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 ?
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Former Member
A sport is defined by the people who participate in it and the implicit or explicit "rules" agreed upon. As such, I think that there seems to be a fairly strong implicit agreement that many swimmers are willing to accept the tech suits. The fact that various companies now see it as desirable to produce and sell tech suits speaks to that fact. Any explicit retrogression by FINA will, in all likelihood, be reversed given enough time due to the fact there are a decent number of people who will support the various companies as they push the boundaries of suit technology. If, for "moral" reasons, you feel a need to take a stand against the tech suits, fine - that is your right. I don't see the need, however, to berate the people who use them given that they are 1) Within the explicit rules of the sport and 2) Currently part of the implict "rules" of the sport. It remains to be seen if this is the wave of the future (my bet) or an historical oddity.
You have the right to protest this decision by wearing whatever lo-tech suit you want in any race you want. I absolutely refuse to wear a wetsuit in open water races - my right (and allows me to wallow in righteous moral superiority), but the people who choose to wear them are within the rules and many of them are actually nice people (for moral lepers). A very few of them even have people in their lives who love them and aren't totally ashamed to be seen in public with them.
As an aside, I wonder if the fact that, despite all championship rules, many open water races allow wetsuits is the genesis of the current push for tech suits in the pool. There is clear evidence that wetsuits help and I don't think that it is coincidence that many of the tech suits are moving more in the direction of wetsuit design.
-LBJ
A sport is defined by the people who participate in it and the implicit or explicit "rules" agreed upon. As such, I think that there seems to be a fairly strong implicit agreement that many swimmers are willing to accept the tech suits. The fact that various companies now see it as desirable to produce and sell tech suits speaks to that fact. Any explicit retrogression by FINA will, in all likelihood, be reversed given enough time due to the fact there are a decent number of people who will support the various companies as they push the boundaries of suit technology. If, for "moral" reasons, you feel a need to take a stand against the tech suits, fine - that is your right. I don't see the need, however, to berate the people who use them given that they are 1) Within the explicit rules of the sport and 2) Currently part of the implict "rules" of the sport. It remains to be seen if this is the wave of the future (my bet) or an historical oddity.
You have the right to protest this decision by wearing whatever lo-tech suit you want in any race you want. I absolutely refuse to wear a wetsuit in open water races - my right (and allows me to wallow in righteous moral superiority), but the people who choose to wear them are within the rules and many of them are actually nice people (for moral lepers). A very few of them even have people in their lives who love them and aren't totally ashamed to be seen in public with them.
As an aside, I wonder if the fact that, despite all championship rules, many open water races allow wetsuits is the genesis of the current push for tech suits in the pool. There is clear evidence that wetsuits help and I don't think that it is coincidence that many of the tech suits are moving more in the direction of wetsuit design.
-LBJ
