Does B70 sponsor him?
Yes
This is interesting because you would have thought Rowdy was against the suits based on his comments from Rome. He kept saying things like "Phelps got beat by the suit."
I agree, though maybe he was going out of his way to try to not be seen as being biased by his connection with B70.
I can't read the posting, can somebody copy it here?
The suit controversy continues...
Aug 27 Written by: Rowdy Gaines
8/27/2009
The new suit technology and the controversy behind it does not seem to want to go away. Now there is quite a bit of attention in the Masters World. The Washington Post recently had an article on the suit through the eyes of Masters Swimming: www.washingtonpost.com/.../AR2009082503048.html
My thought has always been that the suit has been good for the sport. If you had asked me two years ago and I knew then what I know now, I would have agreed that the suit would NOT be good for the sport. But the suit arrived and it changed our sport more dramatically than anything in history. We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.
There are several reasons why I think the suit should stay on all levels, but certainly now in Masters. The first 8 reasons are for all of swimming and the last 5 are for Masters specifically. This is just one man’s opinion, but I did a recent informal survey on Twitter and Facebook asking if the suit should stay or go away in Masters. I received about 100 votes, and the most responses were for it to stay. 55% wanted the suit to stay, 30% wanted it to go away and about 15% didn’t care either way.
General swimming reasons…
Wait about 10 to 15 years when they are still going 21 plus in the 50 and women are going 4:02 in the 400….BORING…the casual fan wants to see a 10-8 game in baseball and they want to see records broken in swimming.
Wait until next year when that little 14-year-old girl that went a minute at juniors this summer can’t break 1:02, and her body changes and she decides to quit and go out for water polo, or worse…soccer.
Don’t tell me it was more of an advantage for one body type over another. The suit companies would have fixed that problem eventually.
What other sport is actually going in reverse when it comes to technology? Do they still play with a wooden racquet in tennis? What about golf clubs and race cars?
Does it really take away from the legend of swimmers like Evans, Spitz and even Popov? Of course not…they will always be legends.
Wait until the Berens and the Vollmers of the world can’t make ends meet because the suit companies had to cut back because they sell $50 suits vs. $500 suits…only the Phelpses and Coughlins will survive financially. I’ve talked to the presidents of most swimsuit companies and they all say the same thing. It will hurt them financially and they will have to pass it along to the sport.
And don’t tell me that it’s not fair for that 12-year-old because he/she can’t afford it. Life’s not fair, so get over it. Or better yet, ban it for ALL 12 and unders…it’s not rocket science.
The only way this sport will ever grow is more exposure. I was on the Today Show twice during Worlds talking about the SUITS!! N even a mention of Phelps, who btw will be gone in three years, so kiss that gravy train good bye…
And for Masters specifically…
At our age, we need all the help we can get!
At the very least, let’s keep it around through 2010. A lot of people HAVE spent a lot of money and it would be nice to have some time to “wear them out.”
I love this one from John Beatty…“No one is forcing a master’s swimmer to wear the suit. It’s not like we are swimming to make a national team. We swim for our own reasons. Why should we care what someone else is wearing if we are supposedly swimming for our individual selves?”
The prices of the suits will go down, way down, now that the manufacturers have a glut of these that they are trying to get rid of.
It’s Masters! At the end of the day, it just doesn’t matter (or at least it shouldn’t) and we can all go out afterwards for a beer and a laugh. It makes me sick to my stomach to hear whispers that some Masters swimmers are taking performance enhancing drugs and to even think about comparing the suits to PEDs is ludicrous.
Does B70 sponsor him?
Yes
This is interesting because you would have thought Rowdy was against the suits based on his comments from Rome. He kept saying things like "Phelps got beat by the suit."
I agree, though maybe he was going out of his way to try to not be seen as being biased by his connection with B70.
I can't read the posting, can somebody copy it here?
The suit controversy continues...
Aug 27 Written by: Rowdy Gaines
8/27/2009
The new suit technology and the controversy behind it does not seem to want to go away. Now there is quite a bit of attention in the Masters World. The Washington Post recently had an article on the suit through the eyes of Masters Swimming: www.washingtonpost.com/.../AR2009082503048.html
My thought has always been that the suit has been good for the sport. If you had asked me two years ago and I knew then what I know now, I would have agreed that the suit would NOT be good for the sport. But the suit arrived and it changed our sport more dramatically than anything in history. We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.
There are several reasons why I think the suit should stay on all levels, but certainly now in Masters. The first 8 reasons are for all of swimming and the last 5 are for Masters specifically. This is just one man’s opinion, but I did a recent informal survey on Twitter and Facebook asking if the suit should stay or go away in Masters. I received about 100 votes, and the most responses were for it to stay. 55% wanted the suit to stay, 30% wanted it to go away and about 15% didn’t care either way.
General swimming reasons…
Wait about 10 to 15 years when they are still going 21 plus in the 50 and women are going 4:02 in the 400….BORING…the casual fan wants to see a 10-8 game in baseball and they want to see records broken in swimming.
Wait until next year when that little 14-year-old girl that went a minute at juniors this summer can’t break 1:02, and her body changes and she decides to quit and go out for water polo, or worse…soccer.
Don’t tell me it was more of an advantage for one body type over another. The suit companies would have fixed that problem eventually.
What other sport is actually going in reverse when it comes to technology? Do they still play with a wooden racquet in tennis? What about golf clubs and race cars?
Does it really take away from the legend of swimmers like Evans, Spitz and even Popov? Of course not…they will always be legends.
Wait until the Berens and the Vollmers of the world can’t make ends meet because the suit companies had to cut back because they sell $50 suits vs. $500 suits…only the Phelpses and Coughlins will survive financially. I’ve talked to the presidents of most swimsuit companies and they all say the same thing. It will hurt them financially and they will have to pass it along to the sport.
And don’t tell me that it’s not fair for that 12-year-old because he/she can’t afford it. Life’s not fair, so get over it. Or better yet, ban it for ALL 12 and unders…it’s not rocket science.
The only way this sport will ever grow is more exposure. I was on the Today Show twice during Worlds talking about the SUITS!! N even a mention of Phelps, who btw will be gone in three years, so kiss that gravy train good bye…
And for Masters specifically…
At our age, we need all the help we can get!
At the very least, let’s keep it around through 2010. A lot of people HAVE spent a lot of money and it would be nice to have some time to “wear them out.”
I love this one from John Beatty…“No one is forcing a master’s swimmer to wear the suit. It’s not like we are swimming to make a national team. We swim for our own reasons. Why should we care what someone else is wearing if we are supposedly swimming for our individual selves?”
The prices of the suits will go down, way down, now that the manufacturers have a glut of these that they are trying to get rid of.
It’s Masters! At the end of the day, it just doesn’t matter (or at least it shouldn’t) and we can all go out afterwards for a beer and a laugh. It makes me sick to my stomach to hear whispers that some Masters swimmers are taking performance enhancing drugs and to even think about comparing the suits to PEDs is ludicrous.
