Four World records set this weekend so far- Is 'Arena' the new 'Speedo' ?

Maly sent me an update regarding Jessica Hardy's suit of choice.

UPDATE: From AP:

She set the world record in the 50 breaststroke with a split of 29.95 seconds when she time-trialed the 100 breaststroke on Thursday.

Hardy wore a Jaked suit Friday. It and other record-breaking polyurethane bodysuits will be banned by swimming's world governing body on Jan. 1.

[Link]

If Speedsuits are allowed in masters in 2010, I suspect Jaked will be a top seller.

Roland Schoeman in the 50-free SCM, Joanne Jackson in the 400-LCM 400-SCM, Cameron van der Burgh in the 50 and 100 breast SCM. All of these records were NOT set in a Speedo swimsuit.

Joanne Jackson was not wearing a LZR, only Rebecca Adlington was and Adlington was quoted in the Times Online as looking forward to January 1st, 2010 when suits are outlawed. Personally, I think it was the Speedo LZR that put her on the map since she is a 'soft and comfy' and the Speedo delivers amazing body compression with its polyurethane panels.

Getting down to business Speedo has taken a huge hit. Once the world record leader in swimsuit design but now it wouldn't be an understatement to say that for the first time in 40-years of swimming, Speedo is not seen as the number one. They have been replaced by Arena and even the Jaked 01.

We will leave the speedsuit era with Arena and Jaked having the last word for most of the world records in 2009 will have been set in their suits.

How will Speedo convince the swimmer at large that their briefs and jammers will be more, better, or filled with "mad phat win" when compared to Arena or Jaked?

USA Today Article: Dara hurt Speedo's feelings! - Schubert wants asteriks! - Swimming keeps growing!

Dara Torres grew up in a 22-room mansion; like she needs Speedo's money. Trust me, whatever suit she wears, that is the one she believes in. Dara wants to win:

"... At the U.S. championships, Torres strained her relationship with sponsor Speedo by donning a Jaked for the 50 free final, which she won. Speedo's senior vice president of marketing, Craig Brommers, would not comment on the ramifications of Torres' decision, citing contractual privacy.

[Didn't they say it was okay? --Tony]

"It's just a very uncomfortable situation," says Torres, who was undecided on what she will wear for worlds when the team left for a training camp in Italy. "I just needed to try a different suit to see what everyone was wearing and how I felt in it." ..."

But then there is Schubert evangelizing his new position about speedsuits:

U.S. national team coach Mark Schubert calls world records set since the start of 2008, when Speedo introduced its LZR, "artificially aided." He would like them to include an asterisk or be kept on a separate list, then erased when they are broken by someone not wearing a controversial suit.

[Link]

Logically, how does a person like Schubert who hard sold athletes to wear a LZR or face losing out on a gold medal in Beijing suddenly find "religion" and state with a straight face or without frothing at the mouth that speedsuits are "...forces of evil in a Bozo nightmare?" -- (Beck from the song: Loser)

Why the suits must stay! (Editorial)

1) Never in the history of swimming have there been so many multinational rivalries - the playing field has been leveled

2) Never in the history of swimming have there been as many televised swimming events both on cable and on the web

3) We have more than two major players now sponsoring meets and open water events - Speedsuit revenue generated these sponsorships

4) This isn't your grandpa's swimming any more and they have this new thingy called "goggles" too

5) Two words: snappy dressers! Just look at that handsome devil above taking flight in his manly TYR Tracer Light modesty suit!

Here are some hot, rhetorical, quotes regarding "speedsuits!"

Again, histrionic and fearful rhetoric about "speedsuits." The purists below certainly don't want us moving forward do they.

"At Junior Nationals, I announced that it would be illegal to wear the suit. ..."

""From the standpoint of a swim- wear distributor, we are going to sit back, wait and see. If the suit gets FINA approval, we'll put forth our best effort to come out with a competitive version. ..."

If the suit gets FINA approval, we'll put forth our best effort to come out with a competitive version. ..."

This came from a Swimming World article circa 1979. These quotes are nearly a third-of-century old and the coaches quoted above felt that swimming was at a crossroads. So, when you read this Swimming World article realize that the suits pictured above were the lastest word in swimsuit technology:

[Link]

The photo above came from PaulW's photstream at Flickr. What are those things made out of, Linen?:

[Link]

'Swimming Australia' sounds like a bunch of grumpy old men!

