I'm having a hard time with the Blue 70.
I love it. I swam faster than I deserved to in it (I bought it until it ripped, then returned), and I had fun swimming faster again!
My question/statement is this:
It is more than obvious from my own experience, and MANY swimmers I've talked to, that you drop at least 3 seconds per 50 in any event wearing this suit. I know that last year I swam a morning race and went 38 without the suit, put one on and swam the same event and went 35. I sure as heck didn't taper in an hour! And I can't remember dropping 3 seconds in a 50 in recent decades.
Highly respected "people" in USMS that I have had conversations with say it is undoubtedly "legalized cheating". I agree. I'm not quite sure how or why FINA approved it. (And I'm not saying it should be banned. It is what it is.) But when a SUIT improves performance it is no longer necessarily the swimmer achieving those times.
My hubby brought up the cost as well. (I have a suit fund going, so we don't have to shell out $400 all at once, if I even buy one.) It definitely separates the haves from the have nots. There are many more Masters Swimmers who cannot afford this suit than those who can. Several of my teammates would love one but can't afford it. And while this may be more a "social" question, it is still a factor in our swimming races.
My thought, as I was looking at recent results was this: Because the B70 is such a factor in racing performance, I would love to see some kind of a notation (notice I didn't say the dreaded Barry Bonds asterisk!) next to results of swimmers who wear a B70 in a race. Or have a B70 division for all results? We already have a wetsuit division for OW, why not have a B70 division for pool races? (It is almost a wetsuit anyway!)
This past weekend I watched an already elite swimmer wear a B70 and annhilate their already super fast times. If I were a swimmer from another part of the country, I'd be thinking, "Good God, how much faster can they get?" When if fact they aren't necessarily much faster, they are now wearing a B70.
When is technology too much?
2cents
Karen
I guess my stroke technique must need a lot of work then!
Like anyone here, I can only relate my experience and I dropped 3 seconds in a 50.
Last summer I personally watched a 15 year old do a 1:07 in trials for a 100 fly (no holding back), put on a B70 and go 1:01 in the finals. That, too, works out to 3 seconds per 50.
There may be people who drop that kind of time, I don't know. I am absolutely sure that I do not, even comparing a practice suit to a B70. Three seconds per 50 is insane, far greater even than Schubert's claim of 2% for the LZR.
And I don't believe the elites (ie Phelps and co) do either; assuming that the LZR is at least comparable to the B70, records would have dropped MUCH MUCH MORE than they did. Consider that 3 seconds per 50 would be 12 seconds in the 200s and 24 seconds in the 400. Did that happen? Not even close. You didn't even see 3-second drops in the 50 or 100 WRs.
I think it is a mistake to read too much into the drop of a 15-yo from trials to finals. I see large AM/PM differences quite commonly at USA-S meets in the trials & finals format, without changing suits, even in the championship meets with the more experienced swimmers.
I guess my stroke technique must need a lot of work then!
Like anyone here, I can only relate my experience and I dropped 3 seconds in a 50.
Last summer I personally watched a 15 year old do a 1:07 in trials for a 100 fly (no holding back), put on a B70 and go 1:01 in the finals. That, too, works out to 3 seconds per 50.
There may be people who drop that kind of time, I don't know. I am absolutely sure that I do not, even comparing a practice suit to a B70. Three seconds per 50 is insane, far greater even than Schubert's claim of 2% for the LZR.
And I don't believe the elites (ie Phelps and co) do either; assuming that the LZR is at least comparable to the B70, records would have dropped MUCH MUCH MORE than they did. Consider that 3 seconds per 50 would be 12 seconds in the 200s and 24 seconds in the 400. Did that happen? Not even close. You didn't even see 3-second drops in the 50 or 100 WRs.
I think it is a mistake to read too much into the drop of a 15-yo from trials to finals. I see large AM/PM differences quite commonly at USA-S meets in the trials & finals format, without changing suits, even in the championship meets with the more experienced swimmers.
