Ban the tech suits?

I have heard here two arguments against tech suits. One is based on the issue of "buying time" and I have yet to hear a reason why this is any different than using better pools, lane lines, blocks, goggles, etc. Not to mention paying more to train with an elite program, perhaps even leaving or relocating the familiy to do so. This happens all the time in swimming and you are in effect "buying time." Why should these things be allowed but not tech suits? I've never heard an answer. The other argument is about the impact of the added expense of tech suits on the sport. I have some sympathy with this view and am concerned about it also. But even though going to briefs for men may sound like the simplest solution, that doesn't mean that it is the best one. It may not even be the simplest solution either (eg, where does that leave women?). Lane lines, pools, blocks etc... are the same for everyone, atleast pool to pool. To me it would be much more akin to someone bringing their own starting block to the meet and only getting to use it themselves. I assume you would have a problem with that? Paying more to train with an elite squad indirectly makes you faster. You cannot, I don't know, pay for dues for an elite club on the way to a swimmeet and suddenly drop 1-2% (or whatever amount you choose to believe). Better googles, better cap? Yeah, I suppose that is the same thing as a better suit, but the expenses are smaller and the improvements less dramatic. I won't pretend that these are leak proof arguments. But there they are...

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'm surprised that you techies can't see the difference between a $5 pair of goggles and a $500 wetsuit... 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.

Lane lines, pools, blocks etc... are the same for everyone, atleast pool to pool. To me it would be much more akin to someone bringing their own starting block to the meet and only getting to use it themselves. I assume you would have a problem with that? Paying more to train with an elite squad indirectly makes you faster. You cannot, I don't know, pay for dues for an elite club on the way to a swimmeet and suddenly drop 1-2% (or whatever amount you choose to believe). Better googles, better cap? Yeah, I suppose that is the same thing as a better suit, but the expenses are smaller and the improvements less dramatic. I won't pretend that these are leak proof arguments. But there they are... Training with an elite squad directly makes you faster. There's no indirectness about it. It may not instantaneously make you faster, but it has a direct effect on the results you will see.

I was asking Debbie Santos last night about when the B70s might be available. She said we would have them for our Pac Champs. We then were talking, w/my hubby there too, about "age-groupers" wearing them. We all concluded that we didn't want our age groupers wearing them as we were more concerned that they have fun. Pat pointed out that working out they get faster year to year, anyway, b/c of physical growth. He also pointed out that the cost was an issue b/c they do grow so fast!! Debbie said that a 12 yo kid she gave lessons to wore a B70 last year a few times and then outgrew it. She told the mom that it wasn't a good idea etc, but the mom bought it anyway. Debbie did bring up a good point though: what about the 13, 14 or 15 yo that makes their Oly Trial cuts? They should get to wear a full length tech suit. So with that argument, the elite age groupers would get to wear them. I mentioned then, what if an age grouper would GET their cuts if they wore one? Pfffft, another can of worms to open up. :D

I'm not telling you how to spend your money. Spend it all day long. Look cool and feel great about your suit just don't wear it at a meet for an official time. If I swim in a race, complete the swim, don't get DQ'ed and wear a suit approved by FINA, then it is an official time, regardless of what suit I wear...and nothing you can say is able to take away from my swim, the effort that went into the swim, the training that went into the swim. If I play by the rules, then it is official...regardless of what you think

I'm really getting annoyed with all this holier than thou criticism by people (except knelson) who aren't willing to invest the training time, yet focus on a swimsuit. You take two equally talented kids, stuff one in an average year round program, stuff the other in an elite level program and the difference between those two at a meet a year later will be much different than those same kids in the same program with one wearing a LZR. I see this all the time at kid's meets. Lefty's post did make me think and ponder, albeit briefly.

Are all tech suits designed equally? I wonder why someone would choose a LZR over a B70 or a B70 over something else? Oh I don't know...maybe it is personally preference. Why do some people like Nike vs. Reebok vs. New Balance vs. Addias? Personal preference.

. Tech suits are like steroids. It's always easier to buy a time than work for it. Again, If you pay for a coach, pool to swim at, health club membership for weight training, cardio, pilates,etc...then you are BUYING your time. No one has said that the suits replace hard work...no one. Once again, the suit doesn't do the swimming. If the swimmer hasn't logged the time in the pool...the time cross-training, no freaking suit will make up for lack of preparation. W Why should men be limited to briefs? There is nothing wrong with having suits that cover the upper and lower body. You can't accept that the sport is changing and trying to progress.

To me it would be much more akin to someone bringing their own starting block to the meet and only getting to use it themselves. I agree. Another example would be if you could pay an extra $500 to get clear water in the lanes adjacent to you.