NCAA Times Post Tech Suit Ban?

Do any of you guys who follow college swimming have a sense yet about the impact of the FINA tech suit ban is having on elite swimming times? There are already records being broken in the women's collegiate conference championships. And at the high school level as well. I think swimmers are looking to break records and improve times. I don't hear them giving themselves excuses to swim slower because the record was set in a tech-suit. I only hear excuses from individuals on deck and in the press who are not in the water training to improve. What is that saying? Something about, the individual spewing excuses for failure needs to get out of the way of the person getting the job done... By the way, Julia Smit just broke her own NCAA 200 and 400 IM records. And Natalie Coughlin's 8 year old Pac10 Record in the 200 Back this weekend.

I know that there will be individuals who emerge to do great things, but I am just wondering if, on average, the times are collectively going to stay the same, get a little worse, or who knows? improve. Do you think the A and B time standards will be changed for next year?

Do you think the A and B time standards will be changed for next year? Yes, I do think they will change... It will take coaches and swimmers awhile to figure out how to build athleticism and train bodies to swim like they're wearing a tight and buoyant tech suit.

Are we making the assumption that the top masters swimmers can also improve at the rate of the top NCAA, USA-S and age group swimmers? Just curious on this one. . . As a masters swimmer and coach I know that our swimmers and I do not train like NCAA, USA-S or age-group swimmers. I don't compare myself or my times to those swimmer's achievements. I do look to elite swimmers and their coaches for technique suggestions, training ideas and inspiration. But life is completely different for most masters swimmers compared to our young athletes in school or racing professionally. I like to think that USMS athletes condense and fine tune the best of ideas for our training and racing - and still swim pretty - and FAST as a result.

When you get hold of the "Ahelee's Revolutionary Training Techniques for Simulating Jaked Suits with Naked Flesh," I will be one of the first in line to buy a copy! A few months ago, I relocated to start up a new masters swim team. I am training in the pool a lot less than normal and my pool workouts are not on the best track. I enlisted the help of a CrossFit Coach in my new town and he is helping me build my athleticism. I can swim, ride, and run but I'm not so great at pull-ups and other strength training. While I'm unsure of any immediate fast swimming results, I have had good history of changing up my training and making improvements. Keep your mind open. Find ways to get stronger - and improve your technique to longer and longer spans of excellence. Oh - and I plan to change my 5ft-10in body weight to sub 140...

Are we making the assumption that the top masters swimmers can also improve at the rate of the top NCAA, USA-S and age group swimmers? Just curious on this one. . . Well, the question of the OP was about NCAA times, not masters. Most will find out about the latter soon enough. Also, I believe that -- with the notable exception of one university (causing bitter accusations of cheating from some forumites, as I recall) -- colleges did not use the latest and greatest suits: Jakeds and the like. Their last championship season was last Feb/Mar, after all; in other words, eons ago. I know the UR women all wore LZRs at A10s last year. Heck, they were practically obsolete by then. College swimmers generally do not improve anywhere near the rate of age-groupers. I know of many (very fast) college swimmers who did not improve at all over their HS times, or only barely did so.

Chris, for those who believed the benefit of the suits was primarily a placebo effect, I suppose they might suffer a nocebo effect upon suit withdrawal. I am not that surprised that women's times, in particular, are not terribly effected because I believe the suits women are allowed to wear post-ban are almost as good as the suits pre-ban. I know Leslie will howl at this, but the loss of coverage from knee to ankle, and the loss of a zipper in the back (which means some loss of coverage in the back, too, and probably not as much overall compression) is significant, but in my mind, not that significant! Ahelee, congratulations on your team formation out there in sunny California. I have no doubt your swimmers will prosper from your positive mental outlook on suit changes, no-whining philosophy, and adapted training regimen to resculpt flabby buoyant bodies into "human whippets that float" bodies. Finally, Georgio, years ago I was assigned to do a story of the "science" of anti-cellulite cremes. I don't remember that much other than you can make your own concoction for about $2 a tub. Just get some generic astringent, like witch hazel, and some cheap vegetable oil, and whip the two up into an ointment, then apply liberally. The vegetable oil gets under your skin and (very) temporarily plumps the underlying fatty tissues up a little. Then the astringent tightens the skin itself. The result: things look a little less dimpled with fat. I am afraid, however, all of it would wash away within seconds of hitting the pool!

The conference championships I followed were ACCs (for my alma mater) and A10s (since I know some of the UR swimmers). Wait a minute. Richmond changed conferences. Did they change the same time that American U did(I think in 00). Interesting.

Wait a minute. Richmond changed conferences. Did they change the same time that American U did(I think in 00). Interesting. Yes. Very controversial, they did it in the early 00's when we hired a new AD. It was driven by basketball: the A10 was viewed (with some justification) as more likely to get at-large bids. The problem is that the CAA had all our local "rivals" like JMU, VCU and William and Mary. Now we play teams who are far away (adding to the budget, of course). The ironic thing is that soon after, the CAA became much stronger. This was right around the time that (CAA member) George Mason made its memorable run to the Final Four. Heartbreaking loss at Xavier today (by 2 in 2OT), but Richmond ought to be able to make the NCAA tournament this year as an at-large bid, unless they really crash and burn over their next 3 games. From a swimming perspective, it wasn't a good move: the CAA was a stronger swimming conference at the time (I don't know about now, I haven't kept up). And there is the distance thing: I don't think UR swims ANY conference "rivals" in meets until they see them at A10s.

True. But when posters start discussing their own personal height, weight, swimming goals and training patterns, I take that to mean anything goes. I have my own comparison which obviously applies to masters (though everyone is different), but I know how you feel about blogs. :)