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.
IMO, tech suits are ruining the sport.
Wow, pretty sure this sentiment was around when lycra suits were introduced but as the Internet was still just a glimmer in Al Gore's mind, it was not widely known.
And X is ruining golf, biking, tennis, pick your sport, in the last 50 years there has been some sort of 'advance' that has 'threatened' the sport. And yet sports continue to exist regardless of our feelings.
It's a personal choice not a requirement to use the latest and greatest technology. Only at the elite level of competition does it even remotely resemble a 'requirement' than a 'choice'
Patrick, you forgot a few:
- Take out the lane lines and replace them with the ropes with the blue and white floats
- Only swim in pools that are 5 feet deep or less
- paint over the lane lines on the bottom and remove the crosses on the walls
- pitch all the modern chemicals that are used to maintain the water quality (this might not be such a bad thing)
If you really want to ruin swimming, or any sport, prohibit any advancements and strand it in the past.
Paul made me chuckle about the lane ropes we used to have. Remember the days when you'd have fiberglass shards in your fingers from when you'd touch them? How about after a 2 hour practice getting out and seeing a halo around all the lights? Yes, those were the good ole days, let's bring 'em back!
It's a personal choice not a requirement to use the latest and greatest technology. Only at the elite level of competition does it even remotely resemble a 'requirement' than a 'choice'
If you really want to ruin swimming, or any sport, prohibit any advancements and strand it in the past.
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...
If you really want to ruin swimming, or any sport, prohibit any advancements and strand it in the past.
Paul made me chuckle about the lane ropes we used to have. Remember the days when you'd have fiberglass shards in your fingers from when you'd touch them? How about after a 2 hour practice getting out and seeing a halo around all the lights? Yes, those were the good ole days, let's bring 'em back!
OMG, I would be picking those out of my hands for hours. But I loved the old lane lines with the 5 biscuits separated by one donut float. Made counting on long sets much easier, until someone pulled on the lane line and cleared your count. and ah, the joy of giving your non-swimming friends the keys to your car so they could drive because all you could see was big shiny circles of light.
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 have no problem with technological advancement. I have a problem with people exploiting loopholes that barely disguise outright cheating. But the B140 and B210 phenomenon makes it easier to draw a line in the sand, that's for sure. One swimmer, one tech suit, one price tag.
Dolphin 2:
Every time you show up and spout about swimming, it makes me wince. You don't know a single thing about swimming and your reference to the porn industry is downright offensive and bizarre and has no place here.
There has always been a stigma towards swimmers by non swimmers about the "speedo factor." I get that to this day from my friends. It's just part of the sport and is said in jest. If you were actually a swimmer or attended a meet you'd know this.
However, if you would go to a meet, and I go to a lot of meets, you'd see boys in both jammers and briefs. Jammers are more popular now with boys it seems and probably helps self conscious pre teens and teens deal with some of the ribbing. You can rant and rave all you want about porn and stigmas but that just emphasizes your utter lack of swimming knowledge.
Why is this guy allowed on this forum? The fetish wear thing is stupifying. You are creepy, plain and simple.
Wow - wookie and I might be twins separated at birth, except he got the gorilla suit and I got the Mr. Bigglesworth suit.
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:
