With all due respect to Ande, who tried to get me to buy a tech suit at Nationals (Ande, thanks for the compliment when you guessed my size, but I would wear a 36 in a tech suit, not a 26.), I respectfully submit my top ten reasons for hating tech suits:
1. $$$ Too expensive. I feel my money was better spent at The Athlete Village, having a video analysis done of my breaststroke. Implementing the tips I picked up from the online coach will help me to swim faster faster than a tech suit.
2. Struggle to put on. In the time it took a couple of gals in the locker room at Nationals to get their suit half-way on, I was out of my street clothes, into my Speedo Endurance suit, and had my bag unpacked and into the locker. And, I had expended a lot less energy than they did. I would rather spend my energy in the pool… :D
3. Too fragile. See Allen Stark’s post about his tech suit blowout- right before his event. I would be steaming big time if I had spent a heap of $ on a tech suit, then have it rip on me. :bitching:
Speaking of steaming…
4. The heat factor. I have heat intolerance medical issues (I love the heat mentally; my body hates it in a serious way), so being encased in a tech suit would exasperate the situation and possibly negate any gain I had made wearing the suit anyway. I was in Sunday’s last event (200 breaststroke) and was wasted by that point, after spending three days in the heat and humidity. :badday:
5. I want an apples-to-apples comparison of my times. I (barely) beat my seed times in two of my events and dropped my time about 2 seconds in another. If I had worn a tech suit and improved my times even more, would that have been a fair comparison- or would it have been the suit? I think a tech suit would have provided a false sense of success and an inaccurate indication as to my level of improvement since my previous meet. Then, post-tech suit, if my times got worse how would I feel then? I wonder how many of the swimmers will feel when they see (possibly) seconds being added back on to their times, post-tech suit? A false sense of success followed by huge disappointment is going to play on many minds, I’m sure. :confused:
6. Wearing a tech suit only exposes the arms and feet. I like to FEEL of the water with more than that. :agree:
7. Claustrophobic; too confining. I love summer, because I get to live in shorts and t-shirts. The less on me the better; it's more comfortable. :)
8. My current ranking #130 of 266 in the 50 breaststroke doesn’t put me in a position to be winning any medals or awards. Where would a tech suit put me in the rankings? #125? #120?? Even #100? Big deal! :rolleyes:
9. Personally, modesty isn’t an issue. At 48, I’m comfortable in my 5’71/2, 123lb. frame. And, I was comfortable in my not-as-fit 150lb pound frame, when I spent six months in Australia, back in 1984, where I spent some of the time relaxing on their nude beaches. Why? Because Aussies are comfortable in their skin and not hung up on their bodies like Americans are. Nude and topless beaches are common in Australia and you will see bodies of all shapes and sizes there. And, nobody cares. :)
Speaking of bodies…
10. Visualize Mark Spitz…1972 Olympics… in a Speedo… :D I was only 10 years old, but, believe me, my eyes were GLUED to the TV- and not necessarily only while he was swimming. Need I say more? Not all Masters swimmers look as good as Mark Spitz in a Speedo, but I saw PLENTY of AARP eligible swimmers out of their tech suits at Nationals that had absolutely stunning bodies- male and female! And, for those who weren’t? So what???
That concludes my :2cents: on the subject!
Elaine - You make some great points. Nothing gets people more fired up than discussions about tech suits, Title IX, Amanda Beard, and Dara Torres. You entered the fire zone.
I both love and hate the tech suits. I love the way they feel and I like the fact they cover some things up. On the other hand, I deplore many technological advances -sophisticated cell phones, video games, etc. because they have destroyed the simplicity of life.
I hate having to worry about being hit while running by some 18 year who is texting his/her buddy about the next coolest thing he/she can do on a wii.
Thanks Elise! And, I'm with you on everything you said... :agree:
...But do you notice how the anti-tech contingent always uses pejorative words (such as addiction, cheating, lack of "purity") to describe the pro-techies? Indeed, Muppet just lambasted tech suit wearers as unhealthy "fatties."...
you know that's not what he actually said...
beware the pit bull...
you know that's not what he actually said...
beware the pit bull...
lmao. Touche.
He said some are fatties: "we need to stop turning a blind eye to our members who lead unhealthy lifestyles and stuffing their overweight bodies into slimming tech suits."
I don't think it is fair to say that my voice doesn't count in a decision when I'm an equal dues-paying member like anyone else. Take away those who don't or rarely compete, and you lost 80% of USMS membership, and their dues.
You can't have it both ways. Of course your voice counts, so get involved. But, you can't repeatedly say how you find meets to be a waste of time, say you have a "long list" of reasons you don't compete and then try to jam your opinions on meet competition down the throats of us who do find competition to be at or near the top of the list of reasons we love USMS.
lmao. Touche.
He said some are fatties: "we need to stop turning a blind eye to our members who lead unhealthy lifestyles and stuffing their overweight bodies into slimming tech suits."
and do you disagree that the sentiment is correct? at least for some folks?
i will give you that the "fatties" tag might have been a little un-PC :)
But why do you want to vote on what people can wear at a competition when you don't compete? It should be irrelevant to you.
I'm an equal member of the organization. If there were graduated memberships available, ie. a lower cost for those who don't compete, certainly I'd be on top of that (and one option without the magazine, but I digress). The county I live in had a vote some years ago to build a football stadiom an hour away from where I live--no tax implications. Yet people from my side of town were extremely passionate about their views, even though this has since had little to no direct impact on my city.
One reason I don't compete is because of these suits. I started to get excited when I heard they were going away. When I last competed, they were just gaining strength. And yes, I felt like an outsider swimming at a meet where 95% of the swimmers wore them.
and do you disagree that the sentiment is correct? at least for some folks?
i will give you that the "fatties" tag might have been a little un-PC :)
I don't mind the un-PC. He's calling it like he sees it. But when you aren't in your 20s, one doesn't always look like Barbie & Ken no matter how healthy you are and how much you train. Stuff starts to, blech, sag. If someone isn't training and shoving a huge fat belly into a tech suit to compensate, I can see Muppet's point. But are most competitive masters swimmera really like that?
Tim, honestly, is the tech suit the main reason you don't compete? Just askin' cuz I don't think so. You just have other fish to fry and many exercise interests/pursuits, which is admirable. I certainly wasn't suggesting that non-competitors don't have input. To the contrary! But I still don't understand why, as a non-competitor, you'd want to tell competitors what to wear.
Elaine--I agree with all of your points above. If I had $500 burning a hole in my pocket, I think a better use--for someone closer to the bottom than top of the rankings like me--would be private lessons, video, or a mix of many other things out there.
Thanks! This is exactly what I did, instead of buying a tech suit. I hired a youth coach/Masters swimmer on a few occasions (and will do so more after I return from my travels), bought a couple of excellent books ("Mastering Swimming" and "Swimming Anatomy", and had a video analysis done by The Athlete Village. I feel my money was more wisely spent, given my personal situation.
Note to Geek: Notice the emphasis put on personal. (No moral superiority intended or felt.)
One reason I don't compete is because of these suits. I started to get excited when I heard they were going away. When I last competed, they were just gaining strength. And yes, I felt like an outsider swimming at a meet where 95% of the swimmers wore them.Cool, so we'll see you next weekend -- www.mesamasters.com/EventShow.jsp -- at your home pool where noone will be wearing tech suits? I'll likely be wearing a ~$20 dolfin jammers or some other such cheap thing. I think my cap will cost more than my suit.:badday:
Out of honest curiousity, do women really feel they want more coverage than the current neck to knee suits offer?
I don't want more coverage. I swim in a knee skin and nothing more. In fact, my knee skin is an Aquapel - so even old technology and I love it! I had personal bests and got 4 medals in that old technology suit in Atlanta. I don't consider it a true tech suit, though.
My team has a t-shirt that says something along the lines of "Forget the suit, train for the race". I say amen to that!
