Before 2009 Kukors best 200 IM was 2:10.40 World class for sure, but still a cut behind the top women in the event. Today she goes a 2:06.15 and in two days shaves more than a second off the world record. I nominate this swim, just ahead of Bousquets 20.94, as the most ridiculous suited up swim of all time.
The problem with this reasoning is the assumption that the same suit will benefit every athlete equally.
The problem with your argument is that these are already the most elite level swimmers in the world so the nitpicky parsing of differences is pretty irrelevant. If one swimmer has better body position that's a coaching and training issue, not a swimsuit issue and would be seen regardless of suit worn. Every person in the heat, heck every person in the meet, is wearing a tech suit which 100% nullifies the non level playing field allegation.
The whiners are criers have won apparently so we will all regress to the 80s.
The problem with this reasoning is the assumption that the same suit will benefit every athlete equally. If swimmer A has a superior natural position in the water and rides higher than swimmer B then it stands to reason that Swimmer B will derive more benefit from these suits. Swimmer A already had good posture and technique and therefore will benefit less.
The problem with your argument is that these are already the most elite level swimmers in the world so the nitpicky parsing of differences is pretty irrelevant. If one swimmer has better body position that's a coaching and training issue, not a swimsuit issue
I do think that the suits help even elite swimmers differently. I do not hang around the ultra-elite but I do see some pretty fast age-groupers very regularly. Some of the fast men are very muscled and power through the water; others are lithe and just seem to glide over it. Some swimmers are naturally more buoyant than others, and I have heard anecdotal stories from a couple college coaches about differential effects that they attributed (rightly or wrongly) to this natural buoyancy.
Whether this effect of the suits is "unfair" or not, I can't say. Some of these differences -- diminished by the suits -- may not be the result of hard training or technique at all, but genetics. Would it be bad to nullify that? The playing field was not level before the suits; those suits may have just tilted it a little differently.
Finally, I found this fascinating article about lycra suits when they first came out:
vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../index.htm
Cool article Chris.
I used to wear nylon-tricot suits and I remember all this vaguely. I definitly remember feeling exposed in lycra!
I guess change is always painful for some folks. :D
You have confused the issue because this thread has been hi-jacked into a suit debate. (I have particpated in the hi-jack so oh well!). I am simply nominating this swim as the biggest completely-out-of-no-where / are you freaking kidding me swim.
Sorry about the hi-jacking, but your examples were both swims that are instantly tied to the suit they wore.
Tim
After the new suits I have an idea....why dont we just let people blow up one of those old pool air filled floats...(you know the ones as kids you laid on and paddled around the pool) jump on them and go! to be against this is against technology.
So were all the fast swims in Jaked or Arena suits?
Every one I can recall.
I've been watching on Universal network. The announcers have been pretty funny - carefully pointing out when non-U.S. swimmers are wearing the new suits, but softpeddling it when an American has one.
I'd never seen Jaked suits before. They look like you're wearing an oil slick.
We have to stop using the suits, simple as that.
Why? Because it is about SWIMMING, not about the outfit.
I strapped myself in a Jaked-suit a couple weeks ago and shaved two seconds of my personal best on 100 butterfly (which I swam with briefs back in the day)...
Oh, I stopped training 6 years ago and became a chainsmoker since, did I not mention that?
The improvement should not have happened, but it did... Some suits just improve the swimmer too much... People who will not admit to that are just scared that they would lose in briefs...
Have some pride and lose the suits!
