Dolphin 2 - I agree with much of what you say about the suits. But the quote above is from you. Your statement essentially discredits what Phelps may do in Beijing because he is wearing a LZR. If he wins 6, 7, or 8 gold medals, is his performance dumbed down?
There are two distinct statistics when it comes to the issue of speed.
The speed of a given swimmer relative to the speed of another swimmer under the same conditions. Since this is a function of individual skill rather than mechanized aids, the suit is immaterial so why are suit makers trying to claim part of the glory about who won a race when they were wearing their brand?
The World's Record speed which is a quantity based on pure magnitude itself and not relative speed. If suits (or other variables) are responsible for increased speed, then Phelp's world's records would indeed be achieved through artifical means and the speed would have to be "de-rated" to take any advantage into account. Accordingly, it would be interesting to see what the world's records would actually be if "old fashoined" briefs were the standard instead of tech suits.
As I've said til I'm getting blue in the face, swimming is about the swimmers themselves -not the technology of their swim suits- and if we could just go back to simple briefs -which play a very minimal role in performance- all the controversy over what is -or isn't- an acheivement would not exist.
Dolphin 2
Dolphin 2 - I agree with much of what you say about the suits. But the quote above is from you. Your statement essentially discredits what Phelps may do in Beijing because he is wearing a LZR. If he wins 6, 7, or 8 gold medals, is his performance dumbed down?
There are two distinct statistics when it comes to the issue of speed.
The speed of a given swimmer relative to the speed of another swimmer under the same conditions. Since this is a function of individual skill rather than mechanized aids, the suit is immaterial so why are suit makers trying to claim part of the glory about who won a race when they were wearing their brand?
The World's Record speed which is a quantity based on pure magnitude itself and not relative speed. If suits (or other variables) are responsible for increased speed, then Phelp's world's records would indeed be achieved through artifical means and the speed would have to be "de-rated" to take any advantage into account. Accordingly, it would be interesting to see what the world's records would actually be if "old fashoined" briefs were the standard instead of tech suits.
As I've said til I'm getting blue in the face, swimming is about the swimmers themselves -not the technology of their swim suits- and if we could just go back to simple briefs -which play a very minimal role in performance- all the controversy over what is -or isn't- an acheivement would not exist.
Dolphin 2
