This past week, we learned that FINA is leaning toward requiring Masters swimmers to follow the same suit rules as elite swimmers. If you're a masters swimmer, put in your two cents, and vote on the survey. Read the story about the suits here.
Should "tech suits" be allowed for Masters swimming, or should Masters swimmers be treated as equals to elite swimmers?
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If a masters meet is a FINA approved meet, I would think that the suit rules should be employed.. ..If masters swimming is its own entity I suppose that the swimmers can where those suits, but as soon as the step foot into a USA/FINA competition they are under those rules. |
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Events sanctioned by FINA - FINA rules.
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Billy... this question wasn't about the elite swimmers, it was about masters swimmers. People who don't swim masters personally, shouldn't weigh in on this subject. Also, I guess along those lines, if this is about masters, is there such a thing as "elite masters swimmers"? |
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I think masters should have the better suits. Firstly it is not so much about the competition anyway. Sure some of the guys go for World records, but at the end masters swimming is not about the performance, it's about being active and enjoying the sport. And if the better suits mean that more older people can/ want to participate, even better. Seeing 60year old men and women walking to the starting blocks with a person on their side helping them walk and then seeing the same guys and girls swimming the 200m butterfly is simply amazing. |
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Well my option is really different to you sprinter - swimming to me is about the performance, even it is masters event. Guys and gals out there are taking it so seriously. |
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I think teh rules souhld be equal.....what age is the limit????....you don't need a supersuit to have fun swimming and perform at your best.
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why do our commenst always get posted double?? |
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Glenn, I'm confused by your response to my answer... > People who don't swim masters personally, shouldn't weigh in on this subject.
> (if this is about masters), is there such a thing as "elite masters swimmers"?
So to the question, should tech-suites be allowed in Masters? I think I still stand by my above answer. My personal preference would be for Masters swimmers to be allowed to wear fabric bodysuits (if they wish), because I am sure there are a good number of Masters swimmers who are "body conscious" and the invention of the bodysuit was a godsend. So the restriction as to whether these can be worn, seems unfortunate and lacking of insight from the "powers that be". |
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The not posting unless you're a masters swimmer wasn't targeted directly to you... more of a general guideline. Tough to know how old people who post are anyway. :) The elite part was to separate the term elite. You said if the "elite" swimmers don't endorse the suits, the suits will die anyway. That's probably what confused me. The initial question had nothing to do with "elite" swimmers, but rather, masters swimmers, which 99% of the participants wouldn't qualify as elite. Granted, there are a handful of swimmers at masters events that can still compete on the elite level, they usually appear infrequently. My opinion is simple. If FINA is going to treat masters as equals to the "elite" (Olympians), then lets also implement drug testing. If the playing field is to be leveled, then by all means, let's level it totally. Let's get money for world records, let's create national teams to compete against other nations. Let's have tougher qualifying standards so the meets last a maximum number of hours like USA Swim meets. There is no other form of competitive swimming that better encompasses a true love of the sport. The only reason 99% of masters swimmers swim, is for the shear love of the sport, and the friends they see at the meets. A very simple solution to keep this fun, and to keep people happy, is to allow everyone to wear whatever they want. If someone wearing a "tech suit" breaks a record... don't give it to them. If they chose to wear a "tech suit", don't give them medals for winning a race. It's hard to take something away from someone that they've been allowed to use for over a decade. Don't forget, the majority of "elite" competitive swimmers who initiated the full body suits, aren't competing anymore. However, the majority of masters swimmers, who were allowed to wear the suits for the last 10 years, are still competing. To ask masters swimmers, who get nothing back from swimming, to give up something they've gotten used to, could be a formula for an exodus to other sports. This isn't just about the Lazer, Blueseventy and Jaked suits of the past year, it's about full body, legs, short-john suits of any material. Jammers are the next to be put on the chopping block, and before you know it, we'll be asked to swim in the paper suits from the 1970s. Personally, I'm not excited about finding out how small of a suit I can still get into, or spending a day prior to the meet shaving down... then having to sit in my office for the next two weeks, trying to work while dealing with ingrown hairs and the itching that's sure to come. Someone made a joke the other day on Facebook about switching to Open Water racing... and I have to say... it's looking more and more like a viable option. Even though my freestyle stinks compared to my breaststroke, at least I'll be able to see if I'm improving. |
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i think it's at the "heart" of the motive! when your talking about "elite level up and coming super star's spending countless hours battling for olympic dreams or colleage scholarships only to lose out by 1/100'th of a sec because of a product advantage ,than at that point there needs to be a standard set regardless of for or against.(personally they missed the boat with not setting a standard from the begining and i'm glad my kids hadn't experienced the tech suite fully matured and their growth alone will mask any gains made,but i "feel" for those senior swimmers who may never be close to those times again) and that's were i lead into the "master" question i think that when were talking about the well being of people's confidence or health in today's culture anything that promotes activity is a positive. i don't swim master's (coach senior swimmers) but i do play with triathlon and i have to say when training goes stale or you get in a rut a new pair of shoes that feel faster or that bike gadget, can really put a spark back into training. at our age each person compete's for
none of my comments are meant to belittle any of the great accomplishment's any of you guy's as master have achieved ,i know you guy have still great swimmers who put up incredible times and i think it's great to have those goals for the different level of abilities out there , it's what i feel the "heart of the motive" for each individual and besides ,it fun going "faster', bottom line!!!! . |
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Glenn, good points. I know what you mean about ageing people it's hard. My initial comment about elite swimmers... was that without the sizzle-and-glamour of the elites, I can't see the main manufacturers keeping to the production of these tech-suites. So I believe that they will die out "naturally". The was the intent of my comment. I totally agree that masters swimmers should be allowed to feel "comfortable" in what they wear to swim in. Masters, by definition, come in all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities. And I really wouldn't want to loose any more Masters swimmers from our competition circuit. I think something like a 5-year moratorium (is that the right word?) would be a good idea, that way those Masters who've got expensive tech-suites can still get some good mileage out of them. And then as I said above, "fabric" suites of the style(s) pre-LAZR would be fine for me. But again, would the likes of Speedo, Arena, ... still make and sell these suits, just for the Masters community? I don't know, but my gut feeling is no. |
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Hi Eric. I think we all agree about the kids who get touched out because of a product advantage... but at the level you're speaking of, pretty much all of the swimmers have access to the best suits. That's a rule. At World Championships this past summer, the manufacturers were required to bring enough suits to accommodate any request for a suit. If they didn't have enough for every request, then nobody could wear their suits. I like Billy's idea of a suit moratorium, or a time in which you're still allowed to use the suit. I know that the manufacturers are already deep in work on "fabric" that's more slippery than the "rubber" suits from last year. The only question is the size of the suit. I personally think the suits for men and women be the same size, the same coverage. That would level the playing field all over. |
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