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?
x-ray vision, frisk, strip search, sodium pentathol..... thats all i can think of.
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
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.
Faster times here too, for sure. Most of the fastest with LZRs, a few B70s. Same as Senior Champs. USS swimmers seem most enamored with the LZR.
Here is some "proof" that the suits make a huge difference-
2009 PA High School State meet -26 records broken
http://paswimming.com/
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.
I wore another suit under my B70, not to try to go faster, but b/c I got the suit on in about a minute between the suit and the plastic bag on my feet.
After I got the suit on I wished I could take off the other suit, but it was SO easy to get it on with another suit on already.
How will this be enforced?
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."
I've had a similar capitalist thought. I wonder if the bigger company is licking it's chops now at buying the smaller better competitor at a cut rate price because their product is possibly going to be DQ'd but has significant value and potential without much alteration.
Quite often, if you look beneath the surface, the main force behind regulations to "protect" some entity (the consumer, the sport, etc.), you'll find a powerful company trying to use its leverage to quell competition, new technology, etc. It will very often get wrapped up in lofty language, but that language is often a front for anti-free-market principles in action.
My libertarian rant for the day is done.
I wore another suit under my B70, not to try to go faster, but b/c I got the suit on in about a minute between the suit and the plastic bag on my feet.
After I got the suit on I wished I could take off the other suit, but it was SO easy to get it on with another suit on already.
How will this be enforced?
Evil capitalist thought of the day -
I agree. It does seem arbitrary. However, if I were a tech suit manufacturer and my suits typically lasted longer and cost less than my competition and a governing organization wanted to put in an arbitrary restriction that might force my users to upgrade sooner and more frequently, I might not protest too much (as long as it wasn't effective immediately).
Tim
I've had a similar capitalist thought. I wonder if the bigger company is licking it's chops now at buying the smaller better competitor at a cut rate price because their product is possibly going to be DQ'd but has significant value and potential without much alteration.
Mostly agree with both statements.
The issue of permeability...I'm not sure why this comes up.
If the source of this rule is some sort of touch-feely idea that swimmers need to be "one with the water" -- otherwise it isn't "real" swimming -- then I think it is silly.
If it is because they worry that trapped air will cause buoyancy in use even if the suit itself is not buoyant, that's a different story.
But why 50%? Seems a little arbitrary.
Evil capitalist thought of the day -
I agree. It does seem arbitrary. However, if I were a tech suit manufacturer and my suits typically lasted longer and cost less than my competition and a governing organization wanted to put in an arbitrary restriction that might force my users to upgrade sooner and more frequently, I might not protest too much (as long as it wasn't effective immediately).
Tim
Wow, now I've read it all, tech suits and the crumbling economy are somehow related. And now responsibility is the new self-righteousnes? This is insufferable. I'm sick of this whining on every post. This thread is about swim suits, not insurance companies, take it somewhere else please. There are a million blogs and sites devoted to these economic topics, there is one forum for adult swimming.
Whew, Smell that? Seems like somebody doesn't like what's comming down the pike.
