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?
IMHO, I agree that you can't compare swimmer A to swimmer B wearing this suit or that suit. On any given day at any given day someone can have a break out swim, be sick, not trained, inury, etc. In swimming, like most sports, there are usually too many variables to compare 2 athletes.
When I made my original argument about the B70 I only compared my swims to my swims, in fact in the same day! Same circumstances (no sleep, dead dog the night before, having Bronchitis at the time). I hadn't put in much training, but with the B70 I beat my life best times (from years ago)! Now I had had 4 kids, and am 30 pounds heavier. My technique is the same, I'm heavier, haven't been working out much, and yet I put on a B70 and do life best times? It was THE SUIT. I've gotten over the idea that it's cheating mostly b/c of this forum.
Now that being said, I hope to get one for Pac Champs and Nationals. I fully expect to do life best times b/c I've been training a lot. Kerry said to me, "It will be awesome to know when you step up to the blocks that the question isn't will you drop time, but how much time will you drop?" I agree.
Once I have my own "new" life time bests, with the B70, I'm sure I'll go back to regular meet swims where I don't always drop time. That's to be expected.
IMHO, I agree that you can't compare swimmer A to swimmer B wearing this suit or that suit. On any given day at any given day someone can have a break out swim, be sick, not trained, inury, etc. In swimming, like most sports, there are usually too many variables to compare 2 athletes.
When I made my original argument about the B70 I only compared my swims to my swims, in fact in the same day! Same circumstances (no sleep, dead dog the night before, having Bronchitis at the time). I hadn't put in much training, but with the B70 I beat my life best times (from years ago)! Now I had had 4 kids, and am 30 pounds heavier. My technique is the same, I'm heavier, haven't been working out much, and yet I put on a B70 and do life best times? It was THE SUIT. I've gotten over the idea that it's cheating mostly b/c of this forum.
Now that being said, I hope to get one for Pac Champs and Nationals. I fully expect to do life best times b/c I've been training a lot. Kerry said to me, "It will be awesome to know when you step up to the blocks that the question isn't will you drop time, but how much time will you drop?" I agree.
Once I have my own "new" life time bests, with the B70, I'm sure I'll go back to regular meet swims where I don't always drop time. That's to be expected.
