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
Hi,
Not to get too far off topic, but I don't think so. I had had Finnian in January and swam these times in Oct. I quit nursing in June when my dad passed away. (And speaking of that, I thought of two things last night about that Oct weekend: my dog died that Sat night, and I went to the doctor that following Monday and I had bronchitis!! I forgot about the bronchitis. I was coughing SO much after every race...)
Anyway, the only time I felt "super" when I was pregnant was between 6 and 9 weeks. I went a 1:03 100 back in practice and had some really good pace 100s free. That was all. I remember Mike Heaney saying to me after that 100 back, "Nice swim fraulein," referring of course to the East German doping scandal. I laughed, but then realized that there is something to those hormones...
Also, Finnian was almost 10 pounds (9-13) so I was SUPER miserable the last two months. I did no swimming. I think I blogged getting back in after he was born, but I was so slow. I did swim a lot the end of July and August until we went to CT where I swam twice. September, school started and maybe swam twice a week. So really, I didn't train much, that's why I think it's the suit. Also I'm still 20-25 pounds too heavy (mostly all in my stomach) and I wonder if the suit helped with "compression". :D
Hi,
Not to get too far off topic, but I don't think so. I had had Finnian in January and swam these times in Oct. I quit nursing in June when my dad passed away. (And speaking of that, I thought of two things last night about that Oct weekend: my dog died that Sat night, and I went to the doctor that following Monday and I had bronchitis!! I forgot about the bronchitis. I was coughing SO much after every race...)
Anyway, the only time I felt "super" when I was pregnant was between 6 and 9 weeks. I went a 1:03 100 back in practice and had some really good pace 100s free. That was all. I remember Mike Heaney saying to me after that 100 back, "Nice swim fraulein," referring of course to the East German doping scandal. I laughed, but then realized that there is something to those hormones...
Also, Finnian was almost 10 pounds (9-13) so I was SUPER miserable the last two months. I did no swimming. I think I blogged getting back in after he was born, but I was so slow. I did swim a lot the end of July and August until we went to CT where I swam twice. September, school started and maybe swam twice a week. So really, I didn't train much, that's why I think it's the suit. Also I'm still 20-25 pounds too heavy (mostly all in my stomach) and I wonder if the suit helped with "compression". :D
