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:
If you have the pleasure of hanging around a bunch of tris, the first question asked of any swim is "is it westuit legal?" What the heck? I have no idea this obsession with the wetsuit. If they don't practice in a wetsuit, the water is warm enough and the distance is short, what's the need?
The need, of course, is performance enhancement...and for some, an extra security blanket. I know several accomplished triathletes who have suffered panic attacks in the OW portion of the swim, particularly in choppy water with poor visibility.
Fort, I realize that the WS is probably more performance enhancing than the LZR (as an aside, though: where is the evidence of that statement?), but that is a weak argument from both a practical and ethical standpoint. Practical: exactly how much enhancement is legal? Ethical: why is a "little" enhancement okay but not a "lot?" If it is a matter of principle, then it is violated in either case.
People who have no problem with the ethics will always fall back on buoyancy as a practical way to distinguish between legal enhancement and something like a wetsuit.
But all the arguments I always see against allowing wetsuits usually have a dominant ethical component: they aren't "real swimmers," etc. I simply fail to see how a LZR-clad swimmer is more of a "true swimmer" than a WS-clad swimmer. The so-called purists are on shaky moral ground, in my opinion, if they use technical suits in the pool.
(And before jumping on me for being anti-LZR, keep in mind that I don't have an ethical objection to the LZR or any other technical suit.)
In any event, we are not proposing that WS-clad be treated identically to those without a WS, just that they be allowed to race. I also don't have a problem with them starting in the same wave, I think that should be left up to the race organizers as a practical matter rather then be legislated from on high.
If you have the pleasure of hanging around a bunch of tris, the first question asked of any swim is "is it westuit legal?" What the heck? I have no idea this obsession with the wetsuit. If they don't practice in a wetsuit, the water is warm enough and the distance is short, what's the need?
The need, of course, is performance enhancement...and for some, an extra security blanket. I know several accomplished triathletes who have suffered panic attacks in the OW portion of the swim, particularly in choppy water with poor visibility.
Fort, I realize that the WS is probably more performance enhancing than the LZR (as an aside, though: where is the evidence of that statement?), but that is a weak argument from both a practical and ethical standpoint. Practical: exactly how much enhancement is legal? Ethical: why is a "little" enhancement okay but not a "lot?" If it is a matter of principle, then it is violated in either case.
People who have no problem with the ethics will always fall back on buoyancy as a practical way to distinguish between legal enhancement and something like a wetsuit.
But all the arguments I always see against allowing wetsuits usually have a dominant ethical component: they aren't "real swimmers," etc. I simply fail to see how a LZR-clad swimmer is more of a "true swimmer" than a WS-clad swimmer. The so-called purists are on shaky moral ground, in my opinion, if they use technical suits in the pool.
(And before jumping on me for being anti-LZR, keep in mind that I don't have an ethical objection to the LZR or any other technical suit.)
In any event, we are not proposing that WS-clad be treated identically to those without a WS, just that they be allowed to race. I also don't have a problem with them starting in the same wave, I think that should be left up to the race organizers as a practical matter rather then be legislated from on high.
