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 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.
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?
Jim,
I thought that the tech suits were only allowed for this summer in OW. I hope not. Enough is enough with these crap.
The numbers from Puerto Rico weren't bad since Rutgers in 2003 had a similar numbers. Rutgers was an easier than easy location to get to.
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.
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?
Jim,
I thought that the tech suits were only allowed for this summer in OW. I hope not. Enough is enough with these crap.
The numbers from Puerto Rico weren't bad since Rutgers in 2003 had a similar numbers. Rutgers was an easier than easy location to get to.
