Anyone going to start practicing in a in the big rubberband?
Former Member
Anyone out there going to start doing some pool practices in a wetsuit due to the new "proposed" rule change of allowing wetsuits in USMS open water swims? :frustrated:
The thought of practicing in a pool in a wetsuit absolutely makes me want to barf; however, I don't want to be penalized (and I've not yet learned to swim in one of these rubber bands) if this rule change goes through for next year.
Any thoughts on how to deal with the ridicule in practice?
The way things are going, I guess I had better learn to swim with fins as well. . .
Maybe with the approval of wetsuits and fins, the powers that be will approve swimming with paddles and buoys - then I'm in! :party2:
I'm thinking that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. :doh::doh::sad:
Chris is right: you can relax. I have probably swum in 60-80 USMS-sanctioned OW races over the past 10 years, in California, Oregon, and Illinois, and I think every event except one or two that I have ever done has had a wetsuit division. The definite exception is the Trans-Tahoe Relay, which seems to have an unofficial naked division instead. I think also maybe they didn't have a wetsuit division at FINA Worlds in 2006. I swam in a race once that was designated as the USMS 1500m national championship, but I think even then there was a wetsuit division. Maybe the winner(s) in that division just couldn't call themselves national champions.
The fastest swimmers have had ample opportunity to adopt wetsuits but have not, although many do wear technical suits such as fastskins. Lisa Hazen, Susan Preston, and Suzanne Heim-Bowen would not be caught dead in wetsuits, at least not for a little 2-mile lake swim, even though Susan in particular always looks as if she is absolutely freezing when she finishes because she is so lean. As Chris says, the wetsuit swimmers are almost always slower than the non-wetsuit swimmers.
At any rate, don't worry about it. They always score the wetsuits separately and they nearly always start them separately as well. Just don't enter the wetsuit division if you don't want to race wetsuit wearers, and if you do want to race the fastest people. And even if someone in a wetsuit comes in ahead of you, you can always say, "well, s/he had an advantage from the wet suit." (When a man outswims me, I like to console myself by thinking "well, he had an advantage from the testosterone.")
Chris is right: you can relax. I have probably swum in 60-80 USMS-sanctioned OW races over the past 10 years, in California, Oregon, and Illinois, and I think every event except one or two that I have ever done has had a wetsuit division. The definite exception is the Trans-Tahoe Relay, which seems to have an unofficial naked division instead. I think also maybe they didn't have a wetsuit division at FINA Worlds in 2006. I swam in a race once that was designated as the USMS 1500m national championship, but I think even then there was a wetsuit division. Maybe the winner(s) in that division just couldn't call themselves national champions.
The fastest swimmers have had ample opportunity to adopt wetsuits but have not, although many do wear technical suits such as fastskins. Lisa Hazen, Susan Preston, and Suzanne Heim-Bowen would not be caught dead in wetsuits, at least not for a little 2-mile lake swim, even though Susan in particular always looks as if she is absolutely freezing when she finishes because she is so lean. As Chris says, the wetsuit swimmers are almost always slower than the non-wetsuit swimmers.
At any rate, don't worry about it. They always score the wetsuits separately and they nearly always start them separately as well. Just don't enter the wetsuit division if you don't want to race wetsuit wearers, and if you do want to race the fastest people. And even if someone in a wetsuit comes in ahead of you, you can always say, "well, s/he had an advantage from the wet suit." (When a man outswims me, I like to console myself by thinking "well, he had an advantage from the testosterone.")
