It seems to me like the swimsuit situation has gotten a bit out of hand. Prices are high; LZRs are unavailable; swimskins are legal for USMS pool meets... the list continues.
With the fabrics, I think we can all agree neoprene should remain illegal for pool meets. But beyond that, who's to say what is and what isn't? It will be tough with all the new technology, and as we're seeing today with Speedo and BlueSeventy being FINA sponsors, it will be tough to knock the gift horse in the mouth.
Most of these new suits are body suits. Why not try to limit the effect a suit has on a performance by limiting the amount of suit that can affect performance? It is a stretch to get back to "briefs" and "recordbreakers," as already, women have a fabric advantage. But why not put a limit on the total amount of fabric that can be used, or the total amount of acceptable body coverage?
Small step to take, and in the end, to make the genders fair, we probably wouldn't lose much suit. But I think it is rediculous to see people completely covered at the pool. Their swims should be all about them - not what they and their suit can accomplish.
Former Member
The most innocent things are misconstrued by the seemingly innocent ...
I thought blue was your color.
The most innocent things are misconstrued by the seemingly innocent ...
I feel good about my tech suits even when I get beaten by people in jammers and tanks. They're usually younger and value compression less. :D
Fort...you don't need to compress anything... ur smokin!
I realize however that it would take a major overhaul of the entire swimming organizations in order to go back to the days of swimming in real swim suits rather than laser fused seamless body suits.
Bodysuits are real suits.
What's so good about the old days? I don't want to go back to penny loafers and huge shoulder pads. Why should I wear a suit from circa 1960? Why is that better or more real? Why do people feel "guilty" in bodysuits and morally superior in tanks and briefs? Guilty?!?! Not comprehending that at all. Let everyone wear what they want to wear as long as it's legal.
I completely agree with Wookiee's post. Plus, If you haven't trained properly, no suit is going to swim the race for you. If I hopped in the pool right now with my Pro, I'd suck. My next meet I'm planning on wearing my old Pro with no water repellancy because I just like it better than tanks. Not a lot of advantage from wearing an old suit. I just prefer it to racing in a tank.
I am sympathetic to the proposal partly because I do worry what expensive, short-lived and fragile tech suits do to the sport at the age group level. (As an aside, I have hope for the swimskins, I've examined some at the local tri store and they seem to me far sturdier than the fastskins).
In terms of impact on performance, perhaps a useful parallel would be changes in the rules in backstroke (allowing no-touch flip turns) and breaststroke that improved speed. I'm much more familiar with backstroke, of course...when the rule was passed, my times immediately dropped significantly; I once estimated that it was almost half a second per turn. (And at the end of a 200, when tired...those old turns took a LOT more effort!) Records fell, everyone's expectations had to undergo some modification and then life went on.
It can be argued that the tech suits are a little different since doing a different turn or stroke is (a) free and (b) a skill that the swimmer has to master, not something that depends on someone else (like Speedo or NASA engineers).
No question about the first part, but swimming with these suits also demands some changes in behavior and skill on the part of the swimmer. It isn't as much fun to learn, IMO, but what can you do, life isn't always perfect.
Would Michael Phelps and all the other elite swimmers of today be able to win Gold in Beijing this summer without a technical suit? Would records set in pre-LZR days be broken without them wearing the LZR? Who knows for sure?
Obviously this thread is gonna have people who feel strongly one way or the other...but now that I am not swimming for someone anymore--aka college scholarship and school titles/ championships etc...I'm more interested in seeing how fast I can swim...without super whole body compression and ultra water repellent suits...
I would love to set a masters world record in a plain old everyday practice suit...when the rest of the field is wearing technical suits...to me...thats the measure of success...plus I'd feel that much better being able to say...and dang I could have gone even faster had I worn the same $300 suit as the rest of them all.
Ha! Guess I'll switch to the brief too. Oh wait. I can't. Unless I swim topless.
Here, here.....I vote for this unilaterally and unanimously........Briefs for all swimmers from now on!!!!!!!!:applaud::woot::groovy::thhbbb:
Why do people feel "guilty" in bodysuits and morally superior in tanks and briefs? Guilty?!?! Not comprehending that at all. Let everyone wear what they want to wear as long as it's legal.
It's turning a financial advantage into a competitive advantage.
Hi Muppet, PArob83, & Jazz Hands:
Hey it’s nice to have someone who agrees with me for a change. This suit technology has turned into a Pandora’s Box and it’s just making a mockery of what “was” an elite athletic art. :(
Adolf Kiefer had the right idea when he came up with the idea of briefs as the world standard for the athletic swim suit. His objective was to minimize the role of the suit and this concept worked quite eloquently in terms of emphasizing true competitiveness of the sport -and also maximizing comfort in the water (instead of the "taking a bath with your clothes on" sensation you get wearing a tech suit).
Briefs worked quite well for nearly 40 years and I wish we could “Tivo” back to the mid 1970s rules about minimizing the suit (and other parts & substances applied to the body) and freeze them at that time. :cheerleader:
Dolphin 2
But why not put a limit on the total amount of fabric that can be used, or the total amount of acceptable body coverage?
cats out of the bag
...
tech suits have been around for since 1992
And the total-amount-of-fabric limit has been exceeded a century ago.