Every sport has adopted technology to make the experience more enjoyable: Runners got "plushy" running shoes, cyclists got faster bikes, American football players got better helmets, and baseball players got bigger gloves

From the Australian:

" ...[Swimming Australia president David] ...Urquhart, who met FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu in Singapore two weeks ago, said he expected FINA to act to curb the worst excesses of suit development.

He believes FINA should outlaw multiple suits and suits that are fastened with zippers, because they allow the suits to be tight enough to gain unnatural support through the core. ..."

[Link]

Guys like Urquhart remind me of old men wearing white suits and straw hats while playing bocce ball or Tennis in the1920s. Swimming is a game not a religion, it moves forward, it evolves and gets better.

I think Swimming Australia should listen to the swimmers and the public at large: we want speedsuits. They are fun, fast and modest.

This creative commons photo "CC" was found at km6xo photostream at Flickr.com

Geoff Huegill slams speedsuits but is definitely going to wear one!

I am really excited that Geoff Huegill is back in the water, I feel he is a source of inspiration for both overweight, ex-athletes, and obese individuals who don't think they could ever become healthy through exercise and diet. I must say that his transformation is quite a comeback for he has shed over 60-pounds of weight.

Though Huegill has been training hard, he has yet to try on a speedsuit let alone race in one. My suggestion to Huegill is that he start training in a speedsuit to make any modifications to his stroke before race day because this blog wants to see him win. (He is the ultimate masters swimmer so to speak.)

His opinions are couched quite strongly against suits, namely those that use Chloroprene, but I would suggest that he soften them till he wears one. This is what he was quoted as saying in the Canberra Times:

"... "I haven't tried on a suit as of yet but I have seen what all the hype is about. It's out of control," Huegill said yesterday. "My honest opinion is it definitely has to be stopped. There is no doubt about it. The fabrics they are using now are rubber-like fabrics, which make you float and and keep you on top of the water. ..."

[Link]

I have covered Heugill's weight issues and comeback in previous posts here:

[Link]

Statistic: World record progression in swimming due to the re-engineered speedsuits of today is way over exaggerated by the press!

The graphic above from the Economist magazine clearly illustrates that both swimming and track have had roughly the same world record progression percentages from 1985 to 2008 despite the re-engineering of the modern day swimsuit.

The world record progression form 1957 all the way through to 1972 significantly dwarfs any gains made by speedsuit technology from 1975 to 2008.

For example: The 100 meter free world record dropped from 55-seconds in 1957 to the sub 50-mark in the middle-seventies. That is a 10% improvement despite that swimsuit technology was rather static during that period as compared to today.

A proper correlation would be that speedsuits have not destroyed swimming much like Nike running shoes have not destroyed running since the WR progression between the two sports is symmetrical.

The speedsuit burn rhetoric does not support statistics from the International Olympic Committee. I think this is clear evidence that swimming's national governing bodies are using nothing but emotional arguments within the press during the lead-up to the FINA speedsuit meeting in February so as to manipulate both opinion and the outcome.

From the Economist: "...Jamaica's Usain Bolt cruised to victory, taking his own 100m sprint world record down by three-hundredths of a second to 9.69 seconds. In the century or so since official records began, the quickest time has fallen by just under a second—a 9% improvement. But in the pool, Australia's Eamon Sullivan covered 100m in the heats (although he lost in the final) in a world-fastest time of 47.05 seconds, 19 seconds (and 28%) quicker than the record-holder of 1905 ..."

[Link]

Track and field is moving forward with shoe technology, cycling is moving forward with bearing technology, and swimming is moving forward with fabric technology as it always has and these improvements are not "crimes" against the sport but rather a natural prgression.

UPDATE: An anonymous poster sent me a link to an interactive graph at the New York Times website illustrating the world record progression in each Olympic sport. Not only is swimming just as symmetrical in terms of the percentage of improvement to other sports, in some cases, when compared to weight lifting and other power sports, it is lagging behind in improvement.

