids are going to drop time like crazy, whether they're wearing a tech suit or a drag suit. Once they hit 13/14 or so, I'm all for it. That's when I got my first tech suit (well, Aquablade jammers, back when they were the shiznit). That being said, I'm one of those Masters swimmers who wears FSII jammers to every meet, so take my opinion with a grain of salt... :D

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Allen Stark — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:34:47 GMT

+ I still yearn for a day when they bring back the rubber, full body suits. I'll fork out money for 5 seconds on my 500! Today's jammers might buy me 5 tenths on a 500 ... at best. I hated the shiny suits when they were legal because they took forever to get on,if you didn't have the right one you were at a disadvantage(Joe has a Jaked and I'm stuck with this clunky old LZR) and they were fragile(after 45 min of struggle I have on,now I'll bend over for the start,:censor: $500 gone and I'm traumatizing the timers.) Now that they are gone I miss feeling younger(wow,I haven't done that time in 10 years) and being able to go to a non-taper meet with my slightly stretched out suit and go faster than if I'd shaved.Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've lost til it's gone.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:52:03 GMT

That's true. But what exists now is the unfortunate mind set that you can ONLY do well with a tech suit (thanks to our commercial friends). I'll do anything possible to teach my kids differently.+1 I do actually feel a bit sorry for women swimmers now, though, as the current crop of tech suits and coverage still can have an non-trivial impact on their times for adults or near-adult swimmers (e.g., where suit compression matters vs. youth and material over the greater surface area matters). So, I feel sorry for women swimmers (and/or parents like myself of late teenaged swimmers) who can see a benefit from these suits and then do have to fork out $$$. For men, when they took away the real tech suits / the full body suits and reduced men to jammers, suit technology essentially became irrelevant. Yes, there still is a slight advantage for the techest of suits, but much, much less than in the days of the wonder suits. I still yearn for a day when they bring back the rubber, full body suits. I'll fork out money for 5 seconds on my 500! Today's jammers might buy me 5 tenths on a 500 ... at best.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Britt03 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 04:07:40 GMT

Back in the days no longer exists. That's true. But what exists now is the unfortunate mind set that you can ONLY do well with a tech suit (thanks to our commercial friends). I'll do anything possible to teach my kids differently.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

aquageek — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:36:28 GMT

I was one of the only ones back in the days racing with a "regular" suit at big meets. Back in the days no longer exists.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Britt03 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 03:16:04 GMT

Yeah, your kid will be the only one at JOs, Sectionals, Zones without the tech suit. I was one of the only ones back in the days racing with a "regular" suit at big meets. My parents bought me my first regular cut Aquablade suit when I was 11 and made Junior Nationals. They didn't care. Both of them made it to the Olympics (not in swimming but other sports) without fancy and super expensive equipment. My parents have never bought me another tech/racing suit than that one. I had to make the state team to get my first knee tech suit. One of the annual perks when you made the state team in Germany. And then our coach would only allow us to race in tech suits twice a year; for Long course and Short course nationals.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Patrick W. Brundage — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:57:06 GMT

You sure you want to start this fun debate again? :afraid: I think I'm at peace with what I've said elsewhere.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Bobinator — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:26:22 GMT

I bought my kids the "tech" suits if they had 5 or more state cuts. Of course the suits back then were the Speedo Powerflow tanks and they were $80.00 if I remember correctly. Our swim team would only allow the kids to wear them in their championship meets.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

jaadams1 — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:03:39 GMT

Also most masters swimmers are competing much less frequently than kids are. They want every race to 'count.' Most, yes. Me, no. :bliss:

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:54:09 GMT

So if it isn’t worth spending money on your kids is it worth spending the money on yourself? I don't have kids, so yes, it is worth spending the money on myself. Plus, these new tech suits help show off my wookish figure. That is a definite plus over the older tech suits.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:23:45 GMT

Also most masters swimmers are competing much less frequently than kids are. They want every race to 'count.' True, but I see people that don't even have anything close to masters national cuts rockin the $200 suits at what I'd consider a meet with "dual meet" importance. These are the people that'd be buying kids tech suits as well, I'd imagine.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:09:50 GMT

I got people in my area that wear them to EVERY masters meet, not just state or local championship type meets. It may be a modesty issue - there are some older ladies in my area who much prefer to wear the kneeskin-style suit than a tank. They aren't wearing true high priced tech suits, but rather things like Yingfas and Tyr Fusions.

RE: Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Former Member — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:03:50 GMT

when I go to our Masters State meet I see a lot of folks in tech suits. And most of the folks wearing these are no closer to making it to the Olympics than little Suzy. So if it isn’t worth spending money on your kids is it worth spending the money on yourself? I got people in my area that wear them to EVERY masters meet, not just state or local championship type meets.