I know I am new here and, from reading the forum here I am obviously hopelessly out of date with regards to competitive swimming.Nearly thirty years away and I guess things really have changed. One point I really do have to make though: I really cannot believe that the whole "tech suit" issue is not just a lot of hype with a wee bit of truth at the bottom of the barrell.
While I have not been back into competition very long, I did the requisite ten years as a "swim parent" until my daughter came to the conclusion that too much chlorine makes a pretty girl very dull. I saw the "tech suits" come and I really did not see a huge benefit to the few age group swimmers that sprang for them. Mediocre swimmers merely became marginally better mediocre swimmers.
Rather than investing 2 to 300 dollars on a tech suit, they would have been far better off investing the same amount of money with a certified stroke coach and get 6 weeks of remedial stroke correction. Their strokes would have improved, dragging their times along with them and they would not have become dependant on an expensive piece of technology that could be stolen or tear at any time.
Just sit a watch an age group meet sometime: the great swimmers with beautiful stokes will dominate every swim regardless of what they are wearing, while the splash and hackers will still pull up the rear with their full body black beauty.
Swimming remains a technical sport with a moderate to substantial amount of cardio requirements. If we start giving credit to swim suits instead of skill, we cheapen the entire sport. I still remember the 1982 NAIA Nationals where one swimmer with absolutely perfect strokes (for the time) blew us all out of the water easily, doing personal bests for every event, without any shave down or much of a taper. His eyes were on NCAA Nationals two weeks later. He just was that much better than us and he did not need any enhancements to beat us.
I believe Mr. Phelps would still dominate nearly everyone with or without a tech suit. It seems to me that he does not race with a full body suit and I doubt that just leggings makes much of a difference.
Tech suits are beyond my budget now, but I don't begrudge anyone using them for racing. When I run in races, some folks have much higher tech shoes than I do, and use Garmin Forerunners while I use a basic stopwatch. Some runners even invest in high altitude tents. Hey whatever gets you going!
I might well try out some of the higher-tech gear for swimming or running if I can afford it, but not having it doesn't diminish what I get out of either sport, and I don't feel deprived without it. I enjoy the competition mainly with my previous efforts, b/c I'm unlikely to be a serious contender for top places.
No worries. I'm in it for fun and getting a good workout and seeing what I can do. The rest is icing on the cake!
If you can afford the icing, have it and enjoy it! :)
Tech suits are beyond my budget now, but I don't begrudge anyone using them for racing. When I run in races, some folks have much higher tech shoes than I do, and use Garmin Forerunners while I use a basic stopwatch. Some runners even invest in high altitude tents. Hey whatever gets you going!
I might well try out some of the higher-tech gear for swimming or running if I can afford it, but not having it doesn't diminish what I get out of either sport, and I don't feel deprived without it. I enjoy the competition mainly with my previous efforts, b/c I'm unlikely to be a serious contender for top places.
No worries. I'm in it for fun and getting a good workout and seeing what I can do. The rest is icing on the cake!
If you can afford the icing, have it and enjoy it! :)
