Saturday, March 29, 2008

'Speedo Lazr' discussed in the L.A. Times - Sidenote: I can't believe that they didn't retouch out his "$1.50" in the photo below

This article sent to me by blogger Trevr. I am astonished that the LA Times didn't color correct this photo but rather published a JPG of it with the "Photoshop levels" blown out so badly that you can literally see though the dark parts of the suit; (Note below the knee and how the skin shows though). Consequently, the highlights on his "$1.50" are so extreme that one can see how well or how meekly he may be endowed. Poor guy; and look at Amanda Beard, her face reads as if she is thinking, thank goodness Phelps is the focal point. But enough about my problems...

The L.A. Times article tackles the controversy regarding the Seedo Lazr. Here is a snippet:

"... French swim officials, in particular, complain that the sport is beginning to resemble Formula One racing. The turbulent times for swimming and the focus on technology is reminiscent of the changes in tennis and golf, when wooden rackets and old-school clubs went to the back of the garage for good, replaced by their sleeker composite cousins.

"I'm an old swimmer," said Furniss, who won a bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics. "An old guy who is old school in a lot of stuff. But the reality is you look at any sport, any equipment, whether it was a bamboo pole in the pole vault going to fiberglass. . . . In swimming we're doing the same thing. We're just doing it in the water. ..." [Link]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The science of swimming has improved with the Speedo LZR; the art of swimming as all but disappeared.

Anonymous said...

Nah, swimming has just figured out how to balance both art and science now. If you watch people like Phelps and Coughlin race...and it's especially noticeable in a short course pool...the sheer smoothness of their strokes and efficiency off the wall is remarkable. There is no shortage of "art" in their performances, regardless of the suit. And Libby Lenton broke 53 in the 100 free already without the LZR at Duel, it just counted this time.

Anonymous said...

the french federation will be discusing if the speedo lzr will be allowed or not at the french trials because the new suit is not available in france until june so the swimmers who are not sponsered by speedo won't be able to buy the suit.

Tony Austin said...

Speedo will have to release a model by June or they will be summarily embarrassed if athletes are forced to wear the previous Speedo Fastskin and then continue to set world records that surpass the LAZR.