...but there will continue to be petty little semantic arguments over what constitutes "air trapping" and floatation. scientists will devise ridiculous testing proceedures and lawyers will argue over their fairness..... and this will be called progress and good for the sport!
and will, in essence, only contribute to increased costs to the suit manufacturers which will, of course, be passed along to the consumer - us.
:mad:
The question was not whether or not wetsuits float. Instead it was whether or not the new swimsuits float.
A wetsuit is made a neoprene closed cell foam. It is designed to trap air for temperature insulation. It will also float in varying degrees depending on the thickness of the neoprene.
The new suits are typically made of lycra-like material coated with a rubber-like film. The coating is not closed cell foam.
As a technical matter, neoprene has a specific gravity ranging between about 1.25 and 1.60 (www.zenithrubber.com/.../chloroprene.htm). By definition of specific gravity, this means that neoprene is denser than water and hence will not float. The material that is used in wet suits is not just neoprene but neoprene with trapped air to reduce the specific gravity so that the modified material can float. Technical suits made of primitive neoprene cannot float on account of that composition alone, that is, without the addition of trapped air in the fabric.
Natural rubber, on the other hand, has a specific gravity www.molders.com/rubber_engineering_guide.html) and, hence, will float. Suits made of combinations of this material or similar materials, in combination with other fabrics will have a tendency to float.
...Bartolo Consolo, Honorary Secretary of FINA, is asking all swimming federations in a mail vote to agree that from 1 January 2010 competitive swimmers may only use suits made from woven textiles...
This guy needs to learn the difference between knitting and weaving. If they only allow "woven" suits, then technically a Lycra or Chloroban practice suit is illegal.
Back to the industrial revolution and even before that. Weave the material and cut, paste and/or sew them together with bone needles. Weave the suits with wool, cotton, or silk fibers get rid of nylon, propolene. Maybe we can make the suits out of rayon a wood fibre.
Knit swimming suits have been around for ever. Throw them away???
Who are these so called intelligent people?? We must go back to the stone age get rid of round tires and operate with square wheels.
Next they will say wear animal skins. Will they allow the floating hairs of the Wolverine to be left on the swim suits??
Assemble you own swim suit plans I think they will be approved. images.google.com/imgres
I have done this test.Take a Nero Comp.Drop it dry into the water.It floats.Take it and wring it out under water.Now it doesn't float.Now lift it out of the water and wave it around in the air and drop it again.It floats.Also put it on dry and dive in the water,you can feel the air trapped in the suit.
While I admire this truly legendary coach, reductio ad absurdum leads one to suggest that there be further adjudication of records to "textile" time vs. "nekkid" time.
Won't we have a perfect opportunity with World Masters in Sweden to truly test the advantage of suits versus "nekkid" time? I believe that the men's events and women's events are being held in different facilities. Simply make the entire event single sex at each pool (officials, timers, fans) and swim "nekkid." Truly, I think this is where the "swimming purists" are taking us.
As for me, I'll be in San Juan.
Also put it on dry and dive in the water,you can feel the air trapped in the suit.
That is true of every single full-body suit I have ever worn. The air quickly gets displaced with water. The B70s are stretchier than the fastskins, I have much more of a problem with it filling with water, not air.
Forbes Carlile, legendary swim coach from Australia, writes about Mr. Consolo who wants FINA in 2010 to ban all swim suits not made from "woven textiles". mjm
Bartolo Consolo, Honorary Secretary of FINA, is asking all swimming federations in a mail vote to agree that from 1 January 2010 competitive swimmers may only use suits made from woven textiles. The federations will almost certainly agree with the Consolo proposition, meaning that all the new generation performance-enhancing suits that appeared from 2008 will be banned from use in competition. FINA will therefore be acknowledging its mistake in allowing these suits to be used during 2008 and 2009.
Forbes Carlile
Oh? They will? And for how long?
That guy who writes for swimnews.com really needs to improve his writing skills. I don't care about his opinions. He's entitled to them. But, he would be wise to go and take writing classes if he wants to be more convincing. Or hire an editor...something. I can never get past his writing style to actually hear what he's saying.
