2010 SCM Zone Championships

1. Others, Rich right here on this very thread, have wondered it perhaps the suit helped short axis strokes more than the long ones. 2. I asked a couple comments back if any of you have ideas on the impact of body suits on turns. Would, say, a 200 swum in a LCM pool (with a total of 3 turns) be more or less impacted by the suit change than a 200 swum in a SCM pool (with a total of 7 turns.) My personal anecdotal experience thus far is that the answer is YES--that the body suits helped more for short course than long course, probably because they really gave you a nice streamline-glide advantage off the walls (more walls, more advantage.) Any thoughts here? 3. For what it's worth, I don't mind (too much) slowing down with age. But I would very much like to come up with a fair way to compare this year's times in a jammer with last year's times in a B70. 4. It's one thing to accept the New Reality intellectually. But it's another thing to look at times you previously considered really, really horrible for you (and perhaps consider evidence that you are starting to get congestive heart failure or something similarly dire) and instantly feel okay about said new horrible times. 5. Please, mathematicians and swimming statistical scientists, won't you all join me in this noble quest? 6. Suits vs. Age 1. Agree, the lack of the suits impacts short axis strokes more. 2. There is some logic in saying that the suits helped the streamlines off turns in short course. But they also may have prevented core/leg sag and provided buoyancy over the distance of a long course pool. My own long course times in kneeskins were terrible this summer (all 1.5-2 per 50 slower), including 2 personal worsts, though admittedly I was not in terribly good shape from vacationing. 3. So far you're at a reported 5-1.0 per 50. After the SCM and SCY seasons end, you can perhaps nail down the time differential and percentage with somewhat further accuracy. 4. You shouldn't feel horribly, Jimby. The suits affect your times. No doubt, we are just trying to get enough data to be more precise about it -- though it could vary by person and stroke. I think more muscular types could suffer more. 5. I will have a fairly straight up comparison in SCM after this weekend. I will have swum 2 tapered SCM meets at BU in 2009 and 2010, though I believe I was in better shape in 2009. 6. No doubt age will slow us down, as Chris points out. But very incrementally and less, I believe, than the suits in a given year. (At 49 in a kneeskin, for example, I just swam my 2nd fastest 50 back ever.) Though I'm sure for many (including me) the suits did have an overall mental effect of a fountain of youth.

1. Others, Rich right here on this very thread, have wondered it perhaps the suit helped short axis strokes more than the long ones. 2. I asked a couple comments back if any of you have ideas on the impact of body suits on turns. Would, say, a 200 swum in a LCM pool (with a total of 3 turns) be more or less impacted by the suit change than a 200 swum in a SCM pool (with a total of 7 turns.) My personal anecdotal experience thus far is that the answer is YES--that the body suits helped more for short course than long course, probably because they really gave you a nice streamline-glide advantage off the walls (more walls, more advantage.) Any thoughts here? 3. For what it's worth, I don't mind (too much) slowing down with age. But I would very much like to come up with a fair way to compare this year's times in a jammer with last year's times in a B70. 4. It's one thing to accept the New Reality intellectually. But it's another thing to look at times you previously considered really, really horrible for you (and perhaps consider evidence that you are starting to get congestive heart failure or something similarly dire) and instantly feel okay about said new horrible times. 5. Please, mathematicians and swimming statistical scientists, won't you all join me in this noble quest? 6. Suits vs. Age 1. Agree, the lack of the suits impacts short axis strokes more. 2. There is some logic in saying that the suits helped the streamlines off turns in short course. But they also may have prevented core/leg sag and provided buoyancy over the distance of a long course pool. My own long course times in kneeskins were terrible this summer (all 1.5-2 per 50 slower), including 2 personal worsts, though admittedly I was not in terribly good shape from vacationing. 3. So far you're at a reported 5-1.0 per 50. After the SCM and SCY seasons end, you can perhaps nail down the time differential and percentage with somewhat further accuracy. 4. You shouldn't feel horribly, Jimby. The suits affect your times. No doubt, we are just trying to get enough data to be more precise about it -- though it could vary by person and stroke. I think more muscular types could suffer more. 5. I will have a fairly straight up comparison in SCM after this weekend. I will have swum 2 tapered SCM meets at BU in 2009 and 2010, though I believe I was in better shape in 2009. 6. No doubt age will slow us down, as Chris points out. But very incrementally and less, I believe, than the suits in a given year. (At 49 in a kneeskin, for example, I just swam my 2nd fastest 50 back ever.) Though I'm sure for many (including me) the suits did have an overall mental effect of a fountain of youth.