Rowdy's 8 general swimming reasons are irrelevant, that ship has sailed. FINA banned the suits and USS, NCAA and high school followed very quickly.
I've hear a lot of FINA-bashing now from pro-tech people. I grant that they have been a bumbling organization WRT the suits, but there is no way anyone can convince me that FINA had the spine to act unilaterally on this matter. They banned the suits because of pressure from others; the USA-S sent them a proposal to that effect. The anti-tech backlash had been building for awhile, and the Jaked/Arena suits just pushed them over the edge. FINA was only responding to that; I'm sure if no one protested, every suit would still be legal.
You can blame them for capitulating too quickly to a vocal minority. Or you can say they were just giving the majority of coaches and swimmers what they want. I do not know which is the truth, but I suspect it is the latter.
So Rowdy gives more reasons why masters should resist the tide. I find them to be pretty unconvincing.
"At our age, we need all the help we can get!"
I assume this is a joke?
"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.”
No one forced anyone to buy the suits. I know many people who bought them after the FINA edict, knowing full well that masters might possibly follow and the suits would be banned Jan 1. Caveat emptor.
“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?”
Because swimming is a competitive sport. Because I want to follow the same rules as the rest of the swimming universe. Why not allow one-handed turns? Or SDKs past the 15m mark? (I'd sure be in favor of that one.)
"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."
So? Price isn't the main issue here.
"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."
I honestly don't get this. Who takes the sport (too) seriously, the person who buys a Jaked that might be banned in 4 months in order to get in a few last fast swims? Or the person who doesn't?
Masters is fun, but clearly a lot of people care about their performance or the suits would never have caught on. Rules are necessary in any competition, deciding which ones to follow doesn't make you more fun-loving than the next guy.
Rowdy's 8 general swimming reasons are irrelevant, that ship has sailed. FINA banned the suits and USS, NCAA and high school followed very quickly.
I've hear a lot of FINA-bashing now from pro-tech people. I grant that they have been a bumbling organization WRT the suits, but there is no way anyone can convince me that FINA had the spine to act unilaterally on this matter. They banned the suits because of pressure from others; the USA-S sent them a proposal to that effect. The anti-tech backlash had been building for awhile, and the Jaked/Arena suits just pushed them over the edge. FINA was only responding to that; I'm sure if no one protested, every suit would still be legal.
You can blame them for capitulating too quickly to a vocal minority. Or you can say they were just giving the majority of coaches and swimmers what they want. I do not know which is the truth, but I suspect it is the latter.
So Rowdy gives more reasons why masters should resist the tide. I find them to be pretty unconvincing.
"At our age, we need all the help we can get!"
I assume this is a joke?
"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.”
No one forced anyone to buy the suits. I know many people who bought them after the FINA edict, knowing full well that masters might possibly follow and the suits would be banned Jan 1. Caveat emptor.
“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?”
Because swimming is a competitive sport. Because I want to follow the same rules as the rest of the swimming universe. Why not allow one-handed turns? Or SDKs past the 15m mark? (I'd sure be in favor of that one.)
"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."
So? Price isn't the main issue here.
"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."
I honestly don't get this. Who takes the sport (too) seriously, the person who buys a Jaked that might be banned in 4 months in order to get in a few last fast swims? Or the person who doesn't?
Masters is fun, but clearly a lot of people care about their performance or the suits would never have caught on. Rules are necessary in any competition, deciding which ones to follow doesn't make you more fun-loving than the next guy.
