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?
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.
Obviously, there are other factors involved--time in the season, how good your training that year was, injuries, etc. But it would still provide an interesting glimpse into the general trends with this particular suit. If, for instance, over the past 5 years, 80 percent of your best times were in a B70, and 20 percent were in another suit, that would indicate something different than if it was 50-50, say. Or if all your best times were in a B70, then something different still.
Please do not get me wrong. You and everyone else, from CremePuff to Michael Ross, who have done extraordinary performances in B70s are extraordinary swimmers regardless of suit. But I suspect the suit does make a greater difference than most of us would like to think it does, because that would take just a little luster off the personal glory halo. When Jim Clemmons joked that getting into better shape and not the suit made the difference, adding "this is my story and I'm sticking to it," I think he was clearly winking and nodding at a certain disingenuousness.
PS depending upon the degree of my bankruptcy post-audit, I had hoped to scrimp up for a B70 myself. I would love to try one out and see if it would let me drop a bit of time here and there. But if it's going to get outlawed, I don't want to waste the money to try to bank some good times between now and the day of official illegality, say 2010--then spend the rest of my dotage wondering why I suddenly got so much slower.
Jimby, I don't disagree that the suit makes a difference. It does!! Definitely. I'm sure your times would improve with it.
I don't think I can give you "general trends" of the type you seek though. I have been swimming a few months shy of 4 years as a master. In that time, I have improved each year in a fairly linear fashion. I think the linear improvement is due in part to my competing in all three courses, which makes it easier to achieve PBs, particularly if you only do a couple meets a year in X course.
I have been competing in the B70 since it was available to the public. My first meet was the IGLA SCM meet in June 2008. Since then, I have worn the B70 for every race except 2. (BTW, I don't just swim in masters meets. I average about two USS meets per year. Just swam in one in January ...)
I believe my times, as a general matter and especially in unrested meets, have improved because of the B70. My unrested/mini-taper B70 times seem fairly comparable to my rested/tapered Pro times, but it's hard to pinpoint because so much depends on type of training, weights, quality of pool, state of health, when the last time you swam the event was, etc. BUT, because I wear the B70 so often, I now have an initial baseline of B70s times in many events. I have subsequently improved beyond those times. I don't think the subsequent improvements can be attributed to B70 use. Do you?
One of my competitors had some great times this year with her new B70. But she also lost a significant amount of weight and changed her training. Is all her time improvement due to her B70?
I do think the B70 helps some swimmers more than others.
Confession:
I have been a bit cranky of late.
The combination of
A) an IRS audit , and
B) an increase in monthly health insurance premiums from $900+ per month in 2006 to $1711 per month in 2009 blah, blah, blah.
...Chris, as always, you are the voice of reason to which we should all aspire in our discourse. Even those who never whine except when whining about whiners they have whinily identified.
Yeah, I guess this isn't whining. Thanks for taking the time to define it for my feeble southern conservative mind.
We don't know that the B70 will be banned. We just know that we can wear it until 2010. I plan to get ample use of mine.
Ive read the rules several times trying to figure out if the b70 will be banned or not. I read it one time and it seems like we can wear them until 2010. Then read it another and seems like it is part if the immediate change. Can someone help clear this up for me?
But why 50%? Seems a little arbitrary.
Yes, unless it's a conscious attempt to find a rule that will make a certain suit illegal.
I guess the thinking could be something like "we don't want what is effectively a wetsuit allowed for pool swimming."
the FINA rules look pretty reasonable to me except for not allowing a normal swim suit below the tech suit. I really don't want to be behind the blocks when a tech suit rips out so please break the rules and wear normal suits underneath.
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.
You know. I'm just glad to be of the mindset that whatever FINA does I'll be okay. Fortunately, I swim 99% of the time in slow poly suits. AND I still have several swims that were faster in a FSII than in my B70. FINA - do your worst - whatever the heck that may be. I guess if we're all to swim nude, I'll have to go with that as well. That would be sort of bad for us masters and mostly okay for the kids.
Warning: Swam my final meet day with a bad case of diarrhea. Actually not too upset about it. Can't say my competition felt as neutral about it. . .
I can't imagine that FINA will take away your B70s, but if they do the suit manufacturer will adapt quickly to the new rules. The suits don't last forever anyway so you probably won't even notice and I am sure the designs and fit will improve somewhat in the next 12 months anyway. I hate to say it, but the FINA rules look pretty reasonable to me except for not allowing a normal swim suit below the tech suit. I really don't want to be behind the blocks when a tech suit rips out so please break the rules and wear normal suits underneath.
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.
AMEN!!!!
