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??
Another explanation for a drop off in the performance is a decline in motivation to train hard, but importantly to race. This is what I see around.
I am convinced that the absence of the long suits is having a profound effect on masters swimming times this year.
Two thoughts: The older you are, the greater the impact of not having the suit. Second, not all swimmers are affected the same by the change. Comparing the world's top ten from 2009 to 2010 over all age groups will eventually give us a much better picture.
I am one who feels he has benefited, time-wise, in a major way from the technical suits, though the difference between textile versions and the floatier B70 types was not nearly as huge as the difference between old-school briefs/jammers and textile body suits.
In fact, the two-second drop per 100 I experienced after first weaing an Aquablade kneeskin when these first came out probably had a major impact on my desire to compete, not so much against other people but against times I had swum myself in high school and college.
At this point, I am bracing myself for a downshift in times, but I am hoping that the loss of the technical suit will not put me at any more of a disadvantage than others in my age group. In fact, part of me hopes (without any real reason for it other than hope springing eternal) that the loss of body suits will effect my fellow age group competitors more than me, and that what I will lose in absolute times I will gain in relative position in the hierarchy of old boys.
The trick, I think, will be surviving my first brush with the new mediocrity!
Rich, as the Godfather to us all, what effect has the suit change had on your motivation to train hard and compete? After last spring's legendary performance, would you be satisfied with a No. 1 time in your age group, even if you swam it a second slower than at Geogia Tech?
Or does the prospect of (horrors!) slipping into the 23s (god forbid!) in the 50 SCY seem to you so depressing that you'd just as soon hang up the sluggish jammers for good and swim now just for fun?
In a separate thread, Rob Copeland asked what will be necessary to grow USMS membership to 100,000 and beyond. It will be interesting to see if the suit change hurts this effort.
One prediction: I suspect OW swimming may increase in popularity since the B70 style suits are still legal here. It remains to be seen what happens with pool meets. Does anyone know how Puerto Rico meet numbers stack up against other somewhat hard-to-get-to Nationals venues from the past?
Another explanation for a drop off in the performance is a decline in motivation to train hard, but importantly to race. This is what I see around.
I am convinced that the absence of the long suits is having a profound effect on masters swimming times this year.
Two thoughts: The older you are, the greater the impact of not having the suit. Second, not all swimmers are affected the same by the change. Comparing the world's top ten from 2009 to 2010 over all age groups will eventually give us a much better picture.
I am one who feels he has benefited, time-wise, in a major way from the technical suits, though the difference between textile versions and the floatier B70 types was not nearly as huge as the difference between old-school briefs/jammers and textile body suits.
In fact, the two-second drop per 100 I experienced after first weaing an Aquablade kneeskin when these first came out probably had a major impact on my desire to compete, not so much against other people but against times I had swum myself in high school and college.
At this point, I am bracing myself for a downshift in times, but I am hoping that the loss of the technical suit will not put me at any more of a disadvantage than others in my age group. In fact, part of me hopes (without any real reason for it other than hope springing eternal) that the loss of body suits will effect my fellow age group competitors more than me, and that what I will lose in absolute times I will gain in relative position in the hierarchy of old boys.
The trick, I think, will be surviving my first brush with the new mediocrity!
Rich, as the Godfather to us all, what effect has the suit change had on your motivation to train hard and compete? After last spring's legendary performance, would you be satisfied with a No. 1 time in your age group, even if you swam it a second slower than at Geogia Tech?
Or does the prospect of (horrors!) slipping into the 23s (god forbid!) in the 50 SCY seem to you so depressing that you'd just as soon hang up the sluggish jammers for good and swim now just for fun?
In a separate thread, Rob Copeland asked what will be necessary to grow USMS membership to 100,000 and beyond. It will be interesting to see if the suit change hurts this effort.
One prediction: I suspect OW swimming may increase in popularity since the B70 style suits are still legal here. It remains to be seen what happens with pool meets. Does anyone know how Puerto Rico meet numbers stack up against other somewhat hard-to-get-to Nationals venues from the past?
