Erik just sent me this, I am posting it without reading it first...
The Suit Showdown a Westwood: Skin vs blueseventy vs Jaked
About the conditions - the Westwood pool is indoors short-course meters without blocks. I did do dives from the pool deck which is about 1 foot above the waterline. The timer did take my time "feet leaving the wall" or a rolling start. I did not want to go from a push because I felt a dive may be a significant part of trying the suits because of the extended underwater. There were 3 other swimmers in the lane - so I did have some waves, but everything fine otherwise.
The Contenders:
Skin has been in the business for 40 years now (at least for me :) ) - skin has been battle tested for decades used to be good enough for all swim meets. Skin can only show it's full potential though once all the hair is removed. Skin HATES all the new contenders for the most part - they represent everything that is wrong with technology and progress.
blueseventy - the new kid on the block is not so new anymore. blueseventy was the new sensation last year. He came out of nowhere and took the country by storm. blueseventy is hip and trendy - he despises anything to do with Speedo and he feels sorry for Skin for being so outdated. My version of the blueseventy is a little older and appears just a little too big right now.
Jaked - the new Italian speedster. Jaked is the Ferrari of swim suits - he fits like an Armani and performs like an Italian sports car. He looks sharp and appears to be the suit of choice for Formula 1 teams (aka top sprinters in the world).
The test:
5x50 Freestyle - 1 Skin, 2 blueseventy and 2 Jaked -- full recovery in between. It took about 5 minutes to get the blueseventy on and about 10 minutes for the Jaked. I did get plenty of rest except for the last 50, since time was running short.
The Showdown:
First swim = Skin = 25.09 -- good start, I have not sprinted all that much, so I would expect a slight improvement on this time for the next few 50s in a regular set.
Second Swim = blueseventy = 24.05 -- "Skin" is in disbelief - how is this possible and how could it be legal.
Third Swim = blueseventy = 23.92 -- "Skin" has left the pool in tears -- Jaked is just waiting for his chance. Jaked is happy to have shown his stuff - he thinks Italians should stick with food rather than speed suits. [LOLz - Tony]
Fourth Swim (after a 10 minute "battle" with the suit) = Jaked = 23.47 -- Jaked wants a check of the timing system. He believes the timer is on the take by the Italian Mafia -- all things Italian must be "connected". The time stands - the swim did not feel all that much different - but 0.45 !!!
5th Swim - not a full recovery = Jaked = 23.80 - felt tired coming home and had to breathe more - even without knowing the time, I would have guessed about 3/10 slower or so.
The Conclusion:
The Jaked has proven to be the winner in the training run -- we will have to wait for race day now....Skin is joining the Craig Lord inquisition movement and Jaked is going back to the drawing board....
9 comments:
hey you think you can lean on Erik to do a similar test in another stroke or two? my personal experience in testing the Tracer Light and Blueseventy is that the stroke you're swimming can make a big difference into which one you end up liking more.
A 6% difference in time from skin to his fastest 50!
Mark Savage
Just some food for thought here-
Erik was 6% faster with the speed suit than he was without it. What if we generalized and applied this 6% difference to an historical swim?
In 1984, Dara Torres set a world-record in the 50 free with a 25.61.
In 2008, wearing a speed suit, she set an American record in the 50 free with a 24.07.
The difference in the two times? 6%
Mark Savage
A 6% improvement skin v. Jaked... And the test seams to indicate a significant difference between the Jaked and the blueseventy...
This sort of thing makes the record book irrelevant.
Frankly, the big issue is not the improvement, skin v. Jaked. I could live with world records and national records being wiped out with the suits.
What I can't stomach, though, is the difference between the suits. It is patently unfair. It changes the sport from technique based to equipment based.
For the suits to stay, they have to be regulated. They have to be uniform.
erik left out a lot of important info!
did he warm up? or use the first set of 50s with "skin" as the warm up?
he mentioned he had to share the lane with other swimmers, but did he ever draft off of these swimmers?
did he use full body suits, leg skin, knee skin, etc?
were any other measurements taken besides time? his reaction time and underwater distance/time should have been measured!
the problem with "experiments" or "studies" like this is that you can't replicate the exact same swim with each different suit/variable.
i would say the only way to "compare" one suit to another is to determine the friction coefficiency of the material, elasticity of the fit, area covered by the suit, etc.
I think the best way to judge if a suit is faster is to look at the athlete's times in a race.
Very cleverly written, amusing article. Can I assume that the skin was not shaved?
Hilarious and fascinating account, thanks Tony and Erik. Certainly does make all the recent WRs seem a little less impressive.
Tony, why must you be so simple when there are so many fabulous ways to overanalyze this? I say we procure a couple Jaked suits and go workout in the fast lane. ;-)
You and I would look really yummy in a Jaked!
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