I'm glad to see innovation. Track and Field has been using angled starting blocks for decades upon decades. It makes plenty of sense in swimming. Too bad our Summer League team will still be using "hand crafted" wood relics of the 70s until they rot.
I have fond memories of doing backstroke starts by holding the legs of someone standing on the deck...!
More seriously: if these are simple add-ons that can be used and removed from existing blocks, that is one thing. I think it more likely that it will involve replacement of the blocks.
Pool rentals are pretty high already -- driving up membership fees, reducing the choices for meet venues, etc -- and they will probably get a little higher because of this, so I hope we all feel the 0.1 sec is worth it because we won't have any choice in the matter. (This is different from technical suits -- I can always choose not to get/replace one.)
I'm glad to see innovation. Track and Field has been using angled starting blocks for decades upon decades. It makes plenty of sense in swimming. Too bad our Summer League team will still be using "hand crafted" wood relics of the 70s until they rot.
I have fond memories of doing backstroke starts by holding the legs of someone standing on the deck...!
More seriously: if these are simple add-ons that can be used and removed from existing blocks, that is one thing. I think it more likely that it will involve replacement of the blocks.
Pool rentals are pretty high already -- driving up membership fees, reducing the choices for meet venues, etc -- and they will probably get a little higher because of this, so I hope we all feel the 0.1 sec is worth it because we won't have any choice in the matter. (This is different from technical suits -- I can always choose not to get/replace one.)