[Link]

The 'Albatross,' otherwise known as Michael Gross, slams speedsuits

From Wikipedia: "Michael Gro[ss] is a former swimmer from Germany. A 202 cm (6 ft 7 in) athlete, he received the nickname "The Albatross" due to his especially long arms which gave him a total span of 2.13 meters... [He] won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991." [Link]

From dw-world.de: "...It has become a technology battle which even overshadows the doping debate. That is a wrong turn for the sport," Gross told German news agency DPA. "Swimming is risking maneuvering itself on to the sidelines."

"..."

"I am glad that we didn't have this discussion during my days. But the worst thing is that the kick is slowly gone for the swimmers as well, the motto being 'I can try whatever I want, it is the suit that wins.'"

[Link]

He said this more than a week ago and I missed it. Rats!

15 out of 17 European National Governing Bodies have signed a protest which will be presented to FINA in February

From the Independent: Pursley said: "It demeans the records and kind of cheapens them to an extent. Up to this generation of suits I think it's just been maximising performance but I think we're crossing the line to enhancing performance and to me that is a whole different area." FINA are set to meet with coaches and suitmakers in the next two months and Pursley wants action to be taken. He added: "There is a strong consensus in the coaching community that feel that at the very minimum there needs to be regulation and there needs to be monitoring and there needs to be a strict approval process. And whatever is approved needs to be available to all the teams and all the athletes at least a minimum of 12 months in advance of the competition. ..." [Link]

I smell political gamesmanship!

The 'Times Online' prints a horribly biased and hyperbolic article about speedsuits!

The Times Online presents a poorly researched speedsuit article that is full of speculation, exaggeration and hyperbole. On face value if you don't believe the Times Online could write a biased article, check out this paragraph:

"...That, says the whisper filtering out from the scientific community, is just the start. Fabric engineering already used in the military field will soon make headlines for all the right reasons: it can cure the sick, relieve pain for the terminally ill, provide speedy rehabilitation for crash victims, improve the lives of millions. But how long before the technology reaches the world of sport?..."

And this paragraph too:

"... As one leading light in the sport put it: “If we don’t stop the suits now, our sport will be destroyed by this and future developments. The last thing we need is to become the ‘testing ground’ for companies that want to do medical experiments on humans to promote their new products. The Roman Circus is here. ...” [Link]

If you step back and do a Google search with the text string: 'smart fabrics' or 'MIT Military Fabrics' to see if these grandiose predictions are valid, the materials suggested are a bit more involved then the Times Online presents.

For instance, the fabrics that can "heal you" according to MedicalNewsToday will work something like this:

"...Intelligent use of microelectronics allows scientists and engineers to extract useful data from very simple inputs. For example, the WEALTHY project integrated temperature sensors in the armpit and shoulder of their garment to register core and skin temperature. ..." [Link]

Note the word 'sensors' and realize that a electrical current would be running through the fabric and connected to a computer to collect the data. The material does not magically "heal you." However, the military wanted something that would.

As for the super human stuff the Times Online suggested: In 2002 The military gave the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 50-million dollars for a five-year contract to create a uniform that would make soldiers invisible, be able to jump over 20-foot walls, and deflect bullets too. If the Iraq war is any indication, I don't think they delivered! It was suppose to be a 5-year plan and here we are six-and-a-half years later and we have witnessed horribly wounded soldiers who barely had effective armor on their vehicles let alone a fabric that could heal them or make them bullet proof. From 2002 CNET article:

"...Researchers also hope to develop a kind of molecular chain mail that can deflect bullets.

In addition to protecting soldiers, these radically different materials will have uses in offensive tactics, at least psychologically.

"Imagine the psychological impact upon a foe when encountering squads of seemingly invincible warriors protected by armor and endowed with superhuman capabilities, such as the ability to leap over 20-foot walls," ISN director Ned Thomas said in a release. ..." [Link]

Speedsuits are not hurting swimming in any way. They are making it more fun especially for masters swimmers and overweight swimmers.

I smell manufactured consent on the part of USA Swimming's PR department in conjunction with the media to move public opinion towards their point of view. It's a sloppy article and presents no counter opinion.

Craig Lord posted an anti-speedsuit editorial over at 'Swim News!'

A snippet from Craig's editorial over at SwimNews: "...If FINA fails in its role as guardian of the sport, then the doping suit will be at a pool near you all too soon; the doping suit will be on your child’s skin all too soon. Ridiculous? Tell that to the scientists who know not only that it can be done but know too that they can make oodles of from it and that the rules of the sport cannot prevent them from doing so. ..." [Link]

For all your "purists" out there, you all have my permission to go swim in your wool suits and no goggles but allow that guy in the photo above to go swim in his CH2-CC1-CH_CH2 "Batman" suit!

Seriously, if speed suits make you more buoyant, then they should be banned across the board from age group swimming to the Olympics. However, if they don't and the material is solely about coefficient drag flow or how "slippery" the suit handles within the water, then suit companies should be unfettered and let loose to create suits that allow any swimmer reach their maximum potential.

The photo above comes from Ben Vankat's photostream

Here is a direct link to the photo: [Link]

TYR, blueseventy, Speedo, and Arena set WRs at the FINA/Arena World Cup!

If you were to buy a speedsuit, would WRs effect your purchasing decision? They are effecting mine in many ways: I am looking a what style of suits are setting the most WRs, such as leggings, full body or long johns and in which events.

The brand names matter too and I am taking note of suit failures and technology. Personal experience with brand itself and acknowledging the fact that I will have to buy one or two a year if I swim lots of events is also a consideration.

Washington Post: For Amateur Swimmers, the Cost Of Success Doesn't Suit Everyone!

Dan sent us this and I suspect it was something we all knew inside but never said out loud.

Amy Shipley of the Washington Post breaks down the economic hardships of speedsuit costs for families, high schools and colleges: "...The suits even are appearing at the youth and high school levels, coaches and parents say. Many of the top competitors at the recent state high school championships in Arizona wore Speedo's LZR Racer, the model worn by Phelps during the Olympics. Jon Rogers, the aquatics director for Georgetown Prep and owner of the Aqua Hoya Swim Club, speculated that about half of the region's high school swimmers would show up to end-of-season championships in January and February wearing some version of the LZR, which retails for as much as $550.

"Financially, some families can't afford it," Rogers said. "It's going to become a big issue. ..." [Link]

FINA is approving suits while the NCAA and USA Swimming have major economic class considerations. I am sure national governing bodies in Europe, Australia, the Americas and Asia have similar complaints too. It seems like FINA is so far removed from these national governing bodies at large that it appears that they simply do not talk to each other whatsoever regarding the problems they face regionally.

This waterscape was "painted" on a computer and inspired by Shane Gould's comment about speedsuits!

I bought Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet that lets me use a pen or stylus to draw freehand instead of using a mouse. This is my first ever digital painting and consequently I fully endorse this software since it was so easy to use. I spent about an hour or two on this and if this was an oil painting it would have taken me three times that long.

Once I get use to the "brushes" I am going to start doing paintings of swimming and swimmers. [Link]

Here is what Shane Gould said about speedsuits that gave me the idea to paint lily pads: "What are the protocols? How exactly do they test the suits? What are the specific scientific tests they do to determine whether these suits float or not? I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad. ..." [Link]

'TNT' had track and field Olympic trials tonight and the girls were dressed like swimmers circa 2000!

Shalane Flanigan, in the 5k, was wearing "Speedo" briefs and a halter tank-top. She was definitely not hard to look at; but enough abut my problems. [Link to the photo from Daily Life]

Now contrast that to the speedsuit in swimming. So much for seeing extraordinary human bodies stepping up to the blocks looking like they stepped out of the Getty Museum. Instead both the men and the women now look like refugees from the movie March of the Penguins.

Glenn Mills tests speedsuits to see if they make a difference

Gosh knows how long this article has been up; Glenn Mills compares each variation of a TYR Speedsuit, such as full body, jammer, etc. and posts how each suit effected his times. A bar graph with stoke comparison accompanies the article. What stuck me was that both 'fly and breaststroke are faster than briefs but not as fast as a 'body jammer.'

Currently TYR Aquashift suits are half off at the TYR web site so this article really interested me. (I receive no compensation or gifts from either Glenn Mills or TYR) [Link]