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?"?
I generally concede that the full LZR or other tech suits are generally a half second faster per 100. However, if the LZR is always faster, how do we explain some of the best swimmers not always wearing a full LZR or an equivalent? I find it odd that Phelps uses the LZR in the 100 Free, but wears jammers in the IMs and the fly (I don't remember him wearing the LZR in the fly recently, but I could be wrong). I think Phelps wore jammers in the 200 free semis too. Park wore the jammers in the 400 free which seemed highly unusual to me. Lochte wears the jammers a lot too. There are a number of top swimmers that don't appear to making logical suit choices based on conventional suit wisdom. I have never worn the jammers, but I just can't imagine they provide nearly the benefit of the full LZR (you don't have the compression or the bouyancy, right?). Don't we have to assume at that level of swimming everyone is making the suit choice that will give them the fastest time in a given event? So, maybe tech suits are not right for everyone or for every event. I may be willing to give up time for comfort, but why are Phelps, Lochte, Park and others willing to do so?
The relay last night was incredible. Hard not to concede that those times were not partially "suit" aided. I am probably wrong in my own suit choices, but I am stubborn!
Signed,
A Lurker
The suits are very tight and a lot of swimmers feel they are to restrictive. The effect they have is also related to how "big" someone is as well as body fat...in other words older swimmers with a lot of loose skin and/or a nice "roll" around the midsection will seen more of an effect than a world class swimmer with 2-3% body fat.
Try one of the suits and you'll understand...easy to be skeptical when you've never put one on.
I generally concede that the full LZR or other tech suits are generally a half second faster per 100. However, if the LZR is always faster, how do we explain some of the best swimmers not always wearing a full LZR or an equivalent? I find it odd that Phelps uses the LZR in the 100 Free, but wears jammers in the IMs and the fly (I don't remember him wearing the LZR in the fly recently, but I could be wrong). I think Phelps wore jammers in the 200 free semis too. Park wore the jammers in the 400 free which seemed highly unusual to me. Lochte wears the jammers a lot too. There are a number of top swimmers that don't appear to making logical suit choices based on conventional suit wisdom. I have never worn the jammers, but I just can't imagine they provide nearly the benefit of the full LZR (you don't have the compression or the bouyancy, right?). Don't we have to assume at that level of swimming everyone is making the suit choice that will give them the fastest time in a given event? So, maybe tech suits are not right for everyone or for every event. I may be willing to give up time for comfort, but why are Phelps, Lochte, Park and others willing to do so?
The relay last night was incredible. Hard not to concede that those times were not partially "suit" aided. I am probably wrong in my own suit choices, but I am stubborn!
Signed,
A Lurker
The suits are very tight and a lot of swimmers feel they are to restrictive. The effect they have is also related to how "big" someone is as well as body fat...in other words older swimmers with a lot of loose skin and/or a nice "roll" around the midsection will seen more of an effect than a world class swimmer with 2-3% body fat.
Try one of the suits and you'll understand...easy to be skeptical when you've never put one on.
