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?
Former Member
in all the posts i've read on this thread, no one has made this claim.
Dave- when all the credit for fast/faster swimming is being directed at the suit, not the person wearing the suit,not the person doing the actual swimming, then that is the exact claims people are making.
Of course, but what if both busted their hump? Then the guy wearing the fastest suit wins. .
They both can bust their hump in practice and in the race, but it doesn't make certain that the fastest suit wins. The fastest swimmer, sure, fastest suit, no.
Dave- when all the credit for fast/faster swimming is being directed at the suit, not the person wearing the suit,not the person doing the actual swimming, then that is the exact claims people are making.
nope, i don't believe anyone here claimed a slow guy in a fast suit will beat a fast guy in a slow suit.
show me a link if i'm wrong.
nope, i don't believe anyone here claimed a slow guy in a fast suit will beat a fast guy in a slow suit.
show me a link if i'm wrong.
I'll claim that. If a slow guy let's say swimming a 50.00 100 yd free wears a suit that drops his times 2% races a fast guy wearing a brief who swims a 49.99 100 yd free then to me the slow guy bought the win.
I'll claim that. If a slow guy let's say swimming a 50.00 100 yd free wears a suit that drops his times 2% races a fast guy wearing a brief who swims a 49.99 100 yd free then to me the slow guy bought the win.
the slow guys i hang out with aren't that fast
Trip trap trip trap trip trap...
That's a good point, and I kind of alluded to it. All of the times, at all levels, will most likely drop due to the advantage of the suit, however these times will all "plateau" again, until the next technological development.
Watch out for trolls!
Trip trap trip trap...
The suits have brought increased excitement, exposure and revenue to the sport. I hope they're here to stay.
Not that I generally disagree with what you are staying (I own a B70 and am not ashamed of it) but you could make the same argument for steroids' impact on baseball. Just because a thing brings excitement, exposure and revenue to a sport doesn't make it "right".
I'm frankly not convinced that the suits have that great of an impact on performance (over shaving down). It's almost impossible to prove this, right? A myriad of factors are probably responsible for the huge number of records that fell last year (such as the confluence of recent improvements in training and technique coupled with the fact that everybody was training to peak last year for the Olympics, not to mention the explosion of "professional" swimmers). I don't think the suits deserve all, or even much, of the credit.
