Time observations about World's

Seems like a significant difference to me--upwards of a 2 second difference for 100 m free. They just need to train harder and eat better.

The few times at the top are slower, but Cecilia Stanford, the only common name on the list is actually .4 faster this time. And the end of the top ten is two seconds slower. I don't think you can draw any conclusions from this group. It's too different from last time. I had the same thought. If you could compare the same swimmers from the previous worlds, in the same event, then we might have a better understanding of the suit factors.

Maybe Leslie was right. I thought that women would fare much better than men with the suit change rules, but if this is any indication, they are swimming slower too. I told you so. :D

Saw Vlad had a nice 100 free, 51.72.

Leslie is frequently right. However, before her most recent "I told you so" is 100 percent validated, I think we may need more data. Jack Martin just told me the 200 free results are in, and the winning time in my age group is a 2:14--the same that I did last year. Nobody is going to mistake me for a world beater. The suit has clearly made a difference in men. Let me post the times for the 200 in my and Leslie's age group, this year and in 2008: Event 12, 200m Free Men, Finals 55 - 59 years Place Name Born Club 50m 100m 150m Finish Status 1 Tom Hickcox 1953 Arizona Masters USA 30.41 1:04.08 1:39.14 2:14.61 2 Larry Krauser 1953 Hydropower Masters Swim Club USA 31.40 1:07.07 1:42.78 2:15.81 3 Bengt Jönsson 1955 Sollefteå Allmänna Simsällskap SWE 32.87 1:08.25 1:43.66 2:18.27 4 Miroslaw Warchol 1953 WMT Warsaw POL 32.76 1:07.74 1:44.37 2:21.10 5 Claudio Berrini 1954 Centro Nuoto Bastia ITA 33.66 1:09.14 1:45.91 2:21.28 6 Anthony Morris 1955 Aer Lingus Masters IRL 32.22 1:07.14 1:43.53 2:21.32 7 Joel Kriger 1953 Masters Parana BRA 33.35 1:08.92 1:44.94 2:21.55 8 Percival Knowles 1955 Swift Swimming BAH 32.81 1:08.65 1:45.28 2:21.93 9 Franck Mage 1955 Ems Bron FRA 33.11 1:10.04 1:46.72 2:22.02 10 Alexander Mills 1951 Hamar IL NOR 32.78 1:08.56 1:45.20 2:22.07 (note: my time at LCM Nats last summer was 2:14.73!) ********************************** M E N -- 55-59 -- 200 M. FREE ********************************** 1 WILLIAM DEVENISH AUS 2:09.54 2 LARRY KRAUSER USA 2:11.01 3 J.CHATARD FRA 2:13.70 4 ALEXANDER MILLS NOR 2:14.00 5 DOUG HOWIESON RSA 2:14.93 6 ROSS KEE AUS 2:15.15 7 JOEL KRIGER BRA 2:15.91 8 MACIEJ SLUGOCKI AUS 2:16.45 9 PETER RAE GBR 2:16.76 10 LUIS PINEYRO MEX 2:18.19 Event 11, 200m Free Women, Finals 45 - 49 years Est. start time 12:00 Place Name Born Club 50m 100m 150m Finish Status 1 Susanna Rosén 1963 Ystads Simsällskap SWE 31.37 1:05.17 1:40.71 2:16.41 2 Dymphna Morris 1961 Aer Lingus Masters IRL 33.04 1:08.72 1:45.26 2:22.76 3 Carola Khouri 1962 AHSM USA 33.68 1:10.09 1:47.41 2:23.18 4 Marcelle Strauss 1964 Cape Town Masters SC RSA 32.72 1:08.88 1:47.54 2:25.95 5 Anne-Mari Käräjämies 1964 Nummelan Kisaajat FIN 33.34 1:09.47 1:48.56 2:26.54 6 Dorothea Pielke 1965 SGS Hannover GER 34.23 1:12.13 1:50.58 2:29.20 7 Julie Astley 1965 Adelaide Masters AUS 33.73 1:10.99 1:49.88 2:29.71 8 Sandrine Le Meur 1964 CL OMNISPORTS VERNOUILLET FRA 34.23 1:12.17 1:51.83 2:31.04 9 Beate Schortmann 1965 Heidmühler FC GER 34.82 1:14.37 1:54.59 2:33.90 10 Lena Marklund 1965 Upsala Simsällskap SWE 35.47 1:13.42 1:53.52 2:34.63 ********************************** WOMEN -- 45-49 -- 200 M. FREE ********************************** 1 K.PIPES-NEILSEN FRA 2:13.19 2 REBECCA PERROTT NZL 2:13.55 3 SUSANNE SIMPSON USA 2:15.27 4 SUSANNA ROSEN SWE 2:17.73 5 ENEY JONES USA 2:18.10 6 BARBARA SMITH AUS 2:23.04 7 ELIZABETH WEBB RSA 2:25.25 8 DENISE BROWN USA 2:25.70 9 JOANNE SUTCLIFFE AUS 2:25.92 10 CAROLYN TURNHAM AUS 2:26.09

