Count me out.
I am shocked. :)
At least we can agree on the 14 and unders! It also seems like a mostly unnecessary cost for many college programs that are already struggling to stay afloat. It has to be difficult for the governing bodies of swimming to draw a line on their use and the extra burden of approving and testing must have been too much. That is why it seems crazy for masters swimming to allow them any further unless you just say absolutely anything goes as long as it is one suit. Plus, you have limited availability issues going forward as well for masters unless you happen to be buds with Roque or something.
I did enjoy watching the most elite swimmers compete in tech suits because the times broke many of the barriers I never thought I would see broken in my lifetime. However, I hated the constant whining about which suit was faster and that some swimmers/college teams were stuck with sponsors that did not have the fastest suits. In that sense it seemed to take some of the human element out of the sport which I thought was bad and the general public seemed to pick-up on.
I completely understand Wookie's hair argument. The only reason I tried the tech suits originally was because I didn't want to shave down for Worlds at Stanford.
Hopefully, USMS doesn't lose too many competitors due to the change. I hope everyone just looks at the lack of a tech suit as another challenge.
Tim
Count me out.
I am shocked. :)
At least we can agree on the 14 and unders! It also seems like a mostly unnecessary cost for many college programs that are already struggling to stay afloat. It has to be difficult for the governing bodies of swimming to draw a line on their use and the extra burden of approving and testing must have been too much. That is why it seems crazy for masters swimming to allow them any further unless you just say absolutely anything goes as long as it is one suit. Plus, you have limited availability issues going forward as well for masters unless you happen to be buds with Roque or something.
I did enjoy watching the most elite swimmers compete in tech suits because the times broke many of the barriers I never thought I would see broken in my lifetime. However, I hated the constant whining about which suit was faster and that some swimmers/college teams were stuck with sponsors that did not have the fastest suits. In that sense it seemed to take some of the human element out of the sport which I thought was bad and the general public seemed to pick-up on.
I completely understand Wookie's hair argument. The only reason I tried the tech suits originally was because I didn't want to shave down for Worlds at Stanford.
Hopefully, USMS doesn't lose too many competitors due to the change. I hope everyone just looks at the lack of a tech suit as another challenge.
Tim
