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
Parents
Former Member
B70 is not a magic bullet. I beat a guy (and we're the same in practice) at the 10K OW 2008 national championship and he was wearing a B70. I was not. My fastest LCM 400 FR time was done in an FS II. My B70 time was SLOWER.
I'm somewhat familiar with the 500 FR, and there are a LOT of ways to take off chunks of time in the 500 via different training methods. I'm not so sure Laura's 5 second time drop was attributed 100% to the B70. Why not her training? When I went from a 5:23 to a 5:12 a couple of years later I was not wearing a B70 in either instance (they had not come out yet.) I worked my butt off and totally worked on becoming a different swimmer. . . and I still have a way to go.
You asked "Do I buy a $400 suit and beat people cheating?" The top 10 swimmers in our AG and almost all AGs are wearing the B70s or at least FS or Pros. The question is do you not buy one and get beat by people who are not cheating. . .
If you want to stay competitive you need the training AND the equipment. Just my two cents. Good thread.
B70 is not a magic bullet. I beat a guy (and we're the same in practice) at the 10K OW 2008 national championship and he was wearing a B70. I was not. My fastest LCM 400 FR time was done in an FS II. My B70 time was SLOWER.
I'm somewhat familiar with the 500 FR, and there are a LOT of ways to take off chunks of time in the 500 via different training methods. I'm not so sure Laura's 5 second time drop was attributed 100% to the B70. Why not her training? When I went from a 5:23 to a 5:12 a couple of years later I was not wearing a B70 in either instance (they had not come out yet.) I worked my butt off and totally worked on becoming a different swimmer. . . and I still have a way to go.
You asked "Do I buy a $400 suit and beat people cheating?" The top 10 swimmers in our AG and almost all AGs are wearing the B70s or at least FS or Pros. The question is do you not buy one and get beat by people who are not cheating. . .
If you want to stay competitive you need the training AND the equipment. Just my two cents. Good thread.
