If you were a fan of the high tech suits, and
if you swam a SCY 100 freestyle in such a suit at a meet last year around this time of the season, and
if you have swum a SCY 100 freestyle under fairly similar circumstances this year so far, and
if your training is more or less approximately in equal ball parks, and
you are a guy,
then please consider participating in my humble little poll.
Thanks!
Was 2.6 seconds slower in 100M freestyle, but, I'm pretty sure that a good portion of that was preparation as my 100 fly was only 1.4 seconds slower year-over-year / B70 to jammers.
It's definitely hard to know for sure. We do a lot of these little meets over the course of the fall and winter, and so I usually get to swim the 100 3-5 teams per season before any "big" meet. Last year, my times for the 100 ranged from 53.35 to 54.20.
This year, I have only swum a 100 SCM (1:01.2, which converts to a 54.90, give or take) and a 55.2 today (my slowest 100 in years).
Neither of these times this year would be bad for me if I could confidently subtract out 1-2 seconds to account from going from a B70 to a jammer. I guess I should probably just mentally make the shift, but it's hard to suddenly shift from thinking that a 55 is a terrible to thinking it's not necessarily that much different that I was swimming before "with assistance."
I suppose we will know more comparing this year's SCM top 10 times to last year's--and even more when this year's SCY top 10 times finally come out next summer!
My time in the 100 free is .6 faster in my full body B70 than shaved and tapered, or about 1.3 faster than unshaved. In both cases, I was wearing an FS Pro Jammer, which I think is pretty close to the current wave of jammer tech suits. I think the jammer tech suits eliminate drag caused by either leg hair or the regular suit material though I'm not sure they are worth what companies are charging for them...
I calculated the percent difference between last years SCM championship meet at Long Beach with a B70 and this year with the jammer: these are 50, 100, 200 and 400 free and 100 IM. I aged up to 60 - 64 last year.
'09 / '10 / % diff
27.10 / 27.69/ 2.2%
59.76 / 1:01.19/ 2.4%
2:14.66/ 2:17.53/ 2.1%
4:49.57/ 4:53.44/ 1.4%
1:10.41/ 1:12.08/ 2.4%
By the time I got to the 100 IM this year , the last individual event (then I swam the last 200 free relay) I had swum 10 events and I had swum the 50 back just before the IM, so the IM time is maybe not a good comparison from last year where I swam a total of 7 events. However, I believe the other events compare well with last year.
One other thing is that I shaved this year but did not last year and I have a pile of chest hair on the floor to prove it.
I think the suitmakers became addicted to the profits of the tech suits and are trying to convince us that a new permeable jammer is worth 2/3 as much as a full body B70 cost.
It isn't shocking that manufacturers like profits. Why shouldn't they? I like to be paid for doing my job, too.
I think the suitmakers (mostly correctly) believe that today's swimmers and college coaches have been conditioned to paying a lot for suits over the last few years, and to believe that paying top dollar will translate to faster times.
What do the new tech jammers do if anything?
Are they worth the cost or just get good poly jammers?
I have a hard time with any of the new competition jammers that cost well over $200.
I think the suitmakers became addicted to the profits of the tech suits and are trying to convince us that a new permeable jammer is worth 2/3 as much as a full body B70 cost.
