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
I got to see a rack full of tech suits up close over Christmas, and they aren't anything like wetsuits. The fabric in a tech suit is incredibly thin. I can see why people compare them to "paper" suits, which I believe were made of a thin stretch woven polyester? I find it hard to believe you'd get much added buoyancy from them for more than 50 meters or so.
(Actually, the last time I was in Fabricland buying interfacing, I found a stretch woven water repellant nylon that looks and feels remarkably like the Tyr Aquapel fabric. Hmmmm.... where to find a suitable pattern...:D )
Wetsuits are made from closed cell foam and definitely improve one's time - and yet, even I manage to pass a couple of wetsuit wearers in an open water race last summer.
Several people have compared them to carbon fiber bikes. Well, in the 1999 Pan Am games, a Cuban on an old steel Colnago track bike took the "Kilo" time trial over a competitor on a high-tech carbon fiber time trial track bike. Go figure - all that extra money didn't buy the competitor any speed.
I'm not so sure about that. It does seem safe to say, however, that all of that extra money did not buy him the win.
I got to see a rack full of tech suits up close over Christmas, and they aren't anything like wetsuits. The fabric in a tech suit is incredibly thin. I can see why people compare them to "paper" suits, which I believe were made of a thin stretch woven polyester? I find it hard to believe you'd get much added buoyancy from them for more than 50 meters or so.
(Actually, the last time I was in Fabricland buying interfacing, I found a stretch woven water repellant nylon that looks and feels remarkably like the Tyr Aquapel fabric. Hmmmm.... where to find a suitable pattern...:D )
Wetsuits are made from closed cell foam and definitely improve one's time - and yet, even I manage to pass a couple of wetsuit wearers in an open water race last summer.
Several people have compared them to carbon fiber bikes. Well, in the 1999 Pan Am games, a Cuban on an old steel Colnago track bike took the "Kilo" time trial over a competitor on a high-tech carbon fiber time trial track bike. Go figure - all that extra money didn't buy the competitor any speed.
I'm not so sure about that. It does seem safe to say, however, that all of that extra money did not buy him the win.
