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
It's NOT cheating.
Exactly. Cheating is breaking the rules. Agree with it or otherwise using a B70 is allowed by the rules.
Personally I rarely race another person directly, if I happen to be swimming with someone and we're neck-and-neck or he's just ahead I'll try to kick it in to try to pass him but I never pick someone out ahead of time and say "I'm going to beat you". I'm there to beat the clock first and foremost. Happening to get first or second or third is just gravy. Of course I understand competition is different things for different people, some like the adrenaline of a good race and that is more important than a time. That's cool too.
I'm of the opinion that as much hype as these tech suits are generating when it comes down to it, 9 times out of 10 the person who "wins" a race did so because they're either more talented, trained harder, swam smarter, or just plain wanted it more. I'm willing to bet just about anything that if you took the tech suits away from everyone that the results of pretty much any meet will look the same as they do today.
It's awesome that people are seeing 3 seconds drops per-50. Even a 0.3 second drop per-50 is great. I've been wearing a tyr fusion legskin for meets for the last couple years and despite some techno-babble on the tyr website really all I know it does for me is get me in "meet-mode" and make me feel like I'm going fast. That's got to be worth far more than any drops in friction or whatever. I'm sure the b70 or a pro or a lzr would do more technically, they certainly have a lot more marketing and adjectives attached to them, but I refuse to believe that all the times dropped and all the records broken are solely due to them. It's still 90% swimmer, at least.
I just bought a pro legskin to wear to nats and maybe a race or two at pms. I'm taking a wait and see approach on the b70, mostly because I just don't like the thought of wearing something above my waste. But if and when I do buy a b70 I hope I drop some time but I won't feel like I'm cheating. The race is still going to hurt like all heck and a best time will still feel like an accomplishment.
Now if I get a b70 and all of a sudden drop 30 seconds in my 500 while just cruising along THEN maybe I'll change my mind. I'm pretty sure that won't happen though.
Remember, no one, to my knowledge anyway, is getting paid to be a masters swimmer. It's all about having fun. If wearing a tech suit increases the enjoyment of the sport to you then do it. If you don't like it for whatever reason then don't.
It's NOT cheating.
Exactly. Cheating is breaking the rules. Agree with it or otherwise using a B70 is allowed by the rules.
Personally I rarely race another person directly, if I happen to be swimming with someone and we're neck-and-neck or he's just ahead I'll try to kick it in to try to pass him but I never pick someone out ahead of time and say "I'm going to beat you". I'm there to beat the clock first and foremost. Happening to get first or second or third is just gravy. Of course I understand competition is different things for different people, some like the adrenaline of a good race and that is more important than a time. That's cool too.
I'm of the opinion that as much hype as these tech suits are generating when it comes down to it, 9 times out of 10 the person who "wins" a race did so because they're either more talented, trained harder, swam smarter, or just plain wanted it more. I'm willing to bet just about anything that if you took the tech suits away from everyone that the results of pretty much any meet will look the same as they do today.
It's awesome that people are seeing 3 seconds drops per-50. Even a 0.3 second drop per-50 is great. I've been wearing a tyr fusion legskin for meets for the last couple years and despite some techno-babble on the tyr website really all I know it does for me is get me in "meet-mode" and make me feel like I'm going fast. That's got to be worth far more than any drops in friction or whatever. I'm sure the b70 or a pro or a lzr would do more technically, they certainly have a lot more marketing and adjectives attached to them, but I refuse to believe that all the times dropped and all the records broken are solely due to them. It's still 90% swimmer, at least.
I just bought a pro legskin to wear to nats and maybe a race or two at pms. I'm taking a wait and see approach on the b70, mostly because I just don't like the thought of wearing something above my waste. But if and when I do buy a b70 I hope I drop some time but I won't feel like I'm cheating. The race is still going to hurt like all heck and a best time will still feel like an accomplishment.
Now if I get a b70 and all of a sudden drop 30 seconds in my 500 while just cruising along THEN maybe I'll change my mind. I'm pretty sure that won't happen though.
Remember, no one, to my knowledge anyway, is getting paid to be a masters swimmer. It's all about having fun. If wearing a tech suit increases the enjoyment of the sport to you then do it. If you don't like it for whatever reason then don't.
