[UPDATED: To correct typos, add prices for techsuit fabric with reference link.] Most fun in the pool I have had in years. I showed up in full race gear and swam. at the VNSO pool in Sherman Oaks. The air-temp in L.A. was 54-degrees, with a wind out of the north at 15-MPH. For me that is quite cold when swimming in an outdoor pool. For any of you east of California, that is lousy suntanning weather but your mileage may vary
Bottom line: The 'blueseventy' neoprene nullified the wind and I felt great!
When I looked at the shivering kids before we jumped in, I thought what a crime it is that these kids can't swim in techsuits on days like this. If FINA would not have banned techsuits three-years ago, I am sure that they all would have been available for less than $50-$75 each today.
An 80/20 blend of Nylon/Lycra blend fabric is insanely cheap; (Wholesales price: sells for $2.90-per-square-meter: [Link] ), and when you hot press it with a roller greased in Teflon, you have a techsuit. (Maybe I should do a DIY post teaching people how to make one?)
Maybe the purist-swimmer cares about how Kate Ziegler's 800m-time compares to Dawn Fraiser's 800m-time circa decades ago, but no other sports fan cares about times set today versus a record set 1/3-of-a century ago. This applies to Formula 1, the Ironman, The marathon, 100-meter dash, the Tour du France, or NASCAR.
The fan wants to see a spectacle, something that has never been done before.
Swimming should move forward and make swimming fun, sexy, and exciting. Both business opportunities and the fans are waiting. 2008 was the greatest Olympics ever for swimming. It's all downhill from here if swimming does not change. Even FINA knows this and they want to bring them back!
Enough about their problems!
BTW, performance wise, I felt great in the pool, and you should too when it is cold. Try it!
4 comments:
I've done it a few times on cold mornings and boy do I love my old B70! I mostly notice it off the walls which usually for me is when I let pockets of fat just hang out and drag along.
Techsuits are so yesterday, Tony.
Temporary exile, Ted. Sort of like the Falklands war. ;-)
They are not coming back. They're done. The only people that like techsuits are masters swimmers - they'll pay for speed - and suit manufacturers. Nobody - and I mean nobody - else in the sport likes 'em. A few people don't care either way but nobody likes 'em.
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