Racing Suits in Practice?

I am probably not going out on a limb here when I say that I am the cheapest person on these forums. In 20 years of Masters swimming, I don't think I've ever spent more than $30.00 on a suit (and that about killed me). My goal is to keep it at or under $20.00. I have four suits in my "new suit stash" right now that were each less than $17.00. Don't even get me started on the thermostat settings in my house... :eek: Anna Lea

Truly cheap people buy polyester suits, they last for years.

Truly cheap people buy polyester suits, they last for years. :applaud: I'm ordering another one now because the one I have had for 4+ years worth of daily chlorine exposure has finally shown signs of needing to be replaced (small tear in suit and strap).

Jazz...curious about your wanting to shave for a few weeks prior to nationals...I'm not aware of any swimmers I've trained/raced with that take that approach? There are a couple reasons I want to shave early. I want to get to know the feel that I'll be working with in my actual races, the same reason someone with more money to burn would practice in a technical suit. In my opinion, the closer my practice swims can simulate my races, the better. The other reason is that shaving is a hassle and I'm not good at it. It takes over an hour and it's physically exhausting. I don't want to have to deal with it right before a big meet. If I shave several weeks beforehand, it's a simple re-shave the day before my 50 free at nationals.

I always like to shave right before the meet as I get psyched by the increased sensitivity and smoothness,but Wayne McCaully writes that he recommends shaving a couple of weeks before the meet to make sure your turns and stroke mechanics are OK in a shaved state.

I know there are some folks out there that like to use them in workout, for me the only time I ever do is if its brand new model I haven't swam in before and want to be sure there are no surprises. In general i want to show up to a major meet, shave, put on a jammer for warm up and "feel" my taper...and put on a full body only for races. In general if I want to "feel" fast in workout I'll do speed sets with fins (and small paddles at times)...and practice turns with running dives from the side of the pool. Jazz...curious about your wanting to shave for a few weeks prior to nationals...I'm not aware of any swimmers I've trained/raced with that take that approach?

I agree with testing new racing suits to make sure there are no surprises I'm sure there are those who didn't and wish they did haven't done running dive turn sprints in a while one time I slipped and smacked my thigh on the pools edge Ande I know there are some folks out there that like to use them in workout, for me the only time I ever do is if its brand new model I haven't swam in before and want to be sure there are no surprises. In general i want to show up to a major meet, shave, put on a jammer for warm up and "feel" my taper...and put on a full body only for races. In general if I want to "feel" fast in workout I'll do speed sets with fins (and small paddles at times)...and practice turns with running dives from the side of the pool. Jazz...curious about your wanting to shave for a few weeks prior to nationals...I'm not aware of any swimmers I've trained/raced with that take that approach?

Don't even get me started on the thermostat settings in my house... :eek: Anna Lea Sorry for the hijack but I had to say something about thermostat settings; my parents are not necessarily cheap or really too concerned about saving the money on heating the house, but we have a pretty big house with zones. And my bedroom at home is on one zone that really doesn't overlap anyone else's bedrooms, so at night in the winter it is not uncommon for my bedroom to be at 57degrees (and occasionally it'll dip cooler to a nice 54-55degrees). Needless to say, I sleep in a sleeping bag! And as much as I complain about it while I am home and when I have to get out of bed in the morning--I can't sleep there now when they put the thermostat about 60. Onward with the discussion of racing suits in practice

So, I shaved and swam a practice. I have to say, it seems like Ande is on to something with all of his FSII practice swims. Swimming with reduced drag makes for different technique priorities. I had to relax and lower my stroke rate to go fast today. It's a much different feeling, and I'm glad I have several weeks to get used to it. I nearly collided with the wall a couple times.

I wore my usual mesh drag suit. Which reminds me of something I wanted to ask. I've been using a mesh drag suit at practice since the start of the year. A couple of times the coach has had us do an "all out" set, say 4 x 100 all out with at least a couple minutes between each one. How much is the drag suit costing me in time? The other night I did the first three free and went :22, :20, :18 (last was BR). Any idea how much time the drag suit added? Thx, Skip Montanaro