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
Okay, I was partly right. The study was done by Joel Stager. I may have screwed up some of the details.
You can read a much better explanation here:
www.scienceblog.com/.../research-examines-elite-swim-times-youth-sports-age-groups-21796.html
An excerpt:
The study does not identify what caused the bias but describes the statistical modeling that has successfully predicted swim times during the previous Olympics, aside from the Olympic Games in 1996, when times were slower than predicted. The average error in predictions for 2008 Olympic swim times was three to six times greater than the errors in previous Olympics, said Joel Stager, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming....
...No new advances in swimming techniques or training can account for the improved time, Stager said, so technology, such as swimsuits, or pharmacology could be responsible.
"Do we, as a community, want 'assisted performance?'" he asked.
---------
Jim's answer to Joel's rhetorical question:
No, we, as a community, do not want 'assisted performance.' But I, as an individual, sure as hell do.
Okay, I was partly right. The study was done by Joel Stager. I may have screwed up some of the details.
You can read a much better explanation here:
www.scienceblog.com/.../research-examines-elite-swim-times-youth-sports-age-groups-21796.html
An excerpt:
The study does not identify what caused the bias but describes the statistical modeling that has successfully predicted swim times during the previous Olympics, aside from the Olympic Games in 1996, when times were slower than predicted. The average error in predictions for 2008 Olympic swim times was three to six times greater than the errors in previous Olympics, said Joel Stager, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming....
...No new advances in swimming techniques or training can account for the improved time, Stager said, so technology, such as swimsuits, or pharmacology could be responsible.
"Do we, as a community, want 'assisted performance?'" he asked.
---------
Jim's answer to Joel's rhetorical question:
No, we, as a community, do not want 'assisted performance.' But I, as an individual, sure as hell do.
