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?
Parents
Former Member
Back the competitive advantage thing...it worries me a little if the advantage is NOT uniform (eg, if it is dependent on body type).
This is the point that gets at me in the debate over suits. We already have this situation without any tech suits. Big deal. All women wear body suits every time they swim (well, every time they swim in a sanctioned competition at least). They are free to wear them as tight as they like. Do you really think that some women don't benefit more from wearing a tight fitting standard competition suit than others? They are all different body types :applaud:. Without getting too graphic here, I've noticed that some of them are a bit lumpier than others. I would think that a standard suit is much more of an advantage to that type of swimmer. Why is it such a crime when men wear the same types of suits? Discrimination?
My vote is that if men are limited to wearing briefs only, women should be also.
Back the competitive advantage thing...it worries me a little if the advantage is NOT uniform (eg, if it is dependent on body type).
This is the point that gets at me in the debate over suits. We already have this situation without any tech suits. Big deal. All women wear body suits every time they swim (well, every time they swim in a sanctioned competition at least). They are free to wear them as tight as they like. Do you really think that some women don't benefit more from wearing a tight fitting standard competition suit than others? They are all different body types :applaud:. Without getting too graphic here, I've noticed that some of them are a bit lumpier than others. I would think that a standard suit is much more of an advantage to that type of swimmer. Why is it such a crime when men wear the same types of suits? Discrimination?
My vote is that if men are limited to wearing briefs only, women should be also.
