Really only have taken a good look at the 100 breastroke (men) times, but, over-all really slow (in my opinion) No world records. Has the suits made that much difference? I don't know. Pool conditions-weather-who knows??
I thought it would be interesting to look at the results from 2006 as well. Using Jim's events:
M E N -- 55-59 -- 200 M. FREE
**********************************
1 JIM MC CONICA USA 2:10.01
2 ALEXANDER MILLS NOR 2:10.11
3 RICK WALKER USA 2:16.51
4 DAVE TANNER USA 2:17.32
5 JACK MARTIN USA 2:17.35
6 RONALD ARMSTRONG CAN 2:17.57
7 RONALD JACOBS USA 2:18.64
8 CRAIG SMITH USA 2:19.64
9 DON MORLEY USA 2:20.19
10 MIKE SHERRILL USA 2:20.33
**********************************
WOMEN -- 45-49 -- 200 M. FREE
**********************************
1 S.HEIM-BOWEN USA 2:14.83
2 SUSANNE SIMPSON USA 2:16.41
3 REBECCA PERROTT NZL 2:16.85
4 ELENE KAY JONES USA 2:16.90
5 MARGEE CURRAN USA 2:20.07
6 ANDREA BLOCK USA 2:20.22
7 KAREN ELLY GBR 2:22.13
8 TERRI MAGINNIS USA 2:23.05
9 KATHY GARNIER USA 2:23.87
10 K.ANDRUS-HUGHES USA 2:24.46
Observations:
So even in the pre-rubberized suit days, it sure seems that the times in Sweden are slow(er). At least in these two examples. I find this especially interesting because, other than for zippers and coverage from the knees to ankles, the women's suits in 2006 and 2010 should essentially be the same. Also, I had always thought that the pre-rubberized suits didn't make people appreciably faster than shaved skin. I can think of a few explanations for this off the top of my head:
1. The Swedish pools are slower or there are other factors that are hindering peformance (like the weather for the outdoor venue).
2. The talent pool at each meet is very different, and this group may be comparatively slower. (It's not even necessarily fair to compare people who have aged 2 years to their prior times.) Many of the fastest Americans and Aussies are not at this year's meet.
3. Compression (zippers for the ladies, full body suits for the lads) played a larger role in performance enhancement than I thought.
I decided to check my own (younger, less in need of compression) age groups results in the 100 *** for comparisson purposes:
Here's 2010:
1 Vladislav Bragin 1971 Duck´s Creek 30.55 1:05.38
2 Timo Nolte 1973 SV Wasserfreunde 1898 Hannover 31.51 1:06.46
3 Simone Battiston 1975 Derthona Nuoto 32.64 1:08.43
4 Sergey Firichenko 1973 Troyka 32.56 1:08.98
5 Petr Gregor 1973 Slavoj Bruntal 33.15 1:09.15
6 Jiri Geers 1974 Arvicola Zwemclub Kalmthout 32.50 1:09.22
7 Vincent Bulbo 1974 BLAC 33.51 1:10.22
8 Mikael Olsson 1975 Ystads Simsällskap 33.01 1:10.89
9 Eerikki Rutanen 1972 Tuusulan Uimaseura 33.71 1:11.02
10 Lee Peterson 1974 Braintree and Bocking 33.22 1:11.20
Here's 2008:
1 TIMO NOLTE GER 1:06.73
2 PAVEL CHECHULIN RUS 1:09.61
3 RAFFAELE NOTTE ITA 1:10.54
4 STEPHEN HIRZEL FRA 1:11.30
5 BENJAMIN O'CONNOR AUS 1:11.74
6 C.SANNIER FRA 1:12.41
7 YURY SARAMUTIN RUS 1:13.43
8 EMILIANO GALLAZZI ITA 1:14.18
9 L.RAMIREZ COL 1:14.30
10 ARI AILIO FIN 1:14.65
Here's 2006:
1 ROQUE SANTOS USA 1:08.34
2 ANDREA AGOSTINONE ITA 1:08.43
3 AARON BARTLESON USA 1:10.33
4 RICARDO TORRES PAN 1:10.59
5 MIKE LANE USA 1:10.79
6 LORENZO BENUCCI USA 1:11.70
7 RAY SMITH RSA 1:13.51
8 PETER FINNEY USA 1:13.64
9 LUKE SALERNO USA 1:14.05
10 MARK OLDHAM CAN 1:14.40
Well, how about that? I thought that the 2010 times looked fast, and they are! Despite no fancy suits, at least down in 35-39 100 ***, it looks like the boys are swimming faster than ever!
