Is anyone out there besides Ande wearing racing suits in practice? I've never done it before, but was wondering it it's worth the bother to throw an old fastskin on for time periodically or during taper?
I wear a racing suit during practice, in the shower, and on airplanes. As for airplanes, I wear the suit to help eliminate drag, this allows me to arrive at my destination approximately one tenth faster for every 1,000 miles travelled.
I take my goggles with me on the plane, not in my checked baggage, in case we have to ditch. :drown: Seriously.
I'm getting a new one I'll save for SCY Nats (maximum mojo).
I think the mojo factor is a big one for me. When I put on a technical suit it needs to be for something special. I expect to swim fast with it on. I feel like if I wore it too much it would lose that.
Sure, if you get a brand new suit it's probably a good idea to at least try it on to be sure it fits properly. Other than that I would save it.
Hey, in order to BE fast, you have to LOOK fast. And that guy must have LOOKED fast! It's just like the old Saturday Night Live skit, "It's not how you feel, it's how you look. And you look mahhvelous!" I just go an Uglies baggy and I think I may race in it. I like it. I'm so slow, it probably won't matter anyway!
You sound like John Smith. lol.
I wear a racing suit during practice, in the shower, and on airplanes. I feel like the suit allows me to go just a little bit faster during practice, so it is deffinitly worth it. Also, anytime I shower, i like to have on a fully body suit as it allows me to use less water when bathing and therefore helps the environment. As for airplanes, I wear the suit to help eliminate drag, this allows me to arrive at my destination approximately one tenth faster for every 1,000 miles travelled. On a side note, I agree with using the suit every now and then in practice to get used to it. Ande knows what he's talking about.
I wear them at practice at one particular time only: My taper for nationals is always two weeks long. At the end of the first week, when I'm starting to feel major bloating from the glycogen build-up (i.e. the water retention that goes with the glycogen) resulting from the taper I will do one day of AT swimming in my regular training suit followed by a day of all-out 100s with infinite rest between. On that second day, I wear one of my race suits because it begins to make me feel like I do in the big meets. I also see the substantial time drops that indicate that my taper is on target.
I've always worn just practice suits in practice and at non-taper timed finals meets. The only time I get any kind of faster suit is if I swim non-taper prelim/final format then I'll put on a tight suit for finals only. I only use the technical suits during taper meets. I will put it on after the general meet warm-up, but I always do a short pre-race warm-up and that is where I get used to the feel and all the confidence for the race.
Plus with the price, I am trying to extend the suits use by limiting it's exposure to adverse conditions.
The technical suits are expensive and they get worn out. But, like Ande says, the feel is important. This year, I'm planning to stay shaved several weeks in advance of nationals.
I've seen a few folks (who may or may not be Masters swimmers) and a few young folks using some pretty expensive racing suits for lap swimming or just for messing around at the pool.
I think they like the look.
I think wearing racings suits is important because it allows swimmers to get used to what their racing suit feels like.
Plus they should swim very fast times which provides a level of comfort and confidence going into meets.
I don't think swimmers should wear a suit for the entire practice, they should do it like a meet.
Warm up then change into the racing suit.
Is anyone out there besides Ande wearing racing suits in practice? I've never done it before, but was wondering it it's worth the bother to throw an old fastskin on for time periodically or during taper?
On an amusing note, the other day, I saw a guy at my pool swim a whole practice with an FS Pro bodyskin. He told me he was a sprinter, and was doing loads of 25s, but still ... A Pro the whole practice?! :rolleyes:
