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?
Former Member
It is remarkable how many females are using just regular suits.
Here is something I hadn't considered until this weekend,these suits are like the fountain of youth.At Fresno Nats I swam times I hadn't done in 5-11 yr.It's like I'm getting younger,it makes me feel younger and want to workout more.(Also the compression factor makes me look younger.)
I saw so many people wearing them laughing and having a great time. I was very tempted to get one.
When I did a USA Swimming meet last weekend, you didn't see one Blue Seventy or LZR. The kids were wearing older versions of the Jammers or Legskins. Most of the girls weren't even wearing kneeskins. Plus, some of the coaches have a rule that they can only wear the new tech suits at their taper meet.
Allen, I agree with you. The first time I tried any kind of speed suit was when the Aquablade came out. I concluded then that it didn't just take seconds off your times. It took years off your age.
Here is something I hadn't considered until this weekend,these suits are like the fountain of youth.At Fresno Nats I swam times I hadn't done in 5-11 yr.It's like I'm getting younger,it makes me feel younger and want to workout more.(Also the compression factor makes me look younger.)
This is from a swimnews.com article-I wish more of the up and coming swimmers had his attitude regarding the tech suits.
"Meanwhile, make way for our 16-year-old hero of the day. Yannick Agnel, coached by Fabrice Pellerin in Nice and a French junior champion, stands tall not only because he is 2m from the soles of his feet to his crown: in Montpellier he showed up at his blocks in briefs, just missed his 200m free best, with a 1:51.02 effort and said: "I've always swum in briefs and I see no reason to change that. I wanted to show that you can do honorable times without a supersonic suit."
A sign of the times: before he stepped up to his blocks an official asked him if he would be wearing something below his bodysuit. He said he would be wearing nothing under his briefs. After his race, he said that he had no regrets even though he missed his best by about half a second. "I'm staying pure ... a wildcard for the future. There is something important at stake. When I reach a barrier, perhaps it is that that will drive me to find the missing tenths or seconds." In other words, not simply by donning the latest supersuit.
Bravo! Yannick Agnel. A boy who in speaking to L'Equipe proved himself to be more of a man than those coaches who are still happy to seek plaudits for pupils whose performances relied on a prop and more of a man than those who govern the sport of swimming and who have not yet shown that they have truly understood the crisis nor found the courage of the convictions that they ought to have - let alone come anywhere close to expressing them publicly, as they should have done in order to preserve the special nature of the sport that they are supposed to be guardians of."
COME ON! I just threw my hat back in the ring!
:bliss:
keep the suits!
I'm in the minority and voted for the first option.
Anyone got some charcoal lighter and a match? :banana:
Dolphin 2
Making Sense of a Major Mess: Not an Easy Task -- April 27, 2009
I have no doubt that the times set in these suits will be beaten once the suits are banned. It may take a while, but training methods will continue to improve and swimmers will get faster because of it. Maybe at that point we will be able to better understand the influence of these suits (and other variables e.g training), when all elite swimmers are less enhanced.
How big of a deal will it be when the tech suit times are beaten? I think those performances are going to be worth the wait, and have no doubt they will happen.
