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?
A statement like this totally discounts the emotional enjoyment derived from wear the suit. Not to mention the physical affects, euphoria, endorphins, etc. Who says that return on investment is only measured by monetary value?
Dolhpin 2 is obviously too materialistic for the likes of us experiential types. Or else spending too much money on support girdles to partake in sport.
Chowmi,
Yeah, the 3-5 swims I've heard just doesn't do it for me! I will be making use and deriving psychic and spiritual benefit from the new B70 I got for xmas. :)
Finally some good posts! This is why I listed Dolphin 2 as one of my favorite posters. I didn't say I agreed!
Hope that is a fixed mortgage, or else you'll look really silly if anyone finds out it's adjustable!
Good luck to geek.
Always fun to read pwolf.
I think I like Hoffman, too.
Fort, if I ever meet you, you can try my stretched out LZR just for fun. I really, really like it. It is just not a practical suit. Extremely fragile and hard to get on, and worst of all - you have to pull it down to use the ladies' room. It only takes me about 5 minutes to get on the other suit types, this one took me a solid 20 minutes the first time. Will be going for use #2 this weekend, so we shall see the stretched-out/useful life.
I think the people that place the value of something totally on it's price miss the whole point of athletics and competition. Then again, one who takes that approach has never competed.
Pretty funny, and true.
At best that statement can only be true for you. But how can that be true for everyone? A statement like this totally discounts the emotional enjoyment derived from wear the suit. Not to mention the physical affects, euphoria, endorphins, etc..
Who says that return on investment is only measured by monetary value? Again, stop using YOUR value system to judge everyone else.
In fact I'm quite glad that someone is blowing their money and I have less competition for people bidding up real estate!!! :bump:
Dolphin 2
Go fix an escalator and leave us alone. Better yet, go to a pool and fix their escalator, that way you could at least claim to have been near a pool once in your life.
Jeff, a half second now. But what about four years of uninterrupted spiky hair growth! Plus I may have to get CreamPuff to begin the annointment of unguents even sooner and more regularly. There is a really good one I am recommending for scalp massage called "Minoxidil".
See you in four years, at which point I will have my people use fiber optic camera apparatus to spelunk through enough of your head hair and beard to actually visualize your face and verify that it is you, and then the race can begin. Tell Mollie to prepare herself! Three months from now, you and Howard Hughes will look like twins. Four years? I shudder to think.
anyone besides me notice that the poll results just shot up disproportionately.
i suspect foul play and sock puppets! i demand an investigation! (we do have the funds for this ....don't we) is ken starr available?
not sure which swimmers double suited at the texas invite
I was up in the stands and didn't have a good view
UT women only had 6 blue 70 suits among the entire team.
spoke with one of the womens coaches after the invite who said:
+ some of the swimmers at other schools double suited
+ the NCAA had launched or was about to launch a one suit per swimmer rule
+ they didn't want to be responsible for policing this rule after the fact
One coach said the US protested double suiting at the 2008 olympics when pelligrini won the 200 free wearing 2 suits, meet officials didn't see double suiting as a rule violation.
my guess is soon the rule book is going to specify wearing 2 suits as grounds for disqualification
probably in
102.10 DISQUALIFICATIONS
.10 No swimmer is permitted to wear or use any device or substance to help his / her speed, pace or buoyancy during a race. Goggles may be worn, and rubdown oil applied if not considered excessive by the Referee.
but we might also see it in section
102.9 SWIMWEAR
the simple fact is wearing 2 or more tech suits can increase floatation and compression. One coach said zippers might be out soon too
I wrote about this back in Aug 2008 after I heard some swimmers at the US olympic trials double suited, but I think there were swimmers experimenting with this years ago.
ande
Ande, I heard the Texas women's team (not the men's as it sounds like Eddie is very much against it) ... and the Arizona team (men and women) had quite a few swimmers doing this?
