Here's a thread for the ladies to discuss anything that relates to women and swimming. For example, feel free to discuss how disgustingly ugly fastskins are, how the "curse" can kill a meet, how suits don't fit, how swimming wrecks your hair, how hormones unhinge you, etc.
I work part time at a bike shop which also sells Speedo products. We set up a tent and tables at most every local USA-S meet. I find it amazing how many parents shell out 100-200 bucks on technical suits because their kid got an A/AA/AAA/AAAA time. It blows my mind.
It's too late, cat's out of the bag for age groupers as well as masters. After spending the last two days at another long prelim/final meet, I can say that there is no one without a technical suit. The FSII tank with the jazzy colors is the most popular. But there are plenty of bodysuits, kneeskins, Pros, FS IIs, Arenas, or a collection of all of them and a growing awareness that the suits wear out. Mini-Fort has a friend with a LZR. The girls do seem more obsessed with suits than (and definitely seem to prefer bodysuits to) the boys. Unfortunately, I am a very bad role model is this respect. When my kid's FS II tank sprang a hole in prelims, she knew right where to come for a suit for finals.
So I'm over it at USA meets. Although "rewarding" your kid for a particular times seems odd. I do wish I didn't have to see fastskins at summer league meets though.
That aquablade story is hysterical.
Sacrificing for your kids is one thing, sacrificing your kids is another. What kind of doctor will endorse this? I'm sure there will be one doctor that will say yes to this mother...
Maybe she can find an elderly one from the former East Germany. They seem to have lots of practice at giving hormones to children just going through puberty.
There is a 6 year old on our team in his first year and dad bought him a legskin. Now my 10 year old wants one. So far I have managed to dodge this by saying "when you make your state cut we will think about it". But it doesn't help when the 6 year old wears it as a practice suit.
I guess they have plenty of expendable cash. I'll take some of that as I sit in the heat with a blown air compressor from an electrical storm about a week ago.
There is a 6 year old on our team in his first year and dad bought him a legskin. Now my 10 year old wants one. So far I have managed to dodge this by saying "when you make your state cut we will think about it". But it doesn't help when the 6 year old wears it as a practice suit.
Oy.
While I am decades beyond youth swimming and the whole skin suit issue, I can only compare it to hockey. When my son's cohorts were skating with $200 sticks at age 8 we thought it was ridiculous. When Aaron was 10, his grandfather gave him one of those sticks as a birthday gift. Aaron couldn't believe the difference and, we can honestly say that his shots were much more on target, and he could score with slapshots even though he plays defense.
We also pay for $$$ skates, although the higher quality there is obvious.
As for practicing, Aaron does use the more expensive sticks during practice because you do need to get the "feel" of the stick during practice as well as games. I don't think that transfers in swimming, however.
My point being that if it gives the kid an edge to swim/play with a higher quality item and the parents can afford it, no harm no foul.
Did anyone else see the Tara Kirk episode of What Not to Wear on Friday? I felt so bad for her, as they kept emphasizing how she was an Olympic athlete, and how she was training for the Olympics, and how as an Olympic athlete she would need to look stylish.
Clothes-wise, they mainly offered her the same advice Ripple offered me: Go to a tailor already. No way are you going to fit both arms and waist, or both thighs and waist, in off-the-rack clothes. The makeup person gave her the same advice my dermatologist gave me on sunscreen, which is to pick one with a lot of titanium dioxide or micronized zinc oxide in it. If your skin is not naturally pale, you are going to look like Casper in your pool sunscreen, but too bad. The alternative is major goggle lines, and an awful suntan mustache if you are pregnant or on BCPs.
It did bug me how the woman (Stacey) kept emphasizing how TK should want to look "feminine," as if her beautiful, fast body were unfeminine. Her "before" clothes were sort of plain and boring, but they were not nearly as bad as some of the people I have seen on that show in terms of being unflattering.
As if the Dara thread weren't enough ... Heard some interesting gossip at an age group meet about an extremely fast 12 year old. Seems that Mom and coach are considering putting her on birth control pills to prevent the appearance of AF, so she can keep going great guns and not have any plateaus. What next?!
BCP don't stop AF, they regulate it and hormones. I wouldn't do this to a child of mine, as everyone responds differently to BCP. They would help a swimmer to know when to expect AF, which could be helpful for meet planning. Of course, being 47 and finding AF less regular than it was 10 years ago makes that look much more appealing, but I don't do well on BCP, so it's not an option for me.
--mj
As if the Dara thread weren't enough ... Heard some interesting gossip at an age group meet about an extremely fast 12 year old. Seems that Mom and coach are considering putting her on birth control pills to prevent the appearance of AF, so she can keep going great guns and not have any plateaus. What next?!
Please tell me this 12 year old was not with OCCS.
