Masters swimming has decided on the Fastest Suit

Swam at the Long Beach meet this weekend and had some decent swims. I used both the Xterra and B70 for different races. Had a life time personal best (50 back) in the B70 (age group record at the top end of the age group). But, the suit has unraveled after a few swims (26, 5'8", 175). The elastic around the neck is exposed! I'll post a picture on my blog. If there is a B70 rep reading this, do you have an exchange policy? You might learn something about quality control by doing a failure analysis; e.g., where to reinforce seams, etc. Question: why do these suits have to be so tight? I hypothesize that the suits have two effects: 1) minimizing laminar flow resistance and 2) increasing buoyancy (my subjective opinion and mentioned in other forum posts). If the hypothesis is true, I believe that the optimum suit would be snug or tight enough to minimize laminar flow (and prevent water intake) while not leaving welts and constricting inhalation. Also, maximizing the amount of material should increase subjective buoyancy. I also hypothesize that the recommended suit size (extra-tight) places undue stress on the seams of the suits and reduces the expected life of the suit. After examining the rubber coating of both the Xterra and B70, I believe that the material may be more resilient than lycra, but unfortunately, we as consumers, have no independent testing capability and have to rely on ancedotal forum reports. Personally, I like these suits. I would like them to last longer and I believe that if they could be better designed that they would capture a greater share of the market. BTW, Xterra is having a sale: www.xterrawetsuits.com/sale Either they are getting out of the market or they have something new coming down the line. Lastly, how many suits can be worn in competition? There were unsubstantiated rumours of record setting performances attained through the use of multiple suits. I suppose that anyone that could physically wear more than one of these extra tight suits deserves some kind of award, but if the buoyancy hypothesis is correct, the use of multiple suits poses ethical if not legal questions.

I bet somebody has already done a meet in a non-legal suit. I think there is 1mm neoprene suit out there with legs only. You could easily wear that and a any other suit over it - nobody would ever know. Although - let's face it - there are probably many more advantages ways to cheat for Masters swimmers. But for the Olympic swimmers -- there will be a SUIT CHECK at the next Olympics, if not earlier. How do you know - that somebody did not fill the inside of that Blue 70 with neoprene ?

I haven't tried the fast suits yet and will have to explain to my wife why I need a $300+ suit that you don't wear with a tie, but I don't think wetsuits would be faster. I wore a wetsuit when I did an Ironman and when I did big shoulders very out of shape. My experience is that are pure wetsuit helps with maintaining a certain pace but limits top end speed. I am certain that I am faster for a mile without a wetsuit than I would be in a wetsuit.

With these wetsuit-like suits approved for pool swimming is anyone else a little concerned that some swimmers will now try to use true wetsuits in pool competition? I can certainly see it happening.

On the buoyancy issue, I did an unofficial test this weekend in Chicago by jumping into the deep end of the warm up pool in my Xterra Velocity skin. I sank straight to the bottom and would still be there now had I not had the good sense to push myself up to the surface. The suit by itself may float on the surface, but add 100+ pounds of person to the suit and it will not stay afloat without conscious effort. my :2cents:.