Just returned from the DAM scm meet in Dallas. The format was slightly different this year, with all events on one day, but the pool conditions were the same. Tapered and shaved and wore Aquablade jammers instead of a full body B70. My training had been solid, and I'd had no recent illnesses.
What I found was a 2 second difference per 100 in the 400. Granted this was the last event (at 11:30 am), and I had already swum the 1500 four hours earlier (which was by the way slower than my 1650 in February also wearing a B70). I plan to retaper for zones in two weeks and swim another 400 (first event of the day). Perhaps I will be able to shave a bit of time off (no pun intended).
Train harder? Train smarter? No--I believe the difference in suits is very real.
Anybody dare to propose an alternative?I'll try to remember to model the differential 2010 vs 2011 once we have the full SCY season. With enough data -- and the assumption that all other things were equal -- we can develop a mathematical estimate of this effect.
Good swims gull, great to see you this weekend
I prefer full body suits, but Jammer's aren't so bad. I was pretty far off in some races and close in others
close ones were:
50 br 2009 31.49 2010 32.0
50 bk 2007 27.40 2010 27.70
50 fl 2009 26.36 2010 26.7
I think I could have done a better 100 IM & 100 fl this weekend
but chose not to swim those events.
IM 1:03.5 in Tempe and 1:00.14 last year
FL 1:01.9 in tempe & 58.0 last year at Long Beach
It is possible to beat suit times in just jammers, but for most it will take some serious training.
what was your 300 time in practice?
Ande
So this weekend I re-tapered and re-shaved for our Zones meet in San Antonio. I wore a pair of LZR Elite jammers instead of my Aquablades. In the 400 free I dropped over three seconds from the DAM meet two weeks ago, just six seconds off my best time in a Blue Seventy full body suit. Then, in the 800, I swam a personal best, finishing a full second faster than my goal time. More importantly, I held it together both mentally and physically for the entire race, finally dispatching the demons that have slowed me down in the past. This was probably my most satisfying swim ever. Finally, this morning wearing my Endurance jammers I swam a timed 300 (from a pushoff) ten seconds faster than I ever have before in practice, equalling my 500 race pace in Atlanta (when I was wearing my Blue Seventy).
I am OK with the new reality.
So this weekend I re-tapered and re-shaved for our Zones meet in San Antonio. I wore a pair of LZR Elite jammers instead of my Aquablades. In the 400 free I dropped over three seconds from the DAM meet two weeks ago, just six seconds off my best time in a Blue Seventy full body suit. Then, in the 800, I swam a personal best, finishing a full second faster than my goal time. More importantly, I held it together both mentally and physically for the entire race, finally dispatching the demons that have slowed me down in the past. This was probably my most satisfying swim ever. Finally, this morning wearing my Endurance jammers I swam a timed 300 (from a pushoff) ten seconds faster than I ever have before in practice, equalling my 500 race pace in Atlanta (when I was wearing my Blue Seventy).
I am OK with the new reality.
So this weekend I re-tapered and re-shaved for our Zones meet in San Antonio. I wore a pair of LZR Elite jammers instead of my Aquablades. In the 400 free I dropped over three seconds from the DAM meet two weeks ago, just six seconds off my best time in a Blue Seventy full body suit. Then, in the 800, I swam a personal best, finishing a full second faster than my goal time. More importantly, I held it together both mentally and physically for the entire race, finally dispatching the demons that have slowed me down in the past. This was probably my most satisfying swim ever. Finally, this morning wearing my Endurance jammers I swam a timed 300 (from a pushoff) ten seconds faster than I ever have before in practice, equalling my 500 race pace in Atlanta (when I was wearing my Blue Seventy).
I am OK with the new reality.
Good job Gull!
I am OK with the new reality.
Bump.
Excellent, Gull. I'm fine with it too, though I still miss and vastly prefer the full body speed suits.
My times comparison in SCM from 2009/2010 -- all done tapered at NE Champs in December for a relatively "apples to apples" comparison. (Skipped the 100 IM this year.)
50 fly: 29.6/30.3 = +.7
50 ***: 37.6/38.9 = +1.3
50 free: 28.2/28.7 = +.5 (but 4th event of the day)
50 back: 31.14/31.14 = same time
100 fly: 1:09.8/1:10.2 = +.4
100 back: 1:09.5/1:10.2 = +.7
I added time in all my events except the 50 back, but much less time than I had anticipated. My short axis 50s suffered more than my long axis 50s, also as anticipated. Overall, I was very pleased because I expected to be 2-3 seconds off in the stroke 100s, especially in SCM.
I have heard it "is theorized" that the sprint backstrokes are the least effected of the 4 strokes. In my case, that would seem to be true.
Oh, and evilstroke without a speed suit absolutely sucks. However, happily I did not DQ. :D
Bump.
Excellent, Gull. I'm fine with it too, though I still miss and vastly prefer the full body speed suits.
My times comparison in SCM from 2009/2010 -- all done tapered at NE Champs in December for a relatively "apples to apples" comparison. (Skipped the 100 IM this year.)
50 fly: 29.6/30.3 = +.7
50 ***: 37.6/38.9 = +1.3
50 free: 28.2/28.7 = +.5 (but 4th event of the day)
50 back: 31.14/31.14 = same time
100 fly: 1:09.8/1:10.2 = +.4
100 back: 1:09.5/1:10.2 = +.7
I added time in all my events except the 50 back, but much less time than I had anticipated. My short axis 50s suffered more than my long axis 50s, also as anticipated. Overall, I was very pleased because I expected to be 2-3 seconds off in the stroke 100s, especially in SCM.
I have heard it "is theorized" that the sprint backstrokes are the least effected of the 4 strokes. In my case, that would seem to be true.
Oh, and evilstroke without a speed suit absolutely sucks. However, happily I did not DQ. :D
Yay, Leslie!
I'm okay with the new reality, too. Unusual results, but only two events to compare:
50 SCM ***:
- 2009: 31.22 (B70 Nero Comp)
- 2010: 31.33 (Speedo FSII Jammer)
100 SCM ***
- 2009: 1:10.02 (B70 Nero Comp)
- 2010: 1:11.74 (Speedo FSII Jammer)
By my thinking, the suit adjustment factor must be some function of distance/race speed, affecting short sprint races much less than longer ones and middle/distance events.
