SUIT EQUALITY

You are being selective here. Goggles are a device which aids speed and buoyancy during a race. So you now want goggles banned too? I admire your desire to see absolute purity in our sport. I will give ya the first part, they do aid speed. But how do they aid buoyance? I have never worn a pair that have helped me float.

You are being selective here. Goggles are a device which aids speed and buoyancy during a race. So you now want goggles banned too? I admire your desire to see absolute purity in our sport. I think there is a distinction which can be made between things that slow you down, like wool suits, and things that speed you up, like fins and tech suits. Nylon suits slow you down less than wool suits. Goggles are a complete red herring, they allow goggles to reduce the exposure of eyeballs to chlorine not to allow you to swim faster. Goggles don't differentially compensate for deficiencies in training (e.g. lesser core strength) or seriously play into the results of races. If you think of swim races as testing athleticism on an even playing field, you don't compromise that by allowing goggles. Increasingly "purity" and "purist" are being used the same way "politically correct" is, and I don't think that helps elevate the debate.

Not as much flotation as rectal air injection.

Not personally, it was some thing the East Germans experimented with in the old days. I have written about it in the past. It may be found if you searched for "A Blast from the Past".

You've clearly not coached disabled swimmers. Totally blind swimmers swim faster with goggles than without. Data please. While I think it is reprehensible for FINA to allow a practice that provides such a clear advantage to blind swimmers, for the rest of us, goggles serve a healthy purpose: protecting our eyes. That's why they are allowed.

You've clearly not coached disabled swimmers. Totally blind swimmers swim faster with goggles than without. I'll leave you to judge the reason why. How does one learn to swim and flip turn on time blind? Especially as they gain strength/speed they'll be constantly thrown off at their average distance per stroke!

Still I'd like to know the official answer. I also wouldn't mind knowing how one goes from "blind swimmers do better with goggles" (even if true) to "banning tech suits was the dumbest decision in the history of sport." Perhaps if I were expert at coaching blind swimmers I might see the logic, but I'm not and I don't.

One of the ladies at our state & local meets has a helper tap her with a tennis ball at he correct time for the turns.

Totally blind swimmers swim faster with goggles than without. I'll leave you to judge the reason why. By golly, I've thought long and hard about this. I'm stumped. Please, tell me why.

How does one learn to swim and flip turn on time blind? Especially as they gain strength/speed they'll be constantly thrown off at their average distance per stroke! Don't they have people with tennis balls on fishing rods to bop them on the head as they approach the wall? As for the goggles - welll I reckon chlorinated water would still sting your eyes whether you can see or not so it'd be more comfortable to swim with goggles. Still I'd like to know the official answer.