Ban the tech suits?

Here’s a change I can believe in: in the spirit of fairness, let’s persuade the breaststrokers who have been beating me in my backstroke events to clock fewer yards in their workouts and maybe take a few months off, too. Hmmm, :cool: doubtful. But good try. :chug:

Wow, this thread has become somewhat hostile. I have no problem with other people wearing tech suits. Spend as much as you want and feel good about your times and results. I think tech suits help participation in masters and sponsorship which is a good thing. I think the key word in Ande's quote is "you". If "you" are out to break records (like Ande) and generally breaking records in todays masters swimming requires a tech suit, then Ande's quote makes sense. How about the other 99+% of masters swimmers? Ande, I hope you didn't mean that anyone that competes and doesn't wear a tech suit is an idiot. I think for the other 99+% that it is a personal decision and no one is an idiot on either side of the discussion no matter their reasons for wearing or not wearing a tech suit. I discovered that I enjoy swimming more without a tech suit, but setting records has never been on my list of goals and giving up a little time to competitors is not a big deal in my book. It is possible to still have time goals, rankings, compete, and enjoy the sport without wearing a tech suit. The thing that I find most fascinating about tech suits is their grasp on the general psychology of swimming. Tim

I'm not even interested in trying of one those new suits and see if it helps me go faster. I'm competing with myself (in whichever polyester suit ---brief--- I'm using) so it doesn't matter what I'm wearing. If I'm faster than I was last year: Good. If not, Good too (if I'm still alive).

I think the key word in Ande's quote is "you". If "you" are out to break records (like Ande) and generally breaking records in todays masters swimming requires a tech suit, then Ande's quote makes sense. How about the other 99+% of masters swimmers? I think Ande's comments go beyond record breakers. He said "if you're trying to swim as fast as you can." Well, that's a whole lotta people besides those breaking national records. Many, not all, people who compete would like to go as fast as they can. (Typically, to do this, they also train like fiends, work on technique, etc. They do not merely don a tech suit to hold in their gut and float.) Others like to go as fast as they can in a non-tech suit. Either path is fine. But Geek is right. These notions of moral superiority or cheapened performances are ridiculously old fashioned and preachy and outside the world of competitive sports. It is not "plain wrong" to wear a tech suit to go fast. Gear is gear. As I've said before, this is sport, not an antique. Now, if the naysayers want to compete in briefs to beat the pants off the tech suit swimmers, more power to them! It's like the bikers using single gear bikes for a race just for the challenge. The trash talk from this is great. The whining about the decline of the sport and the alleged inequity is what's irritating.

bottomline is: If you're trying to swim as fast as you can and you don't wear a tech suit you're an idiot. the FS PRO Hineck is probably the best suit for the price. when I compared latest generation suits on performance, cost, # of wears, availability, andreliability, I went with the blue seventy nero comp some masters are getting Speedo LZRs ande

bottomline is: If you're trying to swim as fast as you can and you don't wear a tech suit you're an idiot. I think that's a bit self-centered. Almost as bad as someone else with their diatribe about how evil these suits are. I'm not going to object to others wearing whatever they want. But don't call me an idiot because I don't want to spend $100+ on a suit I'll wear a handfull of times. Some of us may not have the money to spend in the first place. Others may simply have other priorities in life. I don't think anyone is an idiot if they do what they think is right for them.

I think that's a bit self-centered. Almost as bad as someone else with their diatribe about how evil these suits are. There's a huge difference. Ande actually swims and competes. The other fellow does neither and isn't a USMS member either. If you can't afford one, fine. If you don't have that priority, fine. But, folks need to stop insinuating it in any way cheapens the sport, a person's accomplishments, etc. Every single other sport that adults can participate in went through this about two decades ago. Swimmers are just notoriously cheap and apparently also notoriously whiny (but we knew this from the Smiths already).

I personally wouldn't buy one either, but I can certainly think of worse ways to spend the sum of money that a B70 costs. I've had numerous co-workers over the years who went to the bar every single Friday after work ("after" work is open to interpretation, apparently - it started at noon). Most of them also smoked heavily. I'm sure they blew $500 every six weeks just on cigarettes and booze, yet one of them was incredulous that I'd spent $800 on a new road bike. ("You coulda got one at Kmart for just 90 bucks!!!") You can easily spend $500 on trendy clothing, or eating out in restaurants on a regular basis. Or going to casinos or bingo halls. As indulgences go, tech suits are pretty benign.

Aquageek, I have been to well attended national/international masters meets (Austin and Worlds in Standford). I admit I don't attend every national meet. I wore a tech suit at Stanford and didn't wear one at Austin. Results were similar (actually better in Austin and my training was largely the same). Tech suits have improved since Stanford, but they are still uncomfortable and from the sounds of it more expensive on a per use basis. Give me a break on the group think. Are you a tech suit lemming? It isn't like 100% of the national meet swimmers wear tech suits. It isn't like you can't make the top ten without a tech suit. You missed the point on the hassle of the tech equipment. Yes, cycling and golf have lots of equipment and that can be a pain, but when you decide to buy something specific in golf, skiing, or cycling that is a technical improvement to standard equipment that technical equipment usually increases enjoyment of the sport as well as providing you with improvement in your score or times than a tech suit. In many ways tech suits are inferior technology in relation to other sports technology. Do you not agree that something like aero bars in cycling increases comfort as well as providing a performance enhancement? Are the latest drivers in golf any harder to use than a driver 10, 20, 30, 50 years ago? Now, is a tech suit harder to put on than a brief? Yes. Does a tech suit restrict breathing, bind your shoulders and reduce range of motion? Yes. Do you worry about zippers, rear end blow-outs, durability, and other similar issues in a tech suit? Yes. For me those things are a hassle which are not found in golf clubs, skis, and aero bars and most technical advances in other sports and that influences my buying decision and probably many others. I like competing and training just as much as you. I just don't think people should be called idiots for not wearing tech suits. Do you think Phelps is an idiot because he didn't wear a full tech suit in the 200IM/400 IM/100 fly/200 fly at the Olympics? Why don't you and Ande write into Swimming World magazine to the editor and call out Michael Phelps for not being a serious enough competitor for the USA and general "idiot" and see what that gets you? Maybe Park could have beaten the world record in the 400 Free if he wore a full tech suit. I only wish Park was more serious about competing, like you. Perhaps, Park hadn't been to any national or international meets prior to the Olympics and didn't understand he couldn't compete or be taken seriously without a full tech suit. Tim

Get a congregation, seriously. I've never seen so many people who find it necessary to preach to others about all they know about equipment and gear. You don't like it, don't wear it but leave us alone. The majority of swimmers at Nationals will be wearing speed suits. That puts the rest as wearers of antiquated gear that is not designed to capitalize on their training. Or, to put it simply, idiots. I 100% guarantee you that while you don't have to wear one to get Top 10 as USMS (yet), you sure as heck do as an age grouper over about 13/14. You can catch the wave or sit on the beach and continue preaching and snivelling.