After seeing a woman break 24 seconds and I think we can stop the discussion of "IF" the LZR suit is faster and start thinking "how much faster".
The previous line of suits (Fastskin and so on) were pretty similiar to a shaved swimmer. Sure - they do feel like they make you float, but overall the times seemed to move along "in line" with what I would expect to see in terms of improvements in the sport. If the previous suits would have been that much faster than shaving, you would have never seen people just using the legskins. By the way - for us Masters swimmers there was always the added benefit of keeping in all the "extra layers of skin".
So how much faster are the LZR suits ?
If I had to guess based on the results so far, I would say 0.25 to 0.30 per 50 and double that for the 100. I can see the Bernard going 48 low in the 100 and I can see Sullivan getting close or just breaking the 50 record. It makes sense that Libby Lenton would swim a 24.2 or so in the 50.
I think one of the top regular teams out there should do a test - you need a good amount of world class swimmers training together to be able to do a test. Here is the test I would propose:
8-10 swimmers
2 days of testing
4x50 on 10 minutes all out
Day 1 - swim 2 with a Fastskin2 followed by 2 with the LZR
Day 2 - swim 2 with the LZR followed by 2 with the Fastskin2
Get the averages of all 10 swimmers - maybe drop the high and low and there you go.
Why do the test ? I would HAVE to know. Swimming is a big part of your life and you just set a massive PR using this new technology - my very first question would be " How much was me and how much was the suit?"?
Tim
here's a few replies
However, I would bet most of us could improve more through improved technique/starts/turns, conditioning, lifting weights, losing some pounds, etc. Why don't we spend more time discussing those elements of our swimming?
I've spent a lot of time on that, both training and writing
read swim faster faster it covers the gamut
at the end of the season each of us has what we have
I'm just bringing up topics for discussion and reporting what elite athletes are doing
on phelps
maybe so far he hasn't worn the LZR hineck because he's saving it for the Olympics
I am staying in the early 80s with my suit selection.
and that choice may cost you
suit choice is part of the reason for my recent time improvements
i feel better about dropping time
it's hard to figure out what came from where
why do we care so much at the masters level?
I have a lot of readers and like to experiment for them and write about my results and experiences
"I have seen him go 47 flat in a LZR or another tech suit in Austin. Was the difference due to lower altitude or was he bettered conditioned in Austin or was it the suit or that he was tapered or that he just tried harder due to better competition or ego or perhaps the UT pool was a factor or maybe it was the superior TexMex or the caffeine intake was higher?"
john would and should have gone much faster in the 100 free
but the 100 free was the last event on the last day
john was tired
If you fell a place lower because you didn't wear a tech suit or swam half a second slower, would it matter to you?
it matters to some and doesn't matter to others
Why are we as masters swimmers so obsessed with tech suits?
Why do we waste our money? Ande, I think you might need an intervention soon because you seem a bit addicted to tech suits.
I like to experiment and share information with readers
I am training to race and improve
Improvement comes from making good training choices and aligning factors
suits aren't immaterial success factors in our
I'm glad you I can easily discount and forgo.
part of the preparation process is equipment choice
you can choose to use an aspect or not
Tim
here's a few replies
However, I would bet most of us could improve more through improved technique/starts/turns, conditioning, lifting weights, losing some pounds, etc. Why don't we spend more time discussing those elements of our swimming?
I've spent a lot of time on that, both training and writing
read swim faster faster it covers the gamut
at the end of the season each of us has what we have
I'm just bringing up topics for discussion and reporting what elite athletes are doing
on phelps
maybe so far he hasn't worn the LZR hineck because he's saving it for the Olympics
I am staying in the early 80s with my suit selection.
and that choice may cost you
suit choice is part of the reason for my recent time improvements
i feel better about dropping time
it's hard to figure out what came from where
why do we care so much at the masters level?
I have a lot of readers and like to experiment for them and write about my results and experiences
"I have seen him go 47 flat in a LZR or another tech suit in Austin. Was the difference due to lower altitude or was he bettered conditioned in Austin or was it the suit or that he was tapered or that he just tried harder due to better competition or ego or perhaps the UT pool was a factor or maybe it was the superior TexMex or the caffeine intake was higher?"
john would and should have gone much faster in the 100 free
but the 100 free was the last event on the last day
john was tired
If you fell a place lower because you didn't wear a tech suit or swam half a second slower, would it matter to you?
it matters to some and doesn't matter to others
Why are we as masters swimmers so obsessed with tech suits?
Why do we waste our money? Ande, I think you might need an intervention soon because you seem a bit addicted to tech suits.
I like to experiment and share information with readers
I am training to race and improve
Improvement comes from making good training choices and aligning factors
suits aren't immaterial success factors in our
I'm glad you I can easily discount and forgo.
part of the preparation process is equipment choice
you can choose to use an aspect or not
