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?"?
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Former Member
Chris, I agree that the numbers raise more questions than they answer.
I pay a lot of attention to men's sprinting, and I've seen big drops recently, but I feel like the top times in the individual 50 and 100 free in LCM are only now catching up to insane times from relays and SCY.
Way back in 2003, Fred Bousquet anchored the French 4x100 free relay at Worlds. He split 47.03, which is not much slower than his 46.63 at the Olympics this year. But in the individual event in 2003, Bousquet only went 49.30. A couple years later he redefined fast in the 50-yard free with his 18.74, but the same year at Worlds he disappointed again, with a 22.44 in the finals.
None of those swims for Bousquet involved a LZR. Now that he, along with everyone else, is going 21-mid, it's easy to say that the suit did it. But I think it's just as likely that there's been a new psychological barrier broken in the men's sprints, and many other events as well.
Chris, I agree that the numbers raise more questions than they answer.
I pay a lot of attention to men's sprinting, and I've seen big drops recently, but I feel like the top times in the individual 50 and 100 free in LCM are only now catching up to insane times from relays and SCY.
Way back in 2003, Fred Bousquet anchored the French 4x100 free relay at Worlds. He split 47.03, which is not much slower than his 46.63 at the Olympics this year. But in the individual event in 2003, Bousquet only went 49.30. A couple years later he redefined fast in the 50-yard free with his 18.74, but the same year at Worlds he disappointed again, with a 22.44 in the finals.
None of those swims for Bousquet involved a LZR. Now that he, along with everyone else, is going 21-mid, it's easy to say that the suit did it. But I think it's just as likely that there's been a new psychological barrier broken in the men's sprints, and many other events as well.
