LZR - It's Faster, but by how much ?

Former Member
Former Member
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?"?
Parents
  • So...Rule 102.15.9 in the 2008 USMS Rule Book states "Swimmers are not permitted to wear any device or substance to help their speed, pace, or buoyancy during the race." So let's accept for the moment, based on FINA's ruling, that the LZR (or any other technical suit) does not provide buoyancy. How can we reconcile a statement that the suits don't violate the rule against "assisted speed" with the widespread desire to use them for just that reason? I'm not trying to stop technological advances here, I just think that we should be up front about what's going on. If the ENTIRE PURPOSE of designing the suits is to violate this rule (and I don't see any other way of interpreting the rule) then either the suits should be banned or the rule should be rewritten. And on the Open Water front...you all DO realize that the several "skinsuits" or "swim skins" that look similar to (very thin) wetsuits have been FINA approved? Apparently they don't provide any buoyancy advantage either; I heard that a number of triathletes in KONA used them. Here are pictures of two approved suits: www.xterrawetsuits.com/velocity.html www.blueseventy.com/.../
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  • So...Rule 102.15.9 in the 2008 USMS Rule Book states "Swimmers are not permitted to wear any device or substance to help their speed, pace, or buoyancy during the race." So let's accept for the moment, based on FINA's ruling, that the LZR (or any other technical suit) does not provide buoyancy. How can we reconcile a statement that the suits don't violate the rule against "assisted speed" with the widespread desire to use them for just that reason? I'm not trying to stop technological advances here, I just think that we should be up front about what's going on. If the ENTIRE PURPOSE of designing the suits is to violate this rule (and I don't see any other way of interpreting the rule) then either the suits should be banned or the rule should be rewritten. And on the Open Water front...you all DO realize that the several "skinsuits" or "swim skins" that look similar to (very thin) wetsuits have been FINA approved? Apparently they don't provide any buoyancy advantage either; I heard that a number of triathletes in KONA used them. Here are pictures of two approved suits: www.xterrawetsuits.com/velocity.html www.blueseventy.com/.../
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