Matt Greevers STORMS the 50m free!

From Lane 9 News: Men's 50 freestyle Matt Grevers of Tucson Ford scared Ben Wildman-Tobriner's American record of 18.87 with a blistering time of 18.95 to grab the sprint crown. Grevers now stands as the second-fastest American in the event ever. [Link]

Kim F. wrote me this afternoon and told me that he is wearing the same suit he wore in the Olympics, a TYR Tracer Rise, which says two things: The suit is fast and holds up really well and if I could sneak in one more little factoid, all the cool kids are wearing it!

Swim Network is doing a fantastic job. [Link]

I saw two 'Nero blueseventy' suit failures today and now what I believe to be the fastest suit in the world, the 'Speedo LZR'

Bob Strand set a world record for his age group in a Nero blueseventy at the SPMA Regional Long Course Championships hosted by Conejo Simi Aquatics at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA. I don't remember his time for I was more interested in what he thought of the suit. Of course he was stoked. Results will be posted soon.

However, I saw two Nero blueseventy suits rip today in the exact same spot, a two inch tear along the seams in the upper thigh area by the gluteus maximus region

By the way, Bob Strand's suit did not fail. I learned today that if you are going to race in a Nero, be sure it is wet; less chance of tearing.

Now, as for the fastest suit in the world: I saw Erik Hockstein set a world record today in the 4x100 LCM free while wearing a Speedo LZR. It was during the opening swim of a relay in a time of 52.20. (Yes, that is blazing fast and it was fun to see.) He later swam in a Nero in the 100 free in a time 52.86.

Now I have to be fair. I did not see a TYR Tracer Light today. I was going to purchase one and wear it but scheduling factors did not permit me to make the 50 mile drive to go buy one. Also, I can't find one online yet. So I am qualifying my experience with speedsuits here. The fastest suit I have ever seen in person is the Speedo LZR. It's faster than Nike Hydra, the Nero blueseventy, former Speedo suits, former TYR speedsuits, Former Arena suits and Diana.

It is a remarkable suit but watching someone put it one on is actually stressful. Especially the zipping up part. It's like setting a mousetrap; you are afraid it will go very wrong and nail your fingers when you go to place it down on the floor.

I am seriously still looking at a TYR Tracer Light or Rise though due to the fact that the LZR has a short shelf life and the Tracer may be the only game in town in terms of quality. Now when I buy a TYR Tracer Light and if it by chance rips or tears, you will hear about it and then we all will be back to square one as to which "dope" is best.

The 'TYR Tracer Rise' will be TYR's rebuttal to the 'Speedo LZR'

The suit I was waiting for, The TYR Tracer Light, can only be pre-ordered. Only the pros and selected NCAA swimmers have been fortunate enough to wear one and I believe you have to wait to June before mere mortals like myself can actually have one. With that in mind, TYR has suddenly put together a newer suit that has literally made the TYR Tracer Light an obsolete choice for those looking for a maximum performance suit from TYR.

From USA Today: "...Today at the French Olympic trials in Dunkirk, U.S.-based TYR Sports will officially unveil its new Tracer Rise suit, a challenger to the much-hyped Speedo LZR Racer. Swimmers wearing the Speedo suit have set 35 world records in recent weeks.

Speedo claims the LZR Racer can improve performance by up to 2%. TYR claims double the benefit — up to 4%.

"The time drops are well-documented," said TYR founder Steve Furniss...." [...]

While the LZR Racer has ultrasonically bonded seams to help reduce drag, the Tracer Rise has compression panels that contour certain muscle groups to control movement.

On Tuesday, French swimmer Amaury Leveaux won the 200-meter freestyle wearing a Tracer. His winning time of 1 minute, 46.54 seconds is second-fastest in the world this year, behind 1:45.71 by world recordholder Michael Phelps — wearing a Speedo suit — posted in February [Link]

I wonder if the suit dynamics for a masters swimmer are actually accentuated more that that of an Olympian?

The photo above came from the TYR website from a press release therein regarding Amaury Leveaux new French national record in the 200 free: [Link]

TYR gets FINA approval for two types of speedsuits: "The Tracer Light" and the "Tracer Rise"

I saw this first at Lane 9 News which is ironic since you would think that TYR would have it right there on their splash page. Instead they have it as a small text link towards the bottom of the page. [Link]

Snippet: "... TYR announces the approval by FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation), the international swimming governing body, of its newest version of the Tracer™ technology, Tracer Rise. Tracer technology significantly advances the boundaries of what an elite swimsuit can do for the performance of an athlete. ..."

At the TYR website; where I yanked the above photo from, there are no tracer items for sale but since I wanted to add equity to this post, I did find a store that may have accidentally put a TYR Tracer Splice Tri Suit up for sale a bit too early. The picture does not say much but the paragraph explaining it does.

Here is ibikedoyou2.com had to say about the technology:

TYR Tracer Splice Tri Suit with Teflon coating throughout the fabric and stitching makes the suit hydrophobic and fast through the water.

• Teflon coating throughout the fabric and stitching makes the suit hydrophobic and fast through the water

• Tracer muscle compression technology reduces muscle undulation and focuses on the directional movement of t he engaged muscle groups

• Strong and low profile 4-Way stretch flat-lock stitching

• ITU legal back zip Color: Black/RedFit:

• Men'sSleeve Style: Sleeveless