I recently swam my first open water of the year. One attended by many. For the first time I saw a Blue Seventy suit (I know I need to get out more) but to call them a swim suit is crazy! they are a wet suit. My daughter spent the day swimming in Chicago. Talking with a world champion she said that she normally holds 1:05 one hundreds for long sets...one time she swam with a Blue Seventy, easily holding 1:00's. I believe her. Say what you want, but to compare anyones records in the blue seventy to the old Mark Spitz suit, is like saying Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth were the same....lol....thank god I am not worried about competition, (I just try to finish) because I would not want to wear a B70, and that would be a HUGH disadvantage.
Former Member
I swam this race also. The weather was perfect and the water was great. We decided not to stay after the race though since we had such a long drive to get back. It was nice to meet you (although I only got to say hi before we had to start), Hoosier!
When I swim tri I wear a wetsuit. When I swim OW I swim in a normal square leg training suit. Last weekend I swam a OW 2 mile and was going to wear a legal speedsuit. When I tried it in the pool I was almost 3-4 seconds per 100 faster. For some reason I didn't feel right showing up to an OW race with a speedsuit. I felt that it was more "pure" i guess to race without one. I know how most masters swimmers feel about these "fair/unfair" advantages. Well I went out and hammered a good race. In the end I came in second. I lost to someone wearing a full speedsuit. So I say this, if it's legal, wear it! good ol' fashioned hard yardage and preparation is a thing of the past.