Alright. One more comparisson. This time in my esteemed teammate's age group in the 100 *** 65-69:
Here's 2010:
1 Kenneth Frost 1944 Tamalpais Aquatic Masters 38.13 1:20.98 CR
2 Dieter Hoefel 1945 Sparta Konstanz 38.57 1:22.37
3 Pertti Laaksonen 1943 Helsingin Uimarit 41.68 1:25.23
4 Peter Frenzel 1943 SG Stadtwerke München 40.47 1:27.65
5 Gabor Somlai 1944 UJBUDA Senior SC Budapest 40.96 1:28.59
6 Pavel Pejsa 1944 Bohemians Praha 42.81 1:30.00
7 Peter Stockhammer 1945 Delphin Herzogenaurach 42.26 1:30.03
8 Matthias Kroner 1943 Göteborg Sim 43.48 1:31.15
9 Siffroy Alain 1943 CHALLANS NATATION 42.63 1:31.19
10 Alexander Morshin 1945 Moscow Masters 41.03 1:31.43
Here's 2008:
1 GERSHON SHEFA ISR 1:21.75
2 RICHARD TODD USA 1:24.00
3 ERIK HAITES CAN 1:24.97
4 RAINER OPITZ GER 1:27.03
5 MATTHIAS KRONER SWE 1:28.65
6 ANTONIO ORSELLI BRA 1:28.78
7 HENRY MORRIS *** GBR 1:30.50
8 KEITH SHAW CAN 1:31.01
9 BRYAN FINLAY CAN 1:31.80
10 GIANFRANCO NASTI ITA 1:31.97
Here's 2006:
1 J.GOODWIN AUS 1:26.74
2 MIKE FRESHLEY USA 1:27.50
3 KARL WIEDAMANN USA 1:27.60
4 KARL ODKOLEK GER 1:30.34
4 PETER JOSEPH AUS 1:30.34
6 MICHAEL LAUX USA 1:30.46
7 DONALD PUCHALSKI USA 1:33.95
8 JIM PERILMAN USA 1:34.68
9 J.MADELENAT FRA 1:35.89
10 HIROYUKI NAGAOKA JPN 1:36.50
(For comparisson, Ken Frost went 1:18.16 two years ago when he was 64 and 1:17.89 in 2006 when he was 62.)
Again, this year the times were faster than in the prior two Worlds. So on an admittedly limited data set, I'm feeling that the explanation for time differences probably has less to do with the suits than it does with the swimmers.
I thought it would be interesting to look at the results from 2006 as well. Using Jim's events:
M E N -- 55-59 -- 200 M. FREE
**********************************
1 JIM MC CONICA USA 2:10.01
2 ALEXANDER MILLS NOR 2:10.11
3 RICK WALKER USA 2:16.51
4 DAVE TANNER USA 2:17.32
5 JACK MARTIN USA 2:17.35
6 RONALD ARMSTRONG CAN 2:17.57
7 RONALD JACOBS USA 2:18.64
8 CRAIG SMITH USA 2:19.64
9 DON MORLEY USA 2:20.19
10 MIKE SHERRILL USA 2:20.33
**********************************
WOMEN -- 45-49 -- 200 M. FREE
**********************************
1 S.HEIM-BOWEN USA 2:14.83
2 SUSANNE SIMPSON USA 2:16.41
3 REBECCA PERROTT NZL 2:16.85
4 ELENE KAY JONES USA 2:16.90
5 MARGEE CURRAN USA 2:20.07
6 ANDREA BLOCK USA 2:20.22
7 KAREN ELLY GBR 2:22.13
8 TERRI MAGINNIS USA 2:23.05
9 KATHY GARNIER USA 2:23.87
10 K.ANDRUS-HUGHES USA 2:24.46
Observations:
So even in the pre-rubberized suit days, it sure seems that the times in Sweden are slow(er). At least in these two examples. I find this especially interesting because, other than for zippers and coverage from the knees to ankles, the women's suits in 2006 and 2010 should essentially be the same. Also, I had always thought that the pre-rubberized suits didn't make people appreciably faster than shaved skin. I can think of a few explanations for this off the top of my head:
1. The Swedish pools are slower or there are other factors that are hindering peformance (like the weather for the outdoor venue).
2. The talent pool at each meet is very different, and this group may be comparatively slower. (It's not even necessarily fair to compare people who have aged 2 years to their prior times.) Many of the fastest Americans and Aussies are not at this year's meet.
3. Compression (zippers for the ladies, full body suits for the lads) played a larger role in performance enhancement than I thought.
