If the full body rubber suits do end up getting banned, why should USMS follow their lead on this issue? (i.e. assuming the suits would continue to be manufactured).
Isn't Masters mostly for each individual to pursue what they want and the level they want out of the sport?
If the full body suit is preferred by many USMS participants, why not satisfy the base by keeping it available?
What's really the point of forcing old USMS swimmers out of their girdles if FINA bans them?
John Smith
Parents
Former Member
Finally, and not related to the above: If FINA/USS bans tech suits and masters does not, will this be a large enough base for suit manufacturers to continue making tech suits?
-LBJ
Leonard,
my personal observation is that USMS members were WELL ahead of the rest of swimming in the use of the faster suits. I first used the Aquablade and Victor in the summer of 1999, when almost no one at the college or high school level was using them in meets that I attended. I can remember talking to one college swim coach who told me that there were no real advantages in terms of physically measurable quantities but that everything was purely psychological. He saw no reason to try to fool his swimmers into using an uncomfortable suit.
So, the answer to your question above, form my experience, is that at least one manufacturer (Victor = Jerry Greenberg) was willing to start production for the master's community. I don't know what Speedo's motivation was.
Finally, and not related to the above: If FINA/USS bans tech suits and masters does not, will this be a large enough base for suit manufacturers to continue making tech suits?
-LBJ
Leonard,
my personal observation is that USMS members were WELL ahead of the rest of swimming in the use of the faster suits. I first used the Aquablade and Victor in the summer of 1999, when almost no one at the college or high school level was using them in meets that I attended. I can remember talking to one college swim coach who told me that there were no real advantages in terms of physically measurable quantities but that everything was purely psychological. He saw no reason to try to fool his swimmers into using an uncomfortable suit.
So, the answer to your question above, form my experience, is that at least one manufacturer (Victor = Jerry Greenberg) was willing to start production for the master's community. I don't know what Speedo's motivation was.
