I know of at least one person who told me (unprompted) that she wasn't going to nationals this year because she didn't want to buy one of the suits but her competitors would all be wearing them.
It does no good to pooh-pooh this person as a luddite or an "overly serious" swimmer who should just get over it. You can make similar rebuttals to tech-suit lovers as people who just want to just buy their speed and tell them they are "overly serious" and should just get over it. Both arguments have some elements of truth but are largely unfair.
-- I have to think that, for "purity of sport reasons" that there has to be reasonably strong arguments in favor of the suits for USMS to go its own way (throwing in an element of Kant here).
I wouldn't necessarily think the swimmer who skipped nationals was a luddite, though that could be the case I suppose. She sounds like a poor sport. There were plenty of people at nationals who didn't wear what you anti-tech suit types like to refer to as "rubber" suits. National champions even -- e.g., Michelina. Going to nationals isn't just about wearing the fastest suit. It's more of an overall "swim experience." At least for me. I could wear my fast suit and possibly swim a faster time staying home and swimming at a fast local pool.
I had a chance to do some wetsuit shopping on vacation, BTW. I don't see how a B70 swim skin bears any resemblance to those suckers. Wetsuits that are 5 mm thick don't look or feel even remotely the same.
I hate Kant. :)
I know of at least one person who told me (unprompted) that she wasn't going to nationals this year because she didn't want to buy one of the suits but her competitors would all be wearing them.
It does no good to pooh-pooh this person as a luddite or an "overly serious" swimmer who should just get over it. You can make similar rebuttals to tech-suit lovers as people who just want to just buy their speed and tell them they are "overly serious" and should just get over it. Both arguments have some elements of truth but are largely unfair.
-- I have to think that, for "purity of sport reasons" that there has to be reasonably strong arguments in favor of the suits for USMS to go its own way (throwing in an element of Kant here).
I wouldn't necessarily think the swimmer who skipped nationals was a luddite, though that could be the case I suppose. She sounds like a poor sport. There were plenty of people at nationals who didn't wear what you anti-tech suit types like to refer to as "rubber" suits. National champions even -- e.g., Michelina. Going to nationals isn't just about wearing the fastest suit. It's more of an overall "swim experience." At least for me. I could wear my fast suit and possibly swim a faster time staying home and swimming at a fast local pool.
I had a chance to do some wetsuit shopping on vacation, BTW. I don't see how a B70 swim skin bears any resemblance to those suckers. Wetsuits that are 5 mm thick don't look or feel even remotely the same.
I hate Kant. :)
