USA Swimming proposes rule limiting suits

Hey Aquageek Yep - It's been a while since I've posted anything on the USMS board, but I’m back again. Just like earthquakes in California: Just because there haven’t been any lately doesn’t mean they’re gone. And I'm not gone either!!! As for your comment about my credentials regarding swimming, I don't need to actually swim on a competitive basis to know what the abilities of the so called "tech suits" really are. Swimming is based on the principles of physics (mainly hydrodamics) and bio-mechanics which have been studied for decades and the results can be comprehended by anyone who has a knowledge of these sciences. With the exception of the "Girdling" effect (body compression), there is nothing about a tech suit that could increase the swimmer's ability. As I've said before, the main problem faced in increasing swimming speed is getting more propulsion -not less drag. So instead of focusing on the properties of the suit, why aren't they focusing on the hands and the feet and accordingly just use paddles and flippers to gain more propulsion? Prior to the 1990's, FINA rules were very restrictive about any devices or substances that could be construed as aiding the swimmers ability. So why did FINA do a flip-flop and become so permissive about the use of these suits? :confused: This suit technology stuff reeks of a "Fifth Avenue" style marketing campaign on the part of the suit makers (who are also clothing manufacturers) and their strategy seems to be the use competitive swim wear as a form of fashion modleing. Considering all the $$$ involved, FINA seems to be more than willing to go along with it. Dolphin 2 Dolphin 2 - you really don't know what you're talking about. Sure swimming biomechanics have been studied for decades. Doc Counsilman was one of the pioneers. But guess what - some of his conclusions have been proven wrong. Doc thought sculling was a major factor in propulsion. But it has since been proven wrong. So the studies will continue - and new things will be learned. Let's also recognize that a human body is a complex moving part - not like a submarine. The body position changes differently for different people in different phases of the stroke. Bodies have different shapes. So I think the science is very immature today. No doubt there is hype about the suits. Probably too much. I have said here that they don't seem to have produced the claimed 2% gain for elite swimmers. But the effect may be larger for us less advanced athletes. But I now have a B70. I have raced in it once. The results unfortunately can't be compared to any recent swims because the race was SCM - a course I rarely swim. But I wore the suit in practice and my stroke count went down by 1 or 2 for every 25 yd. length of freestyle. Absolutely noticable. My 25 yd. sprints in practice that day were consistently .5 secs or more faster than normal.

Hey Aquageek Yep - It's been a while since I've posted anything on the USMS board, but I’m back again. Just like earthquakes in California: Just because there haven’t been any lately doesn’t mean they’re gone. And I'm not gone either!!! As for your comment about my credentials regarding swimming, I don't need to actually swim on a competitive basis to know what the abilities of the so called "tech suits" really are. Swimming is based on the principles of physics (mainly hydrodamics) and bio-mechanics which have been studied for decades and the results can be comprehended by anyone who has a knowledge of these sciences. With the exception of the "Girdling" effect (body compression), there is nothing about a tech suit that could increase the swimmer's ability. As I've said before, the main problem faced in increasing swimming speed is getting more propulsion -not less drag. So instead of focusing on the properties of the suit, why aren't they focusing on the hands and the feet and accordingly just use paddles and flippers to gain more propulsion? Prior to the 1990's, FINA rules were very restrictive about any devices or substances that could be construed as aiding the swimmers ability. So why did FINA do a flip-flop and become so permissive about the use of these suits? :confused: This suit technology stuff reeks of a "Fifth Avenue" style marketing campaign on the part of the suit makers (who are also clothing manufacturers) and their strategy seems to be the use competitive swim wear as a form of fashion modleing. Considering all the $$$ involved, FINA seems to be more than willing to go along with it. Dolphin 2 Dolphin 2 - you really don't know what you're talking about. Sure swimming biomechanics have been studied for decades. Doc Counsilman was one of the pioneers. But guess what - some of his conclusions have been proven wrong. Doc thought sculling was a major factor in propulsion. But it has since been proven wrong. So the studies will continue - and new things will be learned. Let's also recognize that a human body is a complex moving part - not like a submarine. The body position changes differently for different people in different phases of the stroke. Bodies have different shapes. So I think the science is very immature today. No doubt there is hype about the suits. Probably too much. I have said here that they don't seem to have produced the claimed 2% gain for elite swimmers. But the effect may be larger for us less advanced athletes. But I now have a B70. I have raced in it once. The results unfortunately can't be compared to any recent swims because the race was SCM - a course I rarely swim. But I wore the suit in practice and my stroke count went down by 1 or 2 for every 25 yd. length of freestyle. Absolutely noticable. My 25 yd. sprints in practice that day were consistently .5 secs or more faster than normal.