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 ?
this forum blasted Vlad P for doping yet all those that blasted him wear tech suits. is there a difference? which form of cheating gives a better time drop, PEDs or tech suits? arent we all cheaters?
so i think its over. is this progress? can you build a fence around progress and limit it? prob not. let it go. let it go down this path. its the new culture of sports and the world we live in.
ITS OVER FOLKS.
we'll all be dead soon
There is a big difference between tech suits and PEDs in the rule book and that is about all we have to go by. There are very few cheaters, but many opportunists.
FINA blew the whole tech suit issue. Someone should have stuck with the standards that they had in place previously and perhaps should have had a little more foresight on additional rules like suit stacking. FINA sucks and they obviously cracked to corporate pressure. We are just living through a transition period. You can either take advantage of the loop holes in the rules and set some records that might not be broken for a long time or you can do the right thing and use suits that will be legal under the new FINA standards that are not yet fully in effect. I think it says a lot about the athletes and swim programs that are taking advantage of this transition period (at least the recent record setters and Auburn). I didn't think it a month ago, but given the results with the Jaked recently I think you might have to put an asterix next to Auburn's win at NCAAs since they seemed to be the only team wearing Jaked.
They have been saying it is a new culture of sports that we live in since whenever I can remember and probably long before that. I think it is called progress. Progress with a few hiccups along the way, but not the end of the world.
Tim
this forum blasted Vlad P for doping yet all those that blasted him wear tech suits. is there a difference? which form of cheating gives a better time drop, PEDs or tech suits? arent we all cheaters?
so i think its over. is this progress? can you build a fence around progress and limit it? prob not. let it go. let it go down this path. its the new culture of sports and the world we live in.
ITS OVER FOLKS.
we'll all be dead soon
There is a big difference between tech suits and PEDs in the rule book and that is about all we have to go by. There are very few cheaters, but many opportunists.
FINA blew the whole tech suit issue. Someone should have stuck with the standards that they had in place previously and perhaps should have had a little more foresight on additional rules like suit stacking. FINA sucks and they obviously cracked to corporate pressure. We are just living through a transition period. You can either take advantage of the loop holes in the rules and set some records that might not be broken for a long time or you can do the right thing and use suits that will be legal under the new FINA standards that are not yet fully in effect. I think it says a lot about the athletes and swim programs that are taking advantage of this transition period (at least the recent record setters and Auburn). I didn't think it a month ago, but given the results with the Jaked recently I think you might have to put an asterix next to Auburn's win at NCAAs since they seemed to be the only team wearing Jaked.
They have been saying it is a new culture of sports that we live in since whenever I can remember and probably long before that. I think it is called progress. Progress with a few hiccups along the way, but not the end of the world.
Tim
