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 ?
My kick counts are around the same as Chris' & Mikes, 11 or 12 per length
I asked Taylor Hill (UT's best SDKer)
"What are your SDK plans for the 100 fl & 100 bk at NCAAs?"
& he said
10 / 11 / 11 / 12
he added "I do 12 on the last length because I'm tired & my kick isn't as efficient, but it's still faster than swimming."
I also found if I do SUIT SURGE push offs in a tech suit my DPK improves, eliminating one kick per length.
50's aren't so bad, it takes conditioning and confidence to do more than 8 SDKs off each length in the 100 bk & 100 fl
David Cromwell who trained at UT for trials said he did 11 SDKs each length in the 100 bk & 7 each length in the 200 bk
Heard Lochte SDKed 50 LCM at the Olympic Training camp in 22.8
My number doesn't seem to change much with the B70 either. In fact, for awhile, the B70 made me pop up on backstroke more quickly, reducing my number of kicks. I think it helps me on top of the water. At least that's what I've noticed the most.
The nose clips effect my meterage as, ahem, noted above. That's way more of a PED than the suit for me WRT SDKs.
And, Mike, yes, I wear my B70 every meet. I'd probably benefit from using it in practice more often, especially to practice starts. Maybe I'll do that when my current suit (at 20+ swims) is done. I know Ande does.
I'm very near sighted, my diopters around -9.5 I don't swim without contacts, googles with corrective lens. It would be fairer if my competitors had to adjust their vision in races to be similar to mine.
Bright digital clocks are a god send.
Well, I couldn't. Some of us are half blind, and utterly dependent on our contacts. So goggles are mandatory/essential equipment for me.
Paul-
I think you ask the question that is really the crux of the "whole fast swimming thing", and there cannot be one answer.
Because it is masters and we are adults with a myriad of personal, professional, and physical differences and opportunities, we swim fast or slow depending on what is happening in our lives.
There is no question that tech suits are faster, but no one can really answer how much faster. And that gets to stroke technique, efficiency, etc.
If I stop and think about it everyone is just really stating their observations and personal experiences. Some are taking offense and some are definitely defensive. But what it comes down to is the suits are legal for now, and if they aren't "tomorrow" oh well. We'll deal with the circumstances. We're masters swimmers we're good at that.
I do still find it fascinating to see how people swim with this suit or that suit! Or in Wookies case, a fur suit, or in chaos' case, no suit at all :D
There is no question that tech suits are faster, but no one can really answer how much faster. And that gets to stroke technique, efficiency, etc.
Maybe, maybe not.
I know pretty clearly for myself...being a clydesdale I typically swim very slow "in-season" and take pretty big drops fully rested. As an example in the 200 free over the last several years its rare for me to go faster than 1:48 wearing a jammer "in-season" and I have dropped to the 1:43 range at each nationals (wearing an FS Pro last year). This year I've swam 2 meets unrested with a B70...and tired went 1:46. Maybe I would improve on my rested time as well but sadly won't be going to Clovis and won't find out.
Bottom line is they are legal, it is what it is...and I'm not really to concerned as I now have a pretty good handle on what they will do for me if/when I use one.
You're right. We can probably figure out how much faster for ourselves. But with all of the factors I mentioned (and I even forgot ht, wt, body comp, etc), you can't tell someone else, "If you wear this suit you will drop x number of seconds in x event."
I think it's safe to say that you can tell them they'll swim faster, but there is no hard and fast data, as there IMHO too many factors to take into account.
I also need to keep reminding myself that the B70, if it remains usable in competition, will just be a new baseline for my times, until of course, something faster comes out!
Maybe, maybe not.
I know pretty clearly for myself...
Bottom line is they are legal, it is what it is...and I'm not really to concerned as I now have a pretty good handle on what they will do for me if/when I use one.
I agree, I think when you've worn a lot of tech suits and the B70 pretty frequently, you can get a decent handle on the individual assist factor.
I also think there will be tech suits "tomorrow." And there's nothing wrong with the Pro ...
Paul,
a half second per 50?
That's significant
Go for faster times
It all boils down to the question:
What can I do to swim faster?
go for the quicker catch
Ande
Keith, great post.
I am struggling with the suits on a personal level. On the one hand I recognize that I'm a "masters" swimmer and that at least for me this is a second career so to speak and not significant in my day to day life as was swimming 25 years ago.
Having said that I do take pride in my ability to "feel' subtle changes in my stroke...I have always been fascinated by the mechanics. There is no doubt to me that I swim faster...significantly faster in this 2nd generation of "fast" suits (the fastskins being the first for me). But i admit this with a degree of regret...in the past I knew when my failings as far as conditioning and technique lost races for me...now as they say take it out hard and the suit will get you home.
I have even recently taken to experimenting with a straight arm recovery knowing that combined with the new suits can generate..in some people..far more speed/power...which i found to be true inrecent work outs where I have been comparing time differneces...but I hate the stroke even though when combined with a B70 I'm .5 faster per 50.
So what to do? i don't know....I've always considered myself a "technical" swimmer... Do I give that up for the "easy" way out to faster times with new improved suits and basterdized strokes?
I don't know yet...
My kick counts are around the same as Chris' & Mikes, 11 or 12 per length
I asked Taylor Hill (UT's best SDKer)
"What are your SDK plans for the 100 fl & 100 bk at NCAAs?"
& he said
10 / 11 / 11 / 12
he added "I do 12 on the last length because I'm tired & my kick isn't as efficient, but it's still faster than swimming."
I also found if I do SUIT SURGE push offs in a tech suit my DPK improves, eliminating one kick per length.
10-11-11-12 is impressive. My most recent 100 back race went 12-12-9-7 because I was winded on the 2nd 50. (My splits were fine though.) In practice I do increase my SDK's on the last 25 of a backstroke swim, but it hasn't transferred over to competition yet.
The last few weeks, I've been working on a "surge" breakout in freestyle.
Old breakout: when begin left arm underwater pull, switch from SDK's to flutter kick. Get in 4 flutter kicks before left arm emerges from the water.
New breakout: when begin left arm underwater pull, do a maximum amplitude dolphin kick and surge towards the surface. As left arm emerges, do another max dolphin kick. Then switch to flutter kick after first freestyle stroke.
So with the new breakout, I might do a total of 8 dolphin kicks instead of 6 with the old breakout, without having to hold my breath any longer than before. (Notice that I'm not calling them SDK's, since the last two are not streamlined!) My flutter kick is nothing to write home about so this is probably a good thing. I don't have a coach or whoever to tell me if I'm on the right track, but when I hit the surge just right, it feels really fast and explosive compared with my old breakout.
This may lead me to try dolphin kick freestyle in a year or two...
