2010 SCM Zone Championships

At least you get to wear a kneeskin... I can pay $150+ for a jammer that's stretched out after two meets. I think we should just ban suits completely :rofl: Okay - maybe not.

but I just thought we've had a long time on the threads -- days? weeks? months? -- where we didn't debate the suits. I feel the same, except with the topic being training instead of suits. It seems like everyone wants to discuss training when it is time to taper for Nationals. Sorry, time to taper for nationals.

I'm sure life gets in everyone's way from time to time. We are masters after all, many of us with families and jobs. But aren't these factors the same every year? Probably you are right. While life getting in the way waxes and wanes for any one person from year to year, (as I was attempting to show using myself as an example) it probably varies more slowly averaged over the swimming community. The economy may play a role this year, as Q has noted elsewhere. But perhaps the lack of suits is one among many factors that effects people's thinking? I suspect that the suit thing is in fact giving some people second thoughts when they contemplate entering a meet. When I saw all of the fast times from Atlanta I thought to myself that attendance at meets would drop, at least temporarily, because people would be reluctant to compare themselves to the times they swam in a tech suit. I agree that the economy is almost certainly a big factor too. One consequence of the slow economy appears to be that people who remain employed are getting a larger workload and "feeling the heat" more on the job, so the bad economy is likely leading to life (work) getting in the way more. Maybe the slow economy is also preventing people from *hosting* meets. Last year there were several within striking distance of here that are not being held this year.

The lack of suits does effect my decision making somewhat though. At least you get to wear a kneeskin... I can pay $150+ for a jammer that's stretched out after two meets.

None for me! Not traveling. But all meets sound like fun! For a tune-up, consider the DAMM SCM meet on 11/20/10. All events combined, except for the fastest heats of the 4 x 50's, which will have 1 heat men, 1 heat women of the fastest seed times. Sweet, no chance of me getting beat by chowmi head to head in the 50s. I just have to watch it on the 100 free.

What about the economy? I've heard a couple of mumblings about that from our team. Many of us will only go to one-day local meets, except for New England SCY Champs at Harvard, which many of us are prepping to attend. I agree with this theory more than suits affecting attendance.

Consider a guy who, for a living, bills his client $XXX an hour for services. Every hour spent in the pool is an hour not spent billing a client - and, for most professionals, every hour not spent in the pool has a dollar cost that's greater than the cost of a fancy suit. I guess when I'm retired - or if I could figure out how to find one of those jobs where time doesn't matter, where salary is a certainty and tenure is not a funny joke - I could reach beyond the idea that the biggest advantage in all of swimming is the time and money that some swimmers have to train regularly and for as long as they need, and with great coaches and teams. For many professional people, however, time is much more dear than the cost of a suit - or the impact of the suit. I'm sorry, this is complete BS. Using your logic, lawyer A who bills more than lawyer B should be given a handicap because s/he worked harder on the job. They might earn more money, and that's as it should be. They don't also get to earn time off their performance in the pool. USMS is for adults who are "dedicated to improving their fitness through swimming." Buying a speedsuit doesn't instantly increase your fitness, it just allows you to pretend that is so. Speed is earned in the pool or in the gym or by having the right parents. Why are we having this argument exactly? Your side lost. Time to move on and live with it.

Wow, how did this go from talking about SCM Zones to the tech suits yet again?!

Wow, how did this go from talking about SCM Zones to the tech suits yet again?! Beats me (forums.usms.org/showpost.php :bolt:

I enjoy speed I've earned through preparation and performance, not speed I've purchased. Consider a guy who, for a living, bills his client $XXX an hour for services. Every hour spent in the pool is an hour not spent billing a client - and, for most professionals, every hour not spent in the pool has a dollar cost that's greater than the cost of a fancy suit. I guess when I'm retired - or if I could figure out how to find one of those jobs where time doesn't matter, where salary is a certainty and tenure is not a funny joke - I could reach beyond the idea that the biggest advantage in all of swimming is the time and money that some swimmers have to train regularly and for as long as they need, and with great coaches and teams. For many professional people, however, time is much more dear than the cost of a suit - or the impact of the suit.