Since there has been observation on this forum that most younger female (not male) swimmers at Nationals wore non-tech suits (the 18-24 and 25-29 groups), I'm curious as to why.
Anyone of that younger group look at this board and care to post reasons? Cost? Controversy over "authenticity" of times when fastest suits are banned? Desire to look hot for guys, as one poster suggests?
I made a nearly 5 hour drive home from Nationals with one of those Female "pups" yesterday.
She is and was formerly fast... sub 50 in the 100 and 1:47 in the 200 free.
We got on the suit topic and she told me her viewpoint and also all about her various conversations with older members of our club in regard to "needing a suit" for Nationals.
She chose not to buy or wear a tech suit because she had only been back in training for about 7-8 months. She didn't feel she had worked long or hard enough to deserve it yet.
But the plan is to save her pennies to have a suit for LC Championships. By then she will have been back in regular training almost a year.
On another note, her gripe about masters swimmers in expensive tech suits is that they have not done or are unwilling to do the stroke technique work in the pool with dedication.
Buying speed instead of making all the possible corrections and then swimming in the tech suit as a reward for hard work and progress.
She was shaking her head over one guy who can't focus enough to consistently streamline well off the walls, but is all about buying a $390. suit to swim fast.
I loved her attitude.
We agreed that the philosophy applies to any speed athlete in masters swimming.
I've seen novices in my "cruiser lanes" execute consistent perfect streamlines far better than most swimmers in the faster lanes. They even showup to lap swimming to practice stroke correction drills on weekends.
That committment deserves a reward.
Why not a great tech suit?
:applaud: I like her style. I know people that bought the suits with 3 months of training and they were just training a few times a week!!!
I made a nearly 5 hour drive home from Nationals with one of those Female "pups" yesterday.
She is and was formerly fast... sub 50 in the 100 and 1:47 in the 200 free.
We got on the suit topic and she told me her viewpoint and also all about her various conversations with older members of our club in regard to "needing a suit" for Nationals.
She chose not to buy or wear a tech suit because she had only been back in training for about 7-8 months. She didn't feel she had worked long or hard enough to deserve it yet.
But the plan is to save her pennies to have a suit for LC Championships. By then she will have been back in regular training almost a year.
On another note, her gripe about masters swimmers in expensive tech suits is that they have not done or are unwilling to do the stroke technique work in the pool with dedication.
Buying speed instead of making all the possible corrections and then swimming in the tech suit as a reward for hard work and progress.
She was shaking her head over one guy who can't focus enough to consistently streamline well off the walls, but is all about buying a $390. suit to swim fast.
I loved her attitude.
We agreed that the philosophy applies to any speed athlete in masters swimming.
I've seen novices in my "cruiser lanes" execute consistent perfect streamlines far better than most swimmers in the faster lanes. They even showup to lap swimming to practice stroke correction drills on weekends.
That committment deserves a reward.
Why not a great tech suit?
:applaud: I like her style. I know people that bought the suits with 3 months of training and they were just training a few times a week!!!
