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?
These are good points, but I still think there are fundamental differences. I've certainly never heard an argument that one team beat another in basketball because they were wearing better shoes.
In swimming I like to continue to improve my times. With the evolution of the suits its hard to know year-to-year how much of the improvement was due to me and my training and how much was due to the suit.
You might hear it if one team showed up in Chuck Taylor All Stars (tm) and got their derrieres handed to them :). Or, you'd certainly hear about it after that team started getting back problems from the shock. You're right, though, in that you probably won't hear anything about how shoes affected a basketball game. I think that shoe technology has been a part of basketball long enough that no one really thinks about it. Suit technology in swimming is still relatively new.
As for mapping your time improvement... I guess you'll have to hold the suit constant year-to-year if that's a primary concern.
These are good points, but I still think there are fundamental differences. I've certainly never heard an argument that one team beat another in basketball because they were wearing better shoes.
In swimming I like to continue to improve my times. With the evolution of the suits its hard to know year-to-year how much of the improvement was due to me and my training and how much was due to the suit.
You might hear it if one team showed up in Chuck Taylor All Stars (tm) and got their derrieres handed to them :). Or, you'd certainly hear about it after that team started getting back problems from the shock. You're right, though, in that you probably won't hear anything about how shoes affected a basketball game. I think that shoe technology has been a part of basketball long enough that no one really thinks about it. Suit technology in swimming is still relatively new.
As for mapping your time improvement... I guess you'll have to hold the suit constant year-to-year if that's a primary concern.
