I think the most recent decision makes sense- I think it puts the focus back on the swimmer and not so much on what suit they are wearing. And limiting the men to jammers or briefs should definitely lower the prices of the suits quite a bit! I was most comfortable wearing FS II jammers.
I seriously doubt the last chapter has been written in this story.
You are probably correct.
I can see a lawsuit by Arena, B70, and Jaked against FINA/Speedo given that they all seem to have gained market share and then lost it overnight due to a very dark force.
Also, if the records don't end up getting challenged anytime soon I wouldn't be surprised to see FINA change the rules right before the London Olympics to re-allow tech suits because a lack of world records is bad TV.
There are probably endless possibilities to keep this discussion topic alive!
Tim
I have a feeling meets for the remainder of this year are going to have lots more splashes than usual. Everyone will be clamoring to get just a few more swims out of their soon-to-be-banned suits.
It will be interesting to see what happens in te International (and Masters) realm with regard to world record progression(s)...how many years will we go before we see some of these records go down? What if any impact from a marketing standpoint will slower times/fewer records have on the growth of swimming?
I'm also curious about how some swimmers (especially masters) will handle swimming times slower than they have the last few years....
I agree. Maybe the new hot discussion topics will revolve around how to lose weight and obtain the compression and streamline that we had with the tech suits.
The times might be somewhat slower, but the pecking order will remain largely unchanged. I think the masters records will probably fall pretty quickly since many of the masters records are broken as swimmers age up and replace the previous slower generations.
Maybe to keep the tech suit discussion going we should make a game of guessing who adds the most time from their previous masters best. Any guesses/bets on which masters swimmers will add the most time to their best masters times? Lets see, who has really crammed themselves into a tech suit the best in the past? On second thought, that game probably isn't going to help someone in rehab due to tech suit withdrawals.
Tim
I can't say I will miss the tech suits personally, but I am very surprised that FINA went that far. I wonder whether it will have a big impact on the popularity of swimming or not. I think a lot of the increased popularity is attributable to one person and the media attention that surrounds him. I guess we will have to see.
In regard to the tech suit records and how long it will take for them to be broken, maybe we underestimate the importance of the person doing the swimming. All it would take is a few genetic freaks like Phelps and half the world records could be taken down by a couple swimmers. Phelps set most of his current world records in just leggings and so did Peirsol. Some of the records might be there for a long time, but my guess is that many will be broken before or during the London Olympics. What will be very interesting is to see is which athletes are able to perform at or near their tech suit best times and which won't be able to close. Maybe we should just put an asterisk
on the records by swimmers that can't get close to their tech suit bests. I think we were able to overcome the steroid records fairly quickly and my bet is that swimmers will be able to surpass many of the tech suit records as well within 5 years.
I wish I could recommend a therapist or rehab center for those of you addicted to tech suits, but I am afraid it sounds like you are going to have to go cold turkey and see how it goes. I loved the post that maybe USMS won't go along with the change, but who is going to manufacture the suits only for USMS
even if USMS were silly enough not to follow the FINA rules? You might want to buy up a big personal inventory of tech suits before they stop manufacturing them just in case USMS doesn't go along with FINA so you can keep your competitive edge as long as possible or maybe we could have an open division
at Nationals just for fun.
I will greatly miss the discussion topic though. RIP
Tim
Uh, that wasn't exactly what I said. However, as Michael Heather recently reminded us, USMS makes its own rules.
As for this competitive edge you speak of, since all my competitors wear tech suits, I don't feel I've had any. Indeed, training solo makes me feel at a disadvantage.
As for folks needing a therapist, I think you really overstate the situation. If people don't expect to go somewhat slower and adjust expectations, they need more IQ points, not a therapist.
I think Geek said it best -- this would eliminate the cool gear element of the sport. If expense is a concern, regulate coverage and material at the age group level. I don't see the need for a total ban.
This decision effectively frees up around $500-$700 for me for next year given I am going to Atlanta and am unable to control my urges to buy my kid a tech suit once she turns 11. So, now I can spend that money on bike gear, a sport not afraid of change and technology. I might even buy a few rounds in Atlanta for Fort and Wookie.
I suppose that USMS will likely go along with the FINA rule so that our world record swims will be recognized. But there really aren't any world records in SCY anyway. So what if USMS opted out for SCY events only, making them a run what ya brung anything goes affair? What fun it would be to be able to blow the dust off the old B70s, Jakeds, or even just an old FSPro full suit for SCY season each year, and it would finally be a reasonably objective way of measuring the advantage provided by the suits.