I decided to check my own (younger, less in need of compression) age groups results in the 100 *** for comparisson purposes:
Here's 2010:
1 Vladislav Bragin 1971 Duck´s Creek 30.55 1:05.38
2 Timo Nolte 1973 SV Wasserfreunde 1898 Hannover 31.51 1:06.46
3 Simone Battiston 1975 Derthona Nuoto 32.64 1:08.43
4 Sergey Firichenko 1973 Troyka 32.56 1:08.98
5 Petr Gregor 1973 Slavoj Bruntal 33.15 1:09.15
6 Jiri Geers 1974 Arvicola Zwemclub Kalmthout 32.50 1:09.22
7 Vincent Bulbo 1974 BLAC 33.51 1:10.22
8 Mikael Olsson 1975 Ystads Simsällskap 33.01 1:10.89
9 Eerikki Rutanen 1972 Tuusulan Uimaseura 33.71 1:11.02
10 Lee Peterson 1974 Braintree and Bocking 33.22 1:11.20
Here's 2008:
1 TIMO NOLTE GER 1:06.73
2 PAVEL CHECHULIN RUS 1:09.61
3 RAFFAELE NOTTE ITA 1:10.54
4 STEPHEN HIRZEL FRA 1:11.30
5 BENJAMIN O'CONNOR AUS 1:11.74
6 C.SANNIER FRA 1:12.41
7 YURY SARAMUTIN RUS 1:13.43
8 EMILIANO GALLAZZI ITA 1:14.18
9 L.RAMIREZ COL 1:14.30
10 ARI AILIO FIN 1:14.65
Here's 2006:
1 ROQUE SANTOS USA 1:08.34
2 ANDREA AGOSTINONE ITA 1:08.43
3 AARON BARTLESON USA 1:10.33
4 RICARDO TORRES PAN 1:10.59
5 MIKE LANE USA 1:10.79
6 LORENZO BENUCCI USA 1:11.70
7 RAY SMITH RSA 1:13.51
8 PETER FINNEY USA 1:13.64
9 LUKE SALERNO USA 1:14.05
10 MARK OLDHAM CAN 1:14.40
Well, how about that? I thought that the 2010 times looked fast, and they are! Despite no fancy suits, at least down in 35-39 100 ***, it looks like the boys are swimming faster than ever!
Alright. One more comparisson. This time in my esteemed teammate's age group in the 100 *** 65-69:
Here's 2010:
1 Kenneth Frost 1944 Tamalpais Aquatic Masters 38.13 1:20.98 CR
2 Dieter Hoefel 1945 Sparta Konstanz 38.57 1:22.37
3 Pertti Laaksonen 1943 Helsingin Uimarit 41.68 1:25.23
4 Peter Frenzel 1943 SG Stadtwerke München 40.47 1:27.65
5 Gabor Somlai 1944 UJBUDA Senior SC Budapest 40.96 1:28.59
6 Pavel Pejsa 1944 Bohemians Praha 42.81 1:30.00
7 Peter Stockhammer 1945 Delphin Herzogenaurach 42.26 1:30.03
8 Matthias Kroner 1943 Göteborg Sim 43.48 1:31.15
9 Siffroy Alain 1943 CHALLANS NATATION 42.63 1:31.19
10 Alexander Morshin 1945 Moscow Masters 41.03 1:31.43
Here's 2008:
1 GERSHON SHEFA ISR 1:21.75
2 RICHARD TODD USA 1:24.00
3 ERIK HAITES CAN 1:24.97
4 RAINER OPITZ GER 1:27.03
5 MATTHIAS KRONER SWE 1:28.65
6 ANTONIO ORSELLI BRA 1:28.78
7 HENRY MORRIS *** GBR 1:30.50
8 KEITH SHAW CAN 1:31.01
9 BRYAN FINLAY CAN 1:31.80
10 GIANFRANCO NASTI ITA 1:31.97
Here's 2006:
1 J.GOODWIN AUS 1:26.74
2 MIKE FRESHLEY USA 1:27.50
3 KARL WIEDAMANN USA 1:27.60
4 KARL ODKOLEK GER 1:30.34
4 PETER JOSEPH AUS 1:30.34
6 MICHAEL LAUX USA 1:30.46
7 DONALD PUCHALSKI USA 1:33.95
8 JIM PERILMAN USA 1:34.68
9 J.MADELENAT FRA 1:35.89
10 HIROYUKI NAGAOKA JPN 1:36.50
(For comparisson, Ken Frost went 1:18.16 two years ago when he was 64 and 1:17.89 in 2006 when he was 62.)
Again, this year the times were faster than in the prior two Worlds. So on an admittedly limited data set, I'm feeling that the explanation for time differences probably has less to do with the suits than it does with the swimmers.
