Yes - one more time it's about the suit:
Here is a comparison to 2004 and what it took to make top 16 (top 8 for the 400) over the first 7 events:
2004 listed first then 2008 then the approx. % drop
400 IM - 4:24.8 to 4:21.0 1.5%
100 Fly - 1:01.29 to 59.97 2%
400 Free - 3:55.0 to 3:51.4 1.6%
400 IM - 4:49.57 to 4:43.2 2.3%
100 Br - 1:04.0 to 1:02.36 2.5%
100 Bk - 1:04.12 to 1:02.31 2.6%
200 Free - 1:51.1 to 1:48.76 2.2%
Ok - to be fair, people are getting faster, but I would guess at least a 1.5% drop across the board for the suit -- that is net time !
what is most interesting is that I am not seeing many blue70's at the meet. considering that it seems to provide more buoyancy than the lzr, it's puzzling that i am not seeing anyone wearing them. i think a big part of suit choice is psychological-everyone seems to be taking speedo's handouts, so people don't want to go against what everyone in the crowd is doing.
As I understand it, Speedo is giving every swimmer at trials a free LZR, and I'm guessing outside of sponsored athletes (are there any?) blueseventy isn't giving their $400 suit away for free. That's probably a HUGE factor in why everyone is wearing LZRs. Also, if everyone wears the same suit, it sort of evens the playing field in that respect so it makes sense for most people to choose to wear one. The Tyr suit or the blueseventy suits may be faster and they may be slower. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of that answer so wearing the LZR like everybody else (at no cost) removes that as a factor.
what is most interesting is that I am not seeing many blue70's at the meet. considering that it seems to provide more buoyancy than the lzr, it's puzzling that i am not seeing anyone wearing them. i think a big part of suit choice is psychological-everyone seems to be taking speedo's handouts, so people don't want to go against what everyone in the crowd is doing.
As I understand it, Speedo is giving every swimmer at trials a free LZR, and I'm guessing outside of sponsored athletes (are there any?) blueseventy isn't giving their $400 suit away for free. That's probably a HUGE factor in why everyone is wearing LZRs. Also, if everyone wears the same suit, it sort of evens the playing field in that respect so it makes sense for most people to choose to wear one. The Tyr suit or the blueseventy suits may be faster and they may be slower. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of that answer so wearing the LZR like everybody else (at no cost) removes that as a factor.
