I think we can all be certain that the suits are here to stay -- love them, hate them, it does not really matter -- Speedo, TYR and the others will not allow the suits to all over sudden disappear.
But, we as Masters swimmers have to make a decision about our own reasoning to compete -- why do we compete in swim meets ?
There are many reasons - social, participating in a sport beats the hell out of watching one on TV and so on --- but for me, 2 of the main reasons are the competition aspects. We obviously compete against other swimmers --- but more than maybe many other sports, we compete against ourselves. I can tell you my best 100 Free from every season over the last 30 years (10 of which I did not compete).
I have used most of the suits and did very well -- I set some personal bests and also achieved some record swims, but I have no idea how my times really compare to other seasons. I can keep telling myself that all that speedwork and lifting paid off - but I just don't know.
I like to give a golf comparison -- let's say you have a home course and you always shoot in the low 90s going from the Blue Tees --- well guess what, if you are going from the white tees you will probably average high 80s and going from the red you may get down to the mid to low 80s. But you are not a better player because of it. The LZR seems to be the "white tees" and the new Jaked suit may be the "red tees".
I think we really have to make a decision now to what matters more -- your personal records and history of swimming or the competition against other swimmers ? For me, this may change from meet to meet - but I must be able to stay honest with myself and be able to compare my times -- I do not want to be cheating myself.
Old generations suits (Fastskin Pro) only for: all major Masters meets (individual swims) except for Worlds. That means, I am ok to lose a few places in a meet, in order to know what my time really means. I could just go really old school -- but I think the older generation suits are pretty equal to shaving -- and they allow you to be "shaved" and swim fast in season, which is a huge plus.
LZR / Blue70 for: relays, Worlds and maybe some USS meets, if I am going for a time standard. I want to give any relay my fastest time possible - I swimming Worlds to win the title, so if others use the suits, I will have to do the same - if I go to USS meets, I may use them to get into the finals or to make a time standard for a big meet.
It may take some adjustments - but I think it will work --
Who is with me ?
How much did you pay for your last pair of bike shorts?
Dunno. Maybe $50? It's lasted awhile too.
If you don't want to pay for the "gear" that most competitive swimmers use for meets thats fine...but its kind of silly complaining about those expenses when you're more worried about being embarassed by your times than stepping up and racing more...IMHO.
I wasn't complaining about people using tech suits. You, Fortress, ehoch, Mike Ross, and any number of other folks here (yes, even Jim Thornton) clearly have the swimming skills which would make a tech suit beneficial.
I was only explaining why I don't use them. For me swimming is, indeed, a low-cost sport. I don't use tech suits and don't travel to far away, high profile, meets like nationals. For both, one significant part of the justification is the expense. Another is that I don't swim fast enough to "deserve" it. In the case of nationals it would simply be silly for me to travel all that way to swim three races, precisely because I'm not fast enough to qualify for more. As one who never swam as an age grouper or collegian, the bar for those qt's is pretty high. As an ex-collegiate swimmer I suspect they are fairly modest for you.
I would like to race more. Postal swims this year, maybe a long course meet or two. Maybe more SCY stuff next season.
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How much did you pay for your last pair of bike shorts?
Dunno. Maybe $50? It's lasted awhile too.
If you don't want to pay for the "gear" that most competitive swimmers use for meets thats fine...but its kind of silly complaining about those expenses when you're more worried about being embarassed by your times than stepping up and racing more...IMHO.
I wasn't complaining about people using tech suits. You, Fortress, ehoch, Mike Ross, and any number of other folks here (yes, even Jim Thornton) clearly have the swimming skills which would make a tech suit beneficial.
I was only explaining why I don't use them. For me swimming is, indeed, a low-cost sport. I don't use tech suits and don't travel to far away, high profile, meets like nationals. For both, one significant part of the justification is the expense. Another is that I don't swim fast enough to "deserve" it. In the case of nationals it would simply be silly for me to travel all that way to swim three races, precisely because I'm not fast enough to qualify for more. As one who never swam as an age grouper or collegian, the bar for those qt's is pretty high. As an ex-collegiate swimmer I suspect they are fairly modest for you.
I would like to race more. Postal swims this year, maybe a long course meet or two. Maybe more SCY stuff next season.
Skip
