Read the article "What's Up with the Suits?" by John Leonard at the following site:
http://www.swimmingcoach.org/
Now note that he sat on the FINA "Commission for Swimwear Approval" that produced the current fiasco:
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../21315.asp
My prediction, FWIW, is that post 01-01-2010, men will be back into FS Pro Jammers (read" paper suits), and women into traditional tanks. Isn't that the only way to be "pure" and eliminate compression, buoyancy, air-trapping, drag reduction, etc?
Perhaps we should also get rid of goggles and silicone caps, since they also represent technological breaks with the past.
While I am happy to race in any type of suit, as long as it is a level playing field (and I consider LZR, B70, Jaked, AquaZone, Tracer Rise, Powerskin, etc to be level enough), I am nauseated by the "purist" argument that swimming has become all about the suits. It has not. Everyone has access to a LZR, or a B70, or ... So it is still racing, only in different equipment. Yes, a less-fit swimmer with poor technique may be aided more by the suits than a fit swimmer with good technique. But certainly not enough to beat the latter.
The purist argument is based on the dramatic drops in times achieved with the new suits. So what? Does the fact that Bousquet and cohorts are setting records minimize Biondi's accmplishments; or Popov's/Jager's/Thorpe's/Salinkov's/Spitz's? Of course not.:bitching:
Somebody find a way to get rid of FINA, please. And mute Craig Lord, while you're at it...:bitching:
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Former Member
Wow, what a potential opportunity for USMS . . . while FINA takes swimming back to the (relatively) dark ages, USMS opens its arms and embraces tech suits of all fabrics, stripes, and permeability (or lack thereof) . . . manufacturers use masters swimmers as unpaid test mules, developing ever faster suits . . . slowly, but inexorably, the fast crowd drifts over to USMS events for the sheer thrill of seeing times faster than Olympic standards on the boards . . . eventually, the Olympics are perceived by the public as a quaint anachronism, roughly on a level with the vintage motocross nuts racing 70's Maicos and CZs . . . USMS SCY Nats become the new Olympics, with 24/7 coverage and bong hit/stripper scandals by the bucketload . . .
I was a little skeptical, until the last sentence. :cool:
Wow, what a potential opportunity for USMS . . . while FINA takes swimming back to the (relatively) dark ages, USMS opens its arms and embraces tech suits of all fabrics, stripes, and permeability (or lack thereof) . . . manufacturers use masters swimmers as unpaid test mules, developing ever faster suits . . . slowly, but inexorably, the fast crowd drifts over to USMS events for the sheer thrill of seeing times faster than Olympic standards on the boards . . . eventually, the Olympics are perceived by the public as a quaint anachronism, roughly on a level with the vintage motocross nuts racing 70's Maicos and CZs . . . USMS SCY Nats become the new Olympics, with 24/7 coverage and bong hit/stripper scandals by the bucketload . . .
I was a little skeptical, until the last sentence. :cool:
