Eamon Sullivan's coach, Grant Stoelwinder, suggest that the 'Speedo LZR' may not be the fastest suit!

Grant Stoelwinder is the head coach of the West Coast Swimming Club; his most notable accomplishment is sprinter, Eamon Sullivan. He is now working with Libby Trickett. Stoelwinder has placed himself in the "suit burner" camp and he had some very provocative things to say about speedsuits to the Sydney Morning Herald:

"....Grant Stoelwinder believed the controversial Speedo LZR Racer, the suit that ignited the record spree, shaved about 0.3 of a second off times per lap compared to previous suits - an enormous advance in sporting terms.

[...]

"I don't fool myself for one second as a coach and the trouble is as coaches some people think that swimmers are improving and you have to put it at about .3 per 50 with the Speedo suit on and I think some of them are even more. ..."

[Link]

He mentions that if speedsuits are banned, world records may be untouchable for a least a decade or so. Hence, one has to ask if that would benefit swimming in any way?

Herald Tribune: "Swimmer Libby Trickett breaks with longtime coach"

Wow! Jessicah Schipper and now Libby Trickett! I am noticing that Australian swimmers are more aggressive in demanding results from their coaches than we Americans are. Libby Trickett nearly did not make it in the 100m free Olympic final and only did so when Chinese swimmer Pang was DQed for a false start. Trickett was the world record holder too and had to swim in the gutter against Britta Steffen.

Swimmers her in the US seem to marry their coaches more so than Australians. Cullen Jones seems prone to the Australian mindset whereas, like the Australians, he has made it clear that "he is the CEO of his career" and not his coach.

From the International Herald Tribune: Trickett, 23, told a news conference she was leaving Brisbane coach Stephan Widmer to train in Sydney under Grant Stoelwinder, who coaches world sprint record holder Eamon Sullivan.

"For me to commit to four more years, I needed new challenges and new stimulus and I think that's what this will bring for me," Trickett said. ..." [Link]

From the Sydney Morning Herald: "..."She rang and said, 'It's Libby,' and it