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
YES
People do get disqualified for wearing 2 suits (stacking) can be bad advice. It has already happened ca.news.yahoo.com/.../swim_aus
Here's the link to Stacking Suits
Tip 219 Stacking Tech Suits
Sounds like we have our first suit stacking victim -
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../20710.aspFlash!%20Therese%20Alshammar%20Breaks%20World%20Record%20in%2050%20Fly;%20Loses%20Record%20Due%20to%20Two%20Suits
5 hours to review? They have to come up with a better process like pre-race screening or something. I can just see this happening in the Worlds or Olympics - hours of video replay after the races to determine if someone double bagged isn't going to go well.
Looks like Australia allows training suits to be worn under the tech suit too.
Tim
Leslie, can you recall your first meet that you used a B70? Since you only swim USMS meets, there should be a list on your USMS member page of all your times in all events before and after B70 wearing.
I would like to see the data. Consider posting to your blog the complete list of sanctioned times (and you can include the ones that you did that weren't sanctioned after the fact) in each event you have swum with and without a B70, indicating type of suit.
Posted the data: forums.usms.org/blog.php
Only listed races with 3+ swims.
No huge chunks of time dropping off like Karen. But I've not double suited either. Analyze away. I think the B70 helps you swim fast unrested. I think some of my faster times are complicated by the fact that I've been lifting "heavy" and trying to be "non-weak" for about 10 months now, since Austin 2008. How much this factors into my times depends on how much one thinks weight lifting helps sprinters.
Personally, I still think the B70 helps more in distance events.
Here's the link to Stacking Suits
Tip 219 Stacking Tech Suits
That's another reason for your big time drops then; it's not all B70. The suit underneath (e.g. Pro, FS II, aquablade,LZR) provides compression and the B70 provides buoyancy. That's why some people suit stack. See Ande's SFF tip re: "suit stacking."
We will need to enlist a volunteer army of frotteurs. But where could we possibly find such people?
Oh, all right!
I will volunteer.
en.wikipedia.org/.../Frotteurism
Just another reason to stick with a non-tech suit!
I hope they change the rule to allow for a non-tech suit to be worn under a tech suit. I don't see any reasonable way to enforce it, no advantage gained, and only the possibility for bad behavior (outing other swimmers, frotteurism, etc.). I just thought the concept of double or triple bagging yourself in tech suits was not a good idea and was obviously done to increase bouyancy.
Geek, you might be right too. Hard to tell without inside knowledge. The fact that I haven't heard any B70 protests (yet) lead me to believe in my theory for now.
Tim
My other suit was not a new tech suit. It was an old Nike suit. I feel quite certain it didn't help me go faster, but who knows. That wasn't the goal anyway. The goal was to get the suit on without hurting myself!
When I had swum life bests back in Oct I only wore the B70, but I had people help me to put it on. This time it was just me, and the suit underneath really helped to get the B70 on (like I say with a suit already on and the plastic bag, it went on in about a minute).
I have never cheated in practice, I certainly wouldn't cheat in a race.
I am sure that you can go to every high school state championship meet website and find records that have been broken by swimmers in the new suits.
But is it normal at the HS level? Has it been like this in years past?
