Ban the tech suits?

I don't know about most masters... That's ok, neither does Dolphin 2. I grew a sweet 'stache a few months back. I had some dudes come up to me with their own squirrel lips and tell me, "Right On!" Unfortunately, the chicks don't seem to dig the hair lip these days.

"... so by limiting the coverage of the the body we limit the damages that can be done with engineering and biometics etcetera. That plus the idea of one suit alone." John Leonard "Nothing was wrong with swimming before, it was fine, it's worse now because something was introduced that shouldn't have been introduced." Craig Lord I agree 100%. Limit the coverage to limit the advantage of the suit, and make all the suits available to the public 12 mo before a meet. Hi Charged I agree with Craig Lord. :applaud: In the past, FINA’s position was to minimize the effect of the suit and they required that the suit have as little coverage as possible. However with the introduction of tech suits, there are way too many variables to deal with and any attempt to make rules about them will just result in bickering and nit picking. Suit technology (along with all sorts of performance enhancing drugs) is considered a "Cheat Sheet" appraoch and they have severely obscured what can be considered as a true achievement in the athletic world. The suit makers won’t go along with this, but the most obvious and simplist solution is just to go back to the Mark Spitz days in the 1970s when plain old $20 briefs were the standard uniform and the only variables were the individual athlete’s body characteristics. Dolphin 2

I can't understand how we have managed to get into a situation where the only true net result is that we all end up slightly worse off financially. For the suits to be legal, they have to be available to all. If they are available to and worn by everyone, there is no competitive advantage to be gained by wearing one. If we wear the suits to improve our times but gain no competitive advantage then we are merely deluding ourselves. This isn't materially different from the change from wood to composite materials in tennis rackets. Or titanium and carbon fiber in bicycles. Although some of these things are not cheap, they are still affordable for serious competitors. No one makes anyone ride the Tour de France in a fat tire Schwinn. Perhaps the tech suits cause everyone's performance to improve - which makes swimming faster and more appealing to spectators and TV. Yes it makes the sport more expensive - but not radically so. Oh - I agree with Ande's positions on the suits.

No one makes anyone ride the Tour de France in a fat tire Schwinn. QUOTE] true, but there are very strict guidelines that rule out aero-dynamic additions to the steed.

If these suits lead to self-delusion that keeps you competing and feeling self confident, I say what's the problem with that? QUOTE] i prefer my self delusion "up with olives"

Interesting that people keep bringing up cycling, because the closest cycling equivalent to a racing suit is the tubular ("sew-up") tire. When I was racing, you just had to have a pair of tub wheels for races if you wanted to be truly competitive, because the clincher tires and rims of the time were so heavy and lifeless. So you paid a lot of money for a light, fragile tire that could theoretically be repaired if it was punctured, but no-one ever bothered because it was a lot of work and was never quite the same after. So - $40-$60 worth of tire tossed in the garbage if you got a flat out on a time trial course. Now clincher tires and rims are so good that they have been used for pro races, even though a set of silk tubulars is still considered the gold standard. The way technology trickles down, the "clincher rim" version of the tech suit will inevitably be available to level out the playing field. Maybe it already exists and just hasn't received as much attention. Maybe the Blue Seventy is a step in that direction. I disagree. When LeMond showed up with his aero helmet and TT bars to race the final stage of the 1989 Tour de France to beat Fignon by 58 seconds and win his second Tour, he "let the cat out of the bag." He was the first to use aero bars in the Tour and they're now standard for any TT. The sport is no worse for utilizing technological advances, like carbon frames, aero helmets, and yes, lighter clincher wheels and tires. It is worse off for the rampant drug use, but that's a story for another thread.

I can't understand how we have managed to get into a situation where the only true net result is that we all end up slightly worse off financially. Google "prisoner's dilemma."

Interesting that people keep bringing up cycling, because the closest cycling equivalent to a racing suit is the tubular ("sew-up") tire. When I was racing, you just had to have a pair of tub wheels for races if you wanted to be truly competitive, because the clincher tires and rims of the time were so heavy and lifeless. So you paid a lot of money for a light, fragile tire that could theoretically be repaired if it was punctured, but no-one ever bothered because it was a lot of work and was never quite the same after. So - $40-$60 worth of tire tossed in the garbage if you got a flat out on a time trial course. Now clincher tires and rims are so good that they have been used for pro races, even though a set of silk tubulars is still considered the gold standard. The way technology trickles down, the "clincher rim" version of the tech suit will inevitably be available to level out the playing field. Maybe it already exists and just hasn't received as much attention. Maybe the Blue Seventy is a step in that direction.

No one makes anyone ride the Tour de France in a fat tire Schwinn. QUOTE] true, but there are very strict guidelines that rule out aero-dynamic additions to the steed. Aero plays a tiny role in stage racing.... Aero bars are outlawed for safety reasons. The time trial stages though allow just about everything.

I can't understand how we have managed to get into a situation where the only true net result is that we all end up slightly worse off financially. For the suits to be legal, they have to be available to all. If they are available to and worn by everyone, there is no competitive advantage to be gained by wearing one. If we wear the suits to improve our times but gain no competitive advantage then we are merely deluding ourselves.