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?
In reviewing this endless discussion, it seems that the people who have the biggest problem with tech suits are those that really wouldn't benefit from them much at all (i.e. slow).
Are there any Top 10 swimmers who share the view they are the demise of swimming? From what I've seen, the fastest swimmers have embraced technology changes in the sport. Actually, it's probably that way in all sports. It also strikes me that the fastest swimmers have been swimming since they were kids and therefore have a greater right to claim the purist argument than others, yet don't do so. Maybe the claim of purist is from cheap people who aren't very good to begin with.
Random thoughts.
Tech suits are nice. A lot can afford the lesser or maybe better grade yingfa suits for such a low price the excuse of not affording a good suit to swim in becomes a bit less "wide".
As I've said previously, if you really want to swim faster through the use of mechanical assistments, just go out and buy a set of paddles and flippers instead of a so called tech suit.
Paddles and flippers are a drastically more efficient -and drastically more economical than a tech suit.
If the makers of paddles and flippers lobbied FINA to make them legal and allow them to be used in the Olympics, world's records would fall like flies.
Dolphin 2
As I've said previously, if you really want to swim faster through the use of mechanical assistments, just go out and buy a set of paddles and flippers instead of a so called tech suit.
Paddles and flippers are a drastically more efficient -and drastically more economical than a tech suit.
If the makers of paddles and flippers lobbied FINA to make them legal and allow them to be used in the Olympics, world's records would fall like flies.
Dolphin 2
And if you bothered to actually read anything that Paul Smith or several other EXPERIENCED swimmers have said..."if you are swimming faster with paddles on, then you are dropping your elbows on the catch" So, to put it in layman's terms for you, if you are swimming faster with paddles, then you have stroke flaws.
Go back to your hole and leave the swimming to people that actually have competed and still compete.
One more thing, there has been(maybe still offer) a fin racing competition around the world, where people can use fins, snorkels and tech suits. So, this idea has been thrown out there already
A fast suit can make a slow swimmer fast.
This is an absurd statement. A fast suit can make a slow swimmer fastER, not fast. If for example the suits produced a 2% advantage like Mark Shubert claimed - then a slow swimmer (lets say 1:10 in 100 SCY free) - would go 1:08.6.
These are good points, but I still think there are fundamental differences. I've certainly never heard an argument that one team beat another in basketball because they were wearing better shoes.
In swimming I like to continue to improve my times. With the evolution of the suits its hard to know year-to-year how much of the improvement was due to me and my training and how much was due to the suit.
You might hear it if one team showed up in Chuck Taylor All Stars (tm) and got their derrieres handed to them :). Or, you'd certainly hear about it after that team started getting back problems from the shock. You're right, though, in that you probably won't hear anything about how shoes affected a basketball game. I think that shoe technology has been a part of basketball long enough that no one really thinks about it. Suit technology in swimming is still relatively new.
As for mapping your time improvement... I guess you'll have to hold the suit constant year-to-year if that's a primary concern.
I guess you'll have to hold the suit constant year-to-year if that's a primary concern.
It's not. My primary concern is to swim as fast as possible. That's why I can certainly understand the appeal of the tech suits. Heck, I own several. I just really don't see that they're adding anything positive to the sport. Yeah, I guess they've certainly drummed up publicity, but so has Mike Phelps' bong photo! :)
IMHO, I agree that you can't compare swimmer A to swimmer B wearing this suit or that suit. On any given day at any given day someone can have a break out swim, be sick, not trained, inury, etc. In swimming, like most sports, there are usually too many variables to compare 2 athletes.
When I made my original argument about the B70 I only compared my swims to my swims, in fact in the same day! Same circumstances (no sleep, dead dog the night before, having Bronchitis at the time). I hadn't put in much training, but with the B70 I beat my life best times (from years ago)! Now I had had 4 kids, and am 30 pounds heavier. My technique is the same, I'm heavier, haven't been working out much, and yet I put on a B70 and do life best times? It was THE SUIT. I've gotten over the idea that it's cheating mostly b/c of this forum.
Now that being said, I hope to get one for Pac Champs and Nationals. I fully expect to do life best times b/c I've been training a lot. Kerry said to me, "It will be awesome to know when you step up to the blocks that the question isn't will you drop time, but how much time will you drop?" I agree.
Once I have my own "new" life time bests, with the B70, I'm sure I'll go back to regular meet swims where I don't always drop time. That's to be expected.
I think that shoe technology has been a part of basketball long enough that no one really thinks about it. Suit technology in swimming is still relatively new.
This is not entirely accurate, or accurate at all. Speedo has been innovating since the 50s and suit technology has changed over the years. Up until the mid to late 70s every basketball team wore Chucks and hot shoes didn't hit the market until the early 80s. This makes me wonder why people are sticking their heads out of the mole holes now and complaining about suit technology.
And, ironically, what was the big problem when AJ's came out, the price, about $100 a pair. Just like the LZRs now, the price is the issue to many, although they disguise it in some sort of purist nonsense.
