I am just back from the SPMA meet where all the top finisher were wearing the latest generation tech suits,mostly B-70s(or were named Jeff Commings.)I have here to for been in favor of the suits,but now I am not so sure.First,they eliminate the old bench marks.I went my fastest 100m BR in 5 yr in my LZR,but it was only .3 sec faster than I did untapered 5 wk earlier in my first swim in the LZR.So was my swim good or not,I'm not sure.Also,instead of focusing on technique or pace I found myself ruminating over aspects of the suits,how many more swims did the suit have,is it the right size,was the reason I didn't get better results from my B-70 because it was too big?etc.The B-70 has somewhat mitigated the "too expensive,not durable" problem,but for how long.
Lets say a company comes up with a suit that is much faster,say 4 sec/100.Further that it is very expensive(say $1000) lasts 4 swims and is very hard to make so that quantities are always limited and the fastest way to get one is to bid up to $3000 on ebay. Now lets say your nemesis has one,or that getting one is your best chance to get TT or AA or a ZR or WR,or that your child is close to making JO cuts,or finally beating his/her nemesis etc. Is it worth it and where does it stop?
not sure which swimmers double suited at the texas invite
I was up in the stands and didn't have a good view
UT women only had 6 blue 70 suits among the entire team.
spoke with one of the womens coaches after the invite who said:
+ some of the swimmers at other schools double suited
+ the NCAA had launched or was about to launch a one suit per swimmer rule
+ they didn't want to be responsible for policing this rule after the fact
One coach said the US protested double suiting at the 2008 olympics when pelligrini won the 200 free wearing 2 suits, meet officials didn't see double suiting as a rule violation.
my guess is soon the rule book is going to specify wearing 2 suits as grounds for disqualification
probably in
102.10 DISQUALIFICATIONS
.10 No swimmer is permitted to wear or use any device or substance to help his / her speed, pace or buoyancy during a race. Goggles may be worn, and rubdown oil applied if not considered excessive by the Referee.
but we might also see it in section
102.9 SWIMWEAR
the simple fact is wearing 2 or more tech suits can increase floatation and compression. One coach said zippers might be out soon too
I wrote about this back in Aug 2008 after I heard some swimmers at the US olympic trials double suited, but I think there were swimmers experimenting with this years ago.
ande
Ande, I heard the Texas women's team (not the men's as it sounds like Eddie is very much against it) ... and the Arizona team (men and women) had quite a few swimmers doing this?
not sure which swimmers double suited at the texas invite
I was up in the stands and didn't have a good view
UT women only had 6 blue 70 suits among the entire team.
spoke with one of the womens coaches after the invite who said:
+ some of the swimmers at other schools double suited
+ the NCAA had launched or was about to launch a one suit per swimmer rule
+ they didn't want to be responsible for policing this rule after the fact
One coach said the US protested double suiting at the 2008 olympics when pelligrini won the 200 free wearing 2 suits, meet officials didn't see double suiting as a rule violation.
my guess is soon the rule book is going to specify wearing 2 suits as grounds for disqualification
probably in
102.10 DISQUALIFICATIONS
.10 No swimmer is permitted to wear or use any device or substance to help his / her speed, pace or buoyancy during a race. Goggles may be worn, and rubdown oil applied if not considered excessive by the Referee.
but we might also see it in section
102.9 SWIMWEAR
the simple fact is wearing 2 or more tech suits can increase floatation and compression. One coach said zippers might be out soon too
I wrote about this back in Aug 2008 after I heard some swimmers at the US olympic trials double suited, but I think there were swimmers experimenting with this years ago.
ande
Ande, I heard the Texas women's team (not the men's as it sounds like Eddie is very much against it) ... and the Arizona team (men and women) had quite a few swimmers doing this?
