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?
The wooden Louisville slugger is traditional.
The aluminum Easton pinger is a technological improvement, at least for batters and bat purchasers--the ball goes farther, and the bats are almost impossible to break. Pitchers may not like them because a hard drive off an aluminum bat screaming to the head is more likely to result in premature death.
Essay question Part B:
Is it possible to be FOR wooden baseball bats and also FOR technical swimming suits and not be in some sense hypocritical?
Open your second blue book.
Begin.
Bias revealed: I am for wooden bats and technical swim suits because A) I don't play baseball myself but like to think today's game still has something in common with Abner Doubleday's vision, and B) I do swim and want every possible advantage I can get, and C) I am a hypocrite.
The Major League baseball bat. Wood or aluminum?
Open your blue books. You have 90 minutes to complete your essay.
Good luck. Begin.
If they ever switched to aluminum bats, I would quit watching. The only reason I don't enjoy college baseball more is that not-quite-right sound...tink!
Bias revealed: I am for wooden bats and technical swim suits because A) I don't play baseball myself but like to think today's game still has something in common with Abner Doubleday's vision, and B) I do swim and want every possible advantage I can get, and C) I am a hypocrite.
To quote another;
"This is a good post, really good."
Hey Aquageek
There's an old saying that "Beauty or Hell is in the eyes of the beholder".
Dolphin 2
i prefer:
"L'enfer, c'est les autres", usually translated as "Hell is other people". ...sartre
Dolphin - I'm done with you. No one cares what you think and you are just making my time on this forum less enjoyable. So, wax poetic some more about something you know nothing about or go fix an escalator, which you may have lied about also, who knows.
Hey Aquageek
Gee does that mean you won't be responding to my posts anymore? By the way if I'm making your time on this forum less enjoyable, that's your problem. :argue:
There's an old saying that "Beauty or Hell is in the eyes of the beholder".
By the way, those escalators are running OK. The problem is people don't know enough to get off when they reach the end!!! :cane:
Dolphin 2
I do appreciate Chaos being more thoughtful on the topic. However, when you get right down to it, it's just an expensive swim suit and not worth the hand wringing. I have spent myself into oblivion on my biking habit so a few hundred for a swimsuit seems like free money.
I also know Chaos is a pot-stirrer and honest. Dolphin 2 is a dipdong.
Hey Aquageek
Doggonnit, you didn’t get the point in my previous post:
forums.usms.org/showpost.php
By the way, have you noticed that there are more “Dark Clouds” gathering over the tech suit issue lately? Seems that there are other people who agree with me. :agree:
Dolphin 2
I have spent myself into oblivion on my biking habit
I also know Chaos is a pot-stirrer and honest. Dolphin 2 is a dipdong.
me too. but i lament over the glory days of campy super record as the gold standard ahhh....rat trap pedals and leather hairnets....
(i left the second part just so the word dipdong appears in another post)
Why is the skin comparison so important? I thought the whole point of suit technology was to improve on skin and go faster?
that is exactly the issue i was trying to illuminate.
tech suits of the first generation had to claim that they were not such a big improvement over the nekked body.... lest they be disapproved by the governing bodies as artificial aid. the latest generation doesn't try to make that claim at all as research and results would easily dispute any such claims.
my questions are:
have we now come to the point of "anything goes" as far as racing attire is concerned?
if yes, do you think this is a good thing?
if no, do you think we should?
my opinion is this; i think there is a lot of potential for suit manufacturers to influence fina and others about which fabrics are approved and which are not through sponsorships, fees etc. it just seems a little ass-backwards to me that instead of fina setting guidelines for attire and manufacturers developing suits that fall within those guidelines, it is the other way around.
i don't think these questions have been discussed much in this thread though i do admit i haven't read the whole thing (being equally distracted and entertained by the geek/dolphin "discussion")
