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?
They say it is psychologically easier to be born blind and not know what you are missing, than to spend part of your life seeing and then lose your sight.
Along these lines, I am wondering if we who have never raced in LSRs or B-70s will suffer less from our less stellar personal records than those who have set same in suits that eventually they can no longer use?
If LSRs, B-70s, Tracer Lites, and the like are outlawed, which looks inevitable, will there be any asterisks placed on records set by swimmers using these suits?
I wonder if the flood of world records last year will usher forth a long drought in the coming years?
Dare I say it?
Has there been a bubble in swimming times, and has this bubble burst?
And will masters who did sensationally in such suits, especially if they fail to come close to these times in tomorrow's legal suits, feel perpetually disappointed in their "decreased" ability? Or will they get by dreaming happily about how great they once were?
Such, in any event, are the musings of the born blind...
They say it is psychologically easier to be born blind and not know what you are missing, than to spend part of your life seeing and then lose your sight.
Along these lines, I am wondering if we who have never raced in LSRs or B-70s will suffer less from our less stellar personal records than those who have set same in suits that eventually they can no longer use?
If LSRs, B-70s, Tracer Lites, and the like are outlawed, which looks inevitable, will there be any asterisks placed on records set by swimmers using these suits?
I wonder if the flood of world records last year will usher forth a long drought in the coming years?
Dare I say it?
Has there been a bubble in swimming times, and has this bubble burst?
And will masters who did sensationally in such suits, especially if they fail to come close to these times in tomorrow's legal suits, feel perpetually disappointed in their "decreased" ability? Or will they get by dreaming happily about how great they once were?
Such, in any event, are the musings of the born blind...
