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
1. What suit did you wear for the 50?
2. What suit would you wear for your next race/record assault?
3. Would it be the same suit for the 50/100/200?
Good questions -
If you have an unlimited budget, you can slightly size even more down for the 50s. Yes - it did take 2 people to zip me up, but that is part of the reason these suits are faster. Everything is tight and tucked in. But it does get a little rough in the long races with the straps on your shoulders, so anything longer than a 200, I would go a little bigger.
I am going to stay with what I have right now - I will try to get my Blue 70 replaced (it ripped a little bit), and plan on using the LZR and the Blue 70 for a run at the scm records in December. I think the older suits can still be used (I have some TYR suits when we were sponsored and a Fastskin Pro) in non-taper meets. The LZR may wear out quickly, so you want to save it for when it counts.
1. What suit did you wear for the 50?
2. What suit would you wear for your next race/record assault?
3. Would it be the same suit for the 50/100/200?
Good questions -
If you have an unlimited budget, you can slightly size even more down for the 50s. Yes - it did take 2 people to zip me up, but that is part of the reason these suits are faster. Everything is tight and tucked in. But it does get a little rough in the long races with the straps on your shoulders, so anything longer than a 200, I would go a little bigger.
I am going to stay with what I have right now - I will try to get my Blue 70 replaced (it ripped a little bit), and plan on using the LZR and the Blue 70 for a run at the scm records in December. I think the older suits can still be used (I have some TYR suits when we were sponsored and a Fastskin Pro) in non-taper meets. The LZR may wear out quickly, so you want to save it for when it counts.