USA Swimming proposes rule limiting suits

I don't know much about triathletes, but aren't the wet suits for use only below a set temperature? I think it is for the safety of the athlete. IMO, tech suits are ruining the sport. IMO, tech suits are advancing the sport. In 10 years...15 years...40 years... no one is going to remember or care that Michael Phelps wore an LZR. They are going to remember that he won 8 olympic gold medals. In 10 years...15 years...40 years...most swimmers aren't going to remember or care what suit they wore when they swam lifetime bests. They are going to remember their fastest overall time. If I wear a Fastskin jammer and get beat by someone wearing a B-70 or LZR. I got beat by a better swimmer, not a better suit, because even if I had a B-70 or LZR, there is no guarentee that I could/would beat the other swimmer. These suits aren't running the sport. People want to see world records and fast swims. Athletes want fast swims, these suits are an improvement over previous suits to help swimmers achieve better times, which is what we all want in the end. And there is no 100% proof that wearing these suits will always make a swimmer go faster. Swimmers have worn these new "hi-tech" suits are swam slower in them as well. Works just like it did in previous years with less than "high tech" suits. BTW...wetsuits are a speed aiding device. They allow the swimmer to float in the water and cut down on drag. If they were totally for safety, every tri race would require some version of them for their races...either full body or in warmer temps. a farmer john type suit.

I think it is easy to get derailed by needing to respond to Dolphin 2s lack of information instead of the topic.I don't think anyone should be banned from the forum for ignorance,but sometimes I think it is best to just ignore someone rather than rise to the bait.My favorite saying,which has stood me well in many situations,is"Don't wrestle with pigs,you just get dirty and the pigs love it." By the way,I don't mind using my real name on this forum. Allen, you are a wise one. After reading your post, I think I will try to follow your advice. Your quote reminds me of one I heard in a movie "who is more foolish? The fool? Or the fool who follows the fool" I agree that wearing a brief under the suits should be allowed, incase the suit splits open, as they have been reported to do. And yea, they probably make it a "1 tech suit limit" per what each racer can wear.

BTW...wetsuits are a speed aiding device. They allow the swimmer to float in the water and cut down on drag. If they were totally for safety, every tri race would require some version of them for their races...either full body or in warmer temps. a farmer john type suit. The whole point is wet suits are not to be worn in warm water. They are only supposed to be used in cold water for safety. If they wanted the swimmers to swim faster they would allow wetsuits at any temperature.

I wish people hadn't exploited a loophole in the rules with this 2-3 suit phenomenon. This is making the furor much worse. I've heard from several people that the swimmers in Europe breaking all the records are clad in three suits. I love tech suits, but I find this ridiculous. I will agree with you and everyone else on this one. It should be a one suit rule, like the NCAA has put into place. It's not easy to put one suit on...I don't see how they are really getting 2-3 tight fitting suits on.

I wish people hadn't exploited a loophole in the rules with this 2-3 suit phenomenon. This is making the furor much worse. I've heard from several people that the swimmers in Europe breaking all the records are clad in three suits. I love tech suits, but I find this ridiculous. So do I. If one suit doesn't float how do three suits float?

That's such bologna, and stale rotten bologna at that. The threshold temp for wet suits in tris is 76 degrees. I can possibly understand such a ridiculously warm threshold on half and full IM distances but for sprints and olympic distances, c'mon. How flippin cold are you gonna get in a 750 meter swim in 75 degree water? Wetsuits at temps over about 66 are simply a crutch and a way for tris to lessen the panic factor with swimming that so many experience, there is no other explanation. Calling it for safety reasons is ludicrous. I don't like it but they had to pick a temperature. They'll come up with a solution for the tech suits the same way. It won't please everyone. :shrug:

And when was the last time you had to swim in a gutterless pool - that's huge! Well, okay, SWAT here in Atlanta still has at least two that I've had the pleasure of surfing/swimming. 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!

"Swimming loses too many kids, esp. young boys because of the stigma of wearing a "speedo" type suit. The newer suits...jammers, legskins, bodysuits, help get rid of that stigma. If they keep kids in the sport, I am all for it." Hey thewookiee: Regarding your comments about the purported “stigma” of guys wearing a Speedo (briefs), exactly WHAT is the stigma and WHO is promoting that stigma? Seems there are some kind of puritan fanatical religious zealots trying to start a movement in this country to stigmatize men wearing Speedos. Could it also be that the suit makers themselves are surreptitiously mounting a campaign to stigmatize the wearing of briefs in order to prod people into buying the more expensive suits? By the way, if anyone thinks that conventional briefs should be shunned because they are viewed as some kind of “fetish wear”, consider this: I’ve seen photos of the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco and I will tell you that tech suits have already been adopted by the porn industry because the shrink wrap effect is so “revealing”. :censor: So when someone makes the comment “That’s so Gay” about men or boys wearing briefs for swimming, I’ve got first hand knowledge from “ground zero” of California's $25 Billion/year porn industry that your purportedly "modest" jammers and tech suits are now on the cutting edge of fetish wear!!! :bolt: Incidentally, the last time I posted a comment on this subject, I was "Hit By Lightning" from every direction and the post was ultimately deleted by the USMS moderator. However, I was not the one who made the comment about the stigma aspect in the first place. :confused: Dolphin 2

Hey thewookiee: Regarding your comments about the purported “stigma” of guys wearing a Speedos (briefs), exactly WHAT is the stigma and WHO is promoting that stigma? Seems there are some kind of puritan fanatical religious zealots trying to start a movement in this country to stigmatize men wearing Speedos. Could it also be that the suit makers themselves are surreptitiously mounting a campaign to stigmatize the wearing of briefs in order to prod people into buying the more expensive suits? Dolphin 2 Let's see, how does Geek start his replies to you? Oh yea, since you know NOTHING about swimming because you don't swim, don't have kids and haven't swam before, you are once again spouting off at the mouth about something you know nothing about. Having swam,still do and being a coach, this stigma isn't something the swimsuit makers are doing. This is something that occurs when boys start to join a team and they say " I have to wear that suit?" Parents and coaches have spent a lot of time talking to kids that the suit isn't embarrassing and they shouldn't be ashamed of wearing a speedo brief at practice or when they would go to meets. The kids though are afraid of their friends or non-friends making fun of how they look wearing the speedo style briefs. When the jammers were first introduced, that took a lot of the fear from kids, esp. new ones to swimming away, because 1) it didn't look like a traditional speedo and 2) it covered more of the body, waist to the knees. This fear/stigma was esp. true among high school age guys. A lot are really sensitive to what people think about them at that age. Now, this stigma/fear doesn't hold true for everyone that has ever come into this sport. But it is there. I have seen it from an age group swimmers, summer league and high school swimmers. This fear/stigma was there way before high tech suits came into the market. But you wouldn't know anything about it since you spend more time telling those of us that know swimming, that have swum, that still do swim or have kids that swim that we are misinformed, uneducated people who only care about sports.

I'm surprised Dolphin 2 doesn't understand the stigma thing about Speedo briefs. But then again....why should I be surprised he doesn't understand something about competitive swimming? It's because briefs look like underwear - and more like panties than BVDs. So boys have always been a bit sensitive about walking around on the deck with so little coverage. Yes - non-swimmers DO make fun of boys wearing briefs. Always have, probably always will. An interesting thing occurs later though. In college - it seems there is an unwritten rule that college boys cannot practice in jammers. I have watched some UTexas practices and every guy was wearing briefs. My son is a freshman on another Div 1 team and he says you "can't" wear jammers. It isn't the coach's choice.