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Swimming Pics of the Week - August 4, 2011

Posted by Glenn Mills on Aug 04, 2011 08:21AM (2,723 views)

With the talk of tech suits coming back up, I thought I'd post a pic and short video of what people still use their tech suits for.

These swimmers like to use the suits to get up to speed in season. Not only that... I think they're having fun as well.

Rumors have it that FINA may be revisiting the tech suit issue in 2013, allowing men's suits to have the same coverage area as women's suits. While no one can ultimately predict what's going to happen, or what it will mean for the sport... we do know that the sport will survive, which we've witnessed since the discontinuation of the suits.

Read a little more about the issue here.

blueseventy, dolphin kick, dolphin, pace, training, underwater dolpin

Responses

Chris	Responded Aug 04, 2011 03:26PM I can always appreciate a good kick!
Juliette	Responded Aug 05, 2011 07:20AM oh no....my head is starting to hurt again.....hahahha...(The Dad)!!!
sprinter	Responded Aug 05, 2011 08:13AM Mine too. OUCH!
Windrath	Responded Aug 05, 2011 10:15PM Glen - I do hope FINA revises the suit coverage to allow men the same coverage as women. And, I cannot resist the opportunity to let readers know that Speedo made a suit that incorporated polyurethane in the 90s. It was called the S-2000. No one complained then about the material. Great suit for masters swimmers as well as age groupers. It did not catch on much though and the Aquablade took its place after about 4-5 years. The tech suits ought to be allowed once every 4 years in the Olympics and in open water swims. Fast swimming at the Olympics will ensure the media will see lots of records. FWIW... Paul
sprinter	Responded Aug 06, 2011 08:03AM @Windrath Men should grow boobs and then tell me about same coverage as women! If you want to wear those super suits so badly, do triathlon! C'mon, please let us not discuss all this again! PLEASE!
Glenn Mills	Responded Aug 06, 2011 12:17PM Don't think it's avoidable sprinter. Lots of talk of 2013. Just an FYI.
Sheila	Responded Aug 06, 2011 04:41PM I dont' think there's anything wrong with the men having the same coverage as the women. But I really do not like the idea of different suits for the Olympics. All competitions (Nationals, Worlds, Olympics, etc...) should have same set of records. IMO.
sprinter	Responded Aug 08, 2011 08:03AM OK, then I'll tell you what I think about the prospective come back. FINA should stick to their decision and not go back and forth and back and forth all the time. And yes I am AGAINST the tech suits. They do give advantage and they cost 2/3rd of my salary, which means that next time I destroy myself with full time job and 4h training per day, again, a rich spoiled brat, who doesn't even need to work because mom and dad sponsor everything, will make the team instead of me only because he/ she has the tech suits and I don't, AGAIN. So no, I do not want those suits to be back.
Glenn Mills	Responded Aug 08, 2011 01:58PM I think what we're finding out from a lot of the athletes, is that the current crop of suits is about as expensive as the former tech suits. Your argument in this sounds more economical, which means you should really be for swimming in nylon again. With us knowing that's never going to happen, we are where we are in the world, and things were moving to this point since the late 90's. With or without the "tech suits", the suits would probably be at the same spot they are now, and we'd be talking about body coverage. However, the price of the suits would be where they are, as market forces and the price of creating the suits are what sets the price. Suit makers do their best to create the most up-to-date material that will aid in swimmers going faster. To think that somehow, the rubber suits have had an impact on how technologically advanced textile is at this point, simply isn't a good argument. Rubber is gone forever, and the discussion at this point is about coverage for men. It has nothing to do with spoiled brats or someone being more fortunate to have richer parents. We are where we are, the discussion is going to happen, and being bitter isn't going to solve any issues. We've all had to face those points in competition, and we can either let it fester inside of us, or we can figure out a way to overcome. At no point in life will this NOT become an issue where someone else gets something for working less. Life simply isn't fair. I just don't like hearing all the bitterness in your post sprinter. You're a good person and a great addition to the site and have become a good friend. Don't let this eat you up inside, if anything isn't going to change... it's going to be the female suits. I think everyone is agreed, textile is the new tech, and unfortunately, it costs the manufacturers money to make high tech textile suits... which is, and always will be, their goal.
Juliette	Responded Aug 08, 2011 05:24PM and we still love you sprinter.......The Dad
sprinter	Responded Aug 08, 2011 07:43PM Wait wait wait! Are we talking about the ankles to neck coverage as tech suits or the polyester material as tech suits?! And yes there is a difference! I don't care how much it covers, although I will certainly miss the guys' abs... and for whoever didn't noticed my comment above regarding coverage equality btw men and women was a joke. However it wasn't a joke my other comment about the plastic suits. I do NOT want them back. They're evil :) Textile suits = ok, plastic = NOT ok.
Juliette	Responded Aug 08, 2011 08:17PM Youre right also about another thing,,Fina should stick to their dicision...and not give in to sponsors etc.
Glenn Mills	Responded Aug 08, 2011 10:07PM The new discussion is about equal coverage for both men and women. The suits will be textile, but as space age textile as possible at the time. In my opinion, they SHOULD involved the sponsors, and allow ads plastered all over the suits, with the money sticking with the athletes, and NOT with FINA. Other sports work that way, but our athletes are only allowed to show a tiny logo on their suits. It's not good right now, and these discussions are good. :)
Juliette	Responded Aug 09, 2011 04:46AM FINA could loose their credability(excuse my frech...) if they reverse their dicision,...however should it be that they allow these manufacturers to get involved with the athletes then we are looking at a world similar as the Formula 1. New year, new rules and demands.....and yes...with a lot of stickers on them. Makes you ask what would be the most expensive part of a swimmer. The one that shows more or is the biggest....???? He....I know a good sponsor.....GO SWIM...hahaha....and again...these discusions are good...(The Dad)
Glenn Mills	Responded Aug 09, 2011 10:57AM I don't think this is about FINA reversing a decision, again, they're not going back to rubberized suits. The discussion is about the SIZE of the suits for men. Also, the rules in swimming change far more infrequently than Formula 1. Even with that comparison, at least the manufacturers have years to plan for rule changes, whereas FINA changes rules at the drop of a hat with no warning. By the way, we already do sponsor athletes. The DVDs and videos that feature the Olympic athletes earn income for those athletes. Because of rules, we're not allowed to showcase that partnership publicly when the athlete swims. In other words, FINA would disallow us from putting our logo on the athlete's suit, which could bring more exposure to their products, earn them more money, and keep them in the sport a bit longer. That's how it should work, but I would imagine any talks of that nature within FINA, are more centered on how FINA can get some of the deal between the athletes and companies like ours. Would it be worth it to us? Who knows... maybe so.
Juliette	Responded Aug 09, 2011 11:38AM Regarding to the size....you're absolutelly right. I'm curious about how the suits are going to look. And it would be a great developement if the swimmers could benefit more from publicity, and sponsoring etc. It would help the complete sport grow....even bigger!!!
Jan Mittemeyer	Responded Aug 09, 2011 04:07PM What I find interesting in my little corner of the world is the number of young, senior level kids, who wore the suits and experienced AMAZING performance improvements and could never get back to that level after the suits were banned. My hope is that all the records that were set during the tech suit "phase," and that's what I hope it was, will serve as motivators for some "real" breakthroughs in the future at all levels. It sure was nice to see Lochte under the IM and Phelps right with him without wearing floaties.
Juho Ratava	Responded Aug 10, 2011 07:23AM Reading the linked blog posts the main complaint for some is the money, the change from pay-to-swim-in-our-suits to pay-to-win-in-our-suits model of sponsorship. This, unfortunately, has very little to do with the possible return of more swimsuit coverage - and is something I as an amateur have very little experience with. The climate hasn't really changed here that much - the entire country supports but a handful of pros, when I was more in the pool myself, I think we had two professional swimmers. Naturally, there's only five million of us, so the pros per capita ratio might not be that bad at all (with the same ratio, the United States could support about 120 pro swimmers). So what do suits do to improve performance? Putting a rubber on gave buoyancy, then some form factor (reducing turbulence), compression and body support. Current suits have some compression, turbulence reduction and limited support. The open back reduces core support compared to zipperbacks, but still I assume that shoulders-to-knees suits would increase the support a bit, moving swimming away from "who is the most skilled swimmer" to "who is the strongest swimmer". Of course, to be a World Champion or an Olympic Champion, you need to be both extremely skilled and extremely strong, so the major impact would be for "lesser" international-level competitions, nationals, and youth sports, in my rather uneducated opinion. My personal hunch is that the development of the swimming technique is by no means reached its peak. Our current champions are great, but then occasionally we get swimmers who are edging on being perfect and push the boundaries - it will take time, but the rubber records will all be broken and a "normal" development will continue. As for swim suit coverage, naturally no one expects to see women swim topless, so it is a given that their suits needs to cover more. For men, on the other hand, it is more acceptable to show your bare upper body in most western cultures (some people complain about seeing Masters with a... developed body mass, but seeing a belly stuffed into a body suit isn't pretty either). The equality argument between men and women is dead before it was begun due to gender differences - I assume no one is trying to tell that due to more swimsuit coverage, women swim faster than men. Finally, for the professional segment of swimmers, advertising space is very important. This is partially combined with the swimsuit issue - since in order to allow more visible advertisements, we'd either need more suit coverage and allow larger ads (on chest) or then allow advertising on skin (print and tattoos). Some advertisements also appear on poolside wear, but these aren't very large, either. In FINA competitions, this falls under the FINA bylaws, but I assume that if there were a sponsored meet organized by a national swimming federation, the national swimming federation's advertisement rules would be binding. For example, some clubs around here have track suits with more advertisements than allowed in FINA World Championships and FINA competitions - and it is allowed, since the Finnish Swimming Federation GR6.1 states "FSF note: (FINA) Rules GR 6.1 and BL 7 are in force in the Olympic Games, World Championships and FINA competitions. These restrictions apply to competitions held in Finland only in so far as they are prescribed relating to swimwear." I would assume that USA Swimming and other more powerful national federations would be strong enough to keep their own advertisement rules. Of course, advertisement in Finland isn't really common and there isn't a lot of money in the sport here. (Coaching is slowly becoming professional, though a lot of small teams don't have the means to hire a coach.) The largest "ad" I've seen was a full-back "Sponsored by mommy & daddy, granny & granpa" on a T-shirt.
Mikhail	Responded Aug 23, 2011 07:23PM Yes, swimming is power! These pools - a godsend for swimmers pros!

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Swimming Pics of the Week - August 4, 2011

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