Today I Raced in a Short Course Yards Meet at Loyola Marymount University!

LMU had a fund-raiser today for their women's swim team and I "legally" got to race in two separate tech suits to see which was faster: a FINIS AMPhibian or my beat up TYR Tracer Light.

First, details about the event and how fun it was.

Two swimmers once told me that LMU is God's gift to swimming. Those were the exact words from two people who did not know each other. Sort of apropos too since LMU is a Catholic University here in Los Angeles.

This LMU event was a NON-SANCTIONED SPMA/USMS event and I had a blast!

SCAQ puts on the event yearly to support the girls team. It's like the "Duel in Pool" but it's the SCAQ masters swimmers versus the LMU girls. Our best guy posted a 20.33 for a 50-free. His name is Matt and he is now a SCAQ coach! :-P

We promoted the event just inside SCAQ circles and I believe that we raised a couple-thousand dollars or more. Oh, and there was free food too!

Next year you are all invited and you can bring your fins, tech-suits, Mexican wrestler masks, monofins, paddles, snorkels, sons, daughters and you can even bring your friends. The meet only took three hours to conduct and you literally picked which events you wanted to swim on the fly. If there was an empty block, climb on and swim! We had touch pads, a score board, Olympian Clay Evans as the meet director and a bunch of brand new swimmers who had a blast.

The events I swam were all freestyle with nothing longer than 50-yards. I was in a 200- free SCY relay, an individual 50-free and finally a 200-IM SCY relay.

I have put over thirty-swims in my Tracer Light so it is getting beat up and the FINIS AMPhibian was new out of the box.

I am not going to break down the sensations I felt, nor the detailed minutiae like I should but rather I will keep it simple.

I swam faster in the TYR Tracer Light!

In an un-tapered swim in the Tracer I rendered a :25.78 for a 50 free in a 200-free SCY relay with a beautiful rolling start. If I was tapered I would have swam faster.

The next two races, an individual 50-free SCY and a 50-free during a 200-IM SCY, I swam a little slower, a :26.05 in the FINIS, and I did not get my exact time for the IM though it appears it was a low :26 posted again in the FINIS.

In the TYR Tracer Light my body position feels level in the water, In the FINIS I feel a more buoyant top-half which made my legs feel asymmetrical. The suit is more effective during breaststroke than free; I learned that by warming down

Your mileage my vary.