Anybody getting a sense to what extent the lack of the body suits are affecting men and women? Here is the 100 for my age group without the tech suits: 1 Tom Hickcox 1953 Arizona Masters 28.90 59.71 2 Larry Krauser 1953 Hydropower Masters Swim Club 29.94 1:00.56 3 Leonard Bielicz 1951 Göteborg Sim 28.41 1:01.11 4 James Montgomery 1955 Dallas Aquatic Masters 29.87 1:01.61 5 Alexander Mills 1951 Hamar IL 29.55 1:02.09 6 Eric van Boer 1954 Rolling Hills Mud Sharks 29.64 1:02.19 7 Bengt Jönsson 1955 Sollefteå Allmänna Simsällskap 30.75 1:02.69 8 Claudio Berrini 1954 Centro Nuoto Bastia 30.28 1:03.27 9 Bob White 1954 001-WMAC 29.90 1:03.33 Here is the same event from 2008 in Perth: M E N -- 55-59 -- 100 M. FREE ********************************** 1 LARRY KRAUSER USA 0:58.78 2 ALEXANDER MILLS NOR 0:59.27 3 WILLIAM DEVENISH AUS 0:59.52 4 LEONARD BIELICZ SWE 0:59.78 5 MIKE TENNANT USA 1:00.18 6 ROSS KEE AUS 1:01.56 7 JOHN WYNBERG AUS 1:01.82 8 LUIS PINEYRO MEX 1:02.14 9 DOUG HOWIESON RSA 1:02.48 10 TIMOTHY BACH AUS 1:02.74 Seems like a significant difference to me--upwards of a 2 second difference for 100 m free.

Here, by the way, are the times for 100 free in Leslie "The Fortress" Livingston's age group: Now: Event 5, 100m Free Women, Finals 45 - 49 years Est. start time 12.30 Place Name Born Club 50m Finish Status 1 Susanne Reibel-Oberle 1964 SSV Lahr GER 31.06 1:03.70 2 Cecilia Stanford 1961 Cape Town Masters SC RSA 31.58 1:03.84 3 Susanna Rosén 1963 Ystads Simsällskap SWE 30.82 1:04.01 4 Carola Khouri 1962 AHSM USA 31.12 1:04.98 5 Marcelle Strauss 1964 Cape Town Masters SC RSA 31.07 1:06.12 6 Ann-Louise Arktoft 1964 Stockholmspolisens Sim IF SWE 31.17 1:06.32 7 Sybille Ermisch 1964 SV Halle e.V. GER 31.17 1:07.04 8 Wilma van Velsen 1964 Montferland NED 32.74 1:07.77 9 Tine Carstensen 1962 Næstved IF DEN 33.04 1:08.06 10 Dorothea Pielke 1965 SGS Hannover GER 32.13 1:08.31 Perth: ********************************** WOMEN -- 45-49 -- 100 M. FREE ********************************** 1 REBECCA PERROTT NZL 1:01.03 2 SUSANNA ROSEN SWE 1:02.55 3 CECILIA STANFORD RSA 1:03.40 4 BARBARA GELLRICH GER 1:03.49 5 ENEY JONES USA 1:04.42 6 SHIZUKO HIRAISHI JPN 1:05.31 7 SALLY STANFORD AUS 1:05.51 8 CAROLYN TURNHAM AUS 1:06.45 9 TINE CARSTENSEN DEN 1:06.47 10 BARBARA SMITH AUS 1:06.88 Maybe Leslie was right. I thought that women would fare much better than men with the suit change rules, but if this is any indication, they are swimming slower too.

I must point out that Vladislav Bragin, the world record holder in the 35-39 100 ***, swam more than three seconds slower than the world record he set last November. I just checked results for the 50, and he didn't even win. He went almost a second slower than his 50 world record (but still faster than I was able to go this summer). When I watched video of both those world records, I believed -- and still do -- that the suits were of big help to him. Unless there was a major headwind, he didn't have his suit tied, his goggles filled with water and he was not tapered this week, there's no other explanation for a three-second differential in a 100 in six months. Also of note (at least to me): Ukranian Olympian Oleg Lisogor swam a 28.63 in the 30-34 50 ***, breaking my meet record of 29.01 from 2006.

I must point out that Vladislav Bragin, the world record holder in the 35-39 100 ***, swam more than three seconds slower than the world record he set last November. I just checked results for the 50, and he didn't even win. He went almost a second slower than his 50 world record (but still faster than I was able to go this summer). When I watched video of both those world records, I believed -- and still do -- that the suits were of big help to him. Unless there was a major headwind, he didn't have his suit tied, his goggles filled with water and he was not tapered this week, there's no other explanation for a three-second differential in a 100 in six months. Also of note (at least to me): Ukranian Olympian Oleg Lisogor swam a 28.63 in the 30-34 50 ***, breaking my meet record of 29.01 from 2006. I'm not saying the suits have no effect. For me personally, the suits made me about 1 second faster per 100 than when I was shaved and wearing an FS Pro jammer. I'm just saying that, as you imply, there are lots of factors which could lead to slower times and it's not all (or necessarily even primarily) attributable to the suits. Maybe Vlad's career, family or other interests interfered with his training and he was badly out of shape. Or maybe he was sick recently (or currently). Or a host of other things. I can't believe that the suits could cause an elite-class swimmer to drop 3 seconds in his 100 ***. I'd be curious for his perspective.

I'm not saying the suits have no effect. For me personally, the suits made me about 1 second faster per 100 than when I was shaved and wearing an FS Pro jammer. I'm just saying that, as you imply, there are lots of factors which could lead to slower times and it's not all (or necessarily even primarily) attributable to the suits. Maybe Vlad's career, family or other interests interfered with his training and he was badly out of shape. Or maybe he was sick recently (or currently). Or a host of other things. I can't believe that the suits could cause an elite-class swimmer to drop 3 seconds in his 100 ***. I'd be curious for his perspective. I had just about everything go wrong for me in my preparation for my taper meet three weeks ago, and I swam a second slower than my high-tech suit time in the 50 *** (my only high-tech event in long course last year). So, if he really had poor preparation, I will understand. But I doubt that was the case. That's all I have to say about that.