www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../19679.asp
The most substantial change, of course, is that suits would no longer be allowed to extend past the knee.
My personal opinion is this is sort of an arbitrary change. What really should be changed--if anything--is what types of materials are allowed and maybe testing protocol to approve a suit. I don't really think requiring suits to end at the knees would affect much.
I think both of you are oversimplifying. When even Fortress -- an admitted fan -- and Mel Stewart and many others say "enough is enough" with the double/triple suits, then you have a situation that is getting out of hand. Markets are good for many things, but with the escalating arms race we have a "tragedy of the commons" situation that markets are notoriously poor at handling. Hence the need for stricter external regulation.
I would say that the requirement at the elite level is much stronger than "remote." When was the last time an elite swimmer used jammers or briefs -- much less set a record in them -- in a major competition? When you have the German team forced to wear suits that they believe put them at a significant disadvantage compared to others, the focus has shifted too far away from the sport to the equipment.
PS: 90% of the reason for this post was to use the multiquote feature, which I only recently figured out...
I don't agree with wearing more than one tech suit.
I think you misunderstood me. I used the word requirement in the sense that you are required to wear a suit to swim. There is nothing in the current rule set that requires competitors to wear the latest tech suits. Now, is it needed to be competitive? Sure. But is it required? No. It is still a choice. And in some cases a contractual obligation but that's a whole 'nother can-o-worms.
Where does this stop? Who determines who can have what type of supposed 'advantage'. Why stop at a swim suit. Why not mandate that everyone have access to world class traning facilities? Coaches? A pool within walking distance?
It's a SWIM suit. Sure it provides reduced drag. But it also costs $$$ and doesn't last forever. And what is the net affect with regards to age group swimming? Are there monetary awards to be had? Not until you reach the elite level and then guess what? Those swimmers will have access to those suits.
Sorry, as much I as I would love for my daughter to make JO cuts in 3 events where she is less than 1 sec away, I am NOT going to buy her a racing suit. And that is part of the problem, there will be parents that will buy thier BB/A swimmer the latest suit which is pretty much a waste of money at that level IMO.
There is no such thing as a level playing field in sports. Period. Dot. It doesn't exist, sure it's a great dream but it's not a 100% solution. All that can be hoped for is that there are no major bumps.
I agree multi suiting is not a good thing. I don't know how to multi-quote.
I think multisuiting is OK as long as the undersuit is just a regular brief or tank type suit. Unless of course we want to have inadvertent exposure, ala Paul Smith as one of the possible side affects of the new suits. :eeew:
I think both of you are oversimplifying. When even Fortress -- an admitted fan -- and Mel Stewart and many others say "enough is enough" with the double/triple suits, then you have a situation that is getting out of hand. Markets are good for many things, but with the escalating arms race we have a "tragedy of the commons" situation that markets are notoriously poor at handling. Hence the need for stricter external regulation.
I would say that the requirement at the elite level is much stronger than "remote." When was the last time an elite swimmer used jammers or briefs -- much less set a record in them -- in a major competition? When you have the German team forced to wear suits that they believe put them at a significant disadvantage compared to others, the focus has shifted too far away from the sport to the equipment.
PS: 90% of the reason for this post was to use the multiquote feature, which I only recently figured out...
I don't agree with wearing more than one tech suit.
I think you misunderstood me. I used the word requirement in the sense that you are required to wear a suit to swim. There is nothing in the current rule set that requires competitors to wear the latest tech suits. Now, is it needed to be competitive? Sure. But is it required? No. It is still a choice. And in some cases a contractual obligation but that's a whole 'nother can-o-worms.
Where does this stop? Who determines who can have what type of supposed 'advantage'. Why stop at a swim suit. Why not mandate that everyone have access to world class traning facilities? Coaches? A pool within walking distance?
It's a SWIM suit. Sure it provides reduced drag. But it also costs $$$ and doesn't last forever. And what is the net affect with regards to age group swimming? Are there monetary awards to be had? Not until you reach the elite level and then guess what? Those swimmers will have access to those suits.
Sorry, as much I as I would love for my daughter to make JO cuts in 3 events where she is less than 1 sec away, I am NOT going to buy her a racing suit. And that is part of the problem, there will be parents that will buy thier BB/A swimmer the latest suit which is pretty much a waste of money at that level IMO.
There is no such thing as a level playing field in sports. Period. Dot. It doesn't exist, sure it's a great dream but it's not a 100% solution. All that can be hoped for is that there are no major bumps.
I agree multi suiting is not a good thing. I don't know how to multi-quote.
I think multisuiting is OK as long as the undersuit is just a regular brief or tank type suit. Unless of course we want to have inadvertent exposure, ala Paul Smith as one of the possible side affects of the new suits. :eeew:
