Yet another thread about the suits...

It's not the end of the world if college swimmers have to compete in Pros or whatever until prices come down. As Wookiee notes, they're good athletes and will do well either way. True, but there is that mental aspect. Any team who uses a less technologically advanced suit is going to feel they're at a disadvantage.

Ultimately the cat is out of the bag (swim bag)! Are we supposed to put the * next to every record set in a non-brief style speedo? What about Jammers vs briefs, or full leg suits vs. full body. A single wood baseball bat can cost in the $50 - $70 range, with nice bats over $100. What about a football helmet (at least $100 x 50 players). Ultimately we get back to the economics of playing a sport. You will not find many inner-city kids playing polo becuase a horse is not exactly in the budget of the average parent. Also, I have a general question. Do NCAA programs generally supply swim suits as it is, or do the athletes pay for them? In high school my parents had to fork out the dough when I purchased a Speedo Fast-skin leggings (around $110 at that time). You have student athletes paying $250-300 for a text book, so what is a nice suit worth to you?

Do NCAA programs generally supply swim suits as it is, or do the athletes pay for them? Yes. The programs supply the suits. Where is this documented? I haven't been able to find it anywhere. Do a Google search for "LZR neoprene" and you'll get all kinds of hits.

Hey Aquageek Your memory must be affected by amnesia. The so called "Meet Suits" were nothing more than commercial off the shelf racing briefs that were sold at all sports stores. By your own admission you've never actually been in a swim meet ever in your life so I don't think you can speak on this topic. I've been buying meet suits since the mid 70s, they weren't expensive but they were meet suits. I think we should put an asterisk next to any of your posts since time and again you speak on topics that you are unqualified to speak on, most notably competitive swimming.

LOL... I got out of the choppy, heaving lake this a.m. in my Speedo Ultraback "aquatic fitness" suit (black with white piping, to set the picture) and saw my first Blue Seventy! It was a bit hard to miss, being blazoned across the back or rump, or maybe both. After it swaggered across the sand and into the water, an Orca pulled up and asked for help with one of its fins. Water temp and air both in the 70s, a brisk northeast wind blowing - what's not to like? Wetsuit or non may be more of an aesthetic, or mindset, for daily swims (1 to 1.5 miles). I went about mid-distance; some wetsuits went farther, but many barely got out any distance at all. I began to wonder whether, in a bit of slop, a wetsuit could be a disadvantage for holding the swimmer too much on top, instead of allowing swimmer to get beneath the surface water movement. Anyway, I am happy. :wave: I hope reality hits people that it's the athetes doing well in the suits. I just don't believe these new suits really give people that much of an advantage(exeception...Blue seventy since it has neoprene in the material) I think they give people a bigger mental advantage which is worth more than any suit.

As big a pain-in-the-behind as this suit technology thing has become, I've got to admit that it's turned out to be one of the most clever marketing gimmicks of all time and it's making the suit companies big $$$. WHAT???? It is neither new nor original. Swimming is approximately 25 years behind most other sports. Remember Spike Lee's "It's gotta be the shoes, Money?" Remember Shaq pumping up his Reeboks before the All-Star game? What about Nike and Tiger, Lance and Trek, the list is endless. Also, since I've actually been to swim meets, I can say that the vast majority of swimmers in tech suits aren't your Average Joe swimmers. If you commit to shelling out the big bucks for one of these you aren't a rec swimmer, nor average in your training or competitiveness. As proof, I offer the elite calibre forumites, who all have tech suits.

I don't think an asterisk is required, but I do think an organization such as the NCAA should consider more strict rules on what types of suits are allowed for NCAA competition. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that these suits are here to stay for high level FINA and USA Swimming competition, but that doesn't mean other governing bodies can't do something. Age group, high school and college competition should all be thinking about this.

I hope reality hits people that it's the athetes doing well in the suits. I just don't believe these new suits really give people that much of an advantage(exeception...Blue seventy since it has neoprene in the material) John, whatever it has, the B70 does not feel very buoyant to me. It isn't like wearing a wetsuit (I know Paul Smith feels differently). I have never tried the FS-Pro or LZR so I can't compare. I believe wearing the B70 helped me when I was unshaved/untapered but it wasn't like wearing a jetpack or anything. I think the advantage over shaved skin is small, not huge. Galen, you can't have it both ways...on the one hand, you have argued that the suits don't help. On the other hand you want to put an asterisk next to the records with the suits. The impact of the suits on college budgets could be significant if the prices don't fall. (That is one reason I like the B70 over the LZR: cheaper and more durable for roughly the same effect.) The U of Richmond coach voiced a similar concern to me a couple months ago. He isn't worried about losing the program, but conceivably he could lose a scholarship or two if he insisted on getting LZRs for everyone. The NCAA might want to think about some restrictions, the potential risks of the suits to the sport are possibly greater than the benefits. Same thing at the age group level for USA-S.

The bad thing is that there are a lot of your Average Joe swimmers who are burning through their budget to buy one of these hyper-expensive suits. :shakeshead:Dolphin 2 How can you possibly know this? I see no reason an Average Joe swimmer can't buy one if they wish. I have nice running shoes, and I am very slow.

By the way, John, I think you may be correct about the LZR not having neoprene. I've seen lots of discussion saying it does, but nothing on Speedo's site indicates it does. In fact, when I Googled "lzr neoprene" one of the things that came up was the Wikipedia entry for the LZR. I had to look in the history to find the neoprene refernece. At one time there was a mention that the suit had neoprene, but someone corrected the entry saying that neoprene was not used. Not to say Wikipedia is the definitive source, but I can't find anything reasonably 'official' saying the LZR contains neoprene.