Ban the tech suits?

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
  • 102.14.1 Design -- The swimsuits worn for competition shall be non-transparent and conform to the current concept of the appropriate. The referee shall have authority to bar offenders from competition until they comply with this rule. I can't believe how short-sighted FINA and USA Swimming are being with all their swim suit rule-mongering. First nit-picking suit thickness, permeability, and presence of tiny adjunctive propellers, all of which have been deemed by The Powers-That-Be somehow unsportsman-like. Now this! Our only hope smashed of seeing Laura Manedou (or however you spell her name) and her lithe ilk swimming free, their svelte musculature vibrating in the azure racing tank! How else are we supposed to learn what to do with our own core muscles if we can't watch the fastest women in the world using theirs, from upper chest thoracic stabilizers to groin sinews to ever so gingerly flapping buttocks? FINA, you have gone too far this time in outlawing transparent swim suits! This must not stand! This cannot stand! This shall not stand! PS does this mean that all the old guys on our team now wearing transparent, sagging, form-fitting Lycra Speedos from which the last molecules of dye have long since given up the ghost are now in official violation? If so, perhaps I can live with the ruling after all. Please send some FINA police to our pool immediately for enforcement.
Reply
  • 102.14.1 Design -- The swimsuits worn for competition shall be non-transparent and conform to the current concept of the appropriate. The referee shall have authority to bar offenders from competition until they comply with this rule. I can't believe how short-sighted FINA and USA Swimming are being with all their swim suit rule-mongering. First nit-picking suit thickness, permeability, and presence of tiny adjunctive propellers, all of which have been deemed by The Powers-That-Be somehow unsportsman-like. Now this! Our only hope smashed of seeing Laura Manedou (or however you spell her name) and her lithe ilk swimming free, their svelte musculature vibrating in the azure racing tank! How else are we supposed to learn what to do with our own core muscles if we can't watch the fastest women in the world using theirs, from upper chest thoracic stabilizers to groin sinews to ever so gingerly flapping buttocks? FINA, you have gone too far this time in outlawing transparent swim suits! This must not stand! This cannot stand! This shall not stand! PS does this mean that all the old guys on our team now wearing transparent, sagging, form-fitting Lycra Speedos from which the last molecules of dye have long since given up the ghost are now in official violation? If so, perhaps I can live with the ruling after all. Please send some FINA police to our pool immediately for enforcement.
Children
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