Not sure if it's the suit, the Olympic year, or a combo of both - but I do get the impression that the LZR racer is the fastest suit out there. It's not yet available, but I am sure some people will pull some strings and show up with the suit in Austin.
I think we should all agree to ban the suit from Austin and spread the word to everybody. I know it's not binding - but I think we are all "old enough" to work on the honor system.
Any thoughts ?
Former Member
Last year I trained 600 hours, mostly focussed on swimming. Since time is money let's work out what that amounts to. At my last working wage of $50 per hour, that's $30,000 that I gave up by not working in order to train for swimming. In addition, I spent for gas and had wear and tear on my car to get to and from said training sites. I have invested in taking private coaching sessions to evaluate specific stroke flaws and also paid for the expense of getting to meets to test myself. Let's call that $2000 more which, I'm sure, is an underestimate.
Why on earth would I complain about paying an additional $550 for a suit that might improve my times from previous years? Doesn't make sense to me. I won't join the ban. In fact, I'm trying my contacts now to see if I can get my hands on one for May.
But, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll get out my old wooden skiis, my wooden tennis racket with a small sweet spot, my old steel 40 pound mountain bike, my persimmon wood drivers that don't correct for my swing and, last but not least, my wool swim suit that belonged to my grandfather. It puzzles me why swimming seems to have the most vocal opponents to change.
By the way, when I swam in college it was in a shallow 20 yard pool with wooden starting blocks and no backstroke flags. I don't see why we weren't satisfied with that. It sure would have been a lot less expensive than building the new facility that the college now has.
want to clarify - it's not about the cost of the suit - it's about availability. The suits are not available right now - delivery is for June or July of this year. The only suits out there are for "speedo Swimmers".
I think some of these records speak for themselves in terms of effectiveness of the suit. Read somewhere that so far every single one of the WRs was with a Speedo suit. Also saw the Aussie results where a girl broke a minute in the 100 Back and did not make the team ...
want to clarify - it's not about the cost of the suit - it's about availability. The suits are not available right now - delivery is for June or July of this year. The only suits out there are for "speedo Swimmers".
I think some of these records speak for themselves in terms of effectiveness of the suit. Read somewhere that so far every single one of the WRs was with a Speedo suit. Also saw the Aussie results where a girl broke a minute in the 100 Back and did not make the team ...
The Italian woman (Pellegrini) who broke the 400 FR record today at the EuroChamps was wearing an Arena.
You're right that most of us won't have the chance to get one, even leaning on our best contacts.
If a select few swimmers have them at Austin while they are still not available to the general public, that would pose quite a problem for USMS and Speedo alike. No?
EDIT: It would not speak well of the swimmers wearing them to nationals either, IMHO.
Go Mel! I'd like a signed photo. Hey, maybe you'll grab a coveted nomination as Hottest Masters Swimmer in that get up.
I'll be warming up in Old Woolie at Austin. Bring your camera because I think the appearance will be similar to a certain banned photo of someone in a red suit...
I'll be warming up in Old Woolie at Austin. Bring your camera because I think the appearance will be similar to a certain banned photo of someone in a red suit...
I forget what that looked like. Can somebody post it again? :)
Again the point here is just AVAILABILITY for this year's Masters Nationals. You can have all the philosophical and cost discussions you want - but the suits are not generally available to Masters swimmers competing in Austin.
In terms of effectiveness - I would guess that the average to good Masters swimmer will get double the time boost compared to an elite swimmer. For one, our older skin flops around a lot more. And then of course there is the issue of excess fat ....
Realistically how many masters swimmers do you think would be able to get a hold of the new suit? Of those how many are already a top their age group?
Bottom line - life is not fair. I don't think just because you can't get a suit (and really the vast majority of us) that we shouldn't allow them. I think it's silly to try.
hey slow,
why is what?
how I could get a suit?
I could ask friends who have one or several, if I could borrow one
I haven't broken an individual USMS record yet
I've come close, but there's several fast swimmers who are a few years older than me who age up and break them before I get the chance
maybe one of these years, there's a few within striking range
I took a crack at the 200 LCM back a few weeks ago
went 2:21.0 and needed to go 2:19.0
I re-reminded myself of how much that event hurts
I don't walk on water, I used to sink and now I float.
what's EOM?
And why is that??? Andy.
Have you ever held a USMS record????
Maybe you just walk on water EOM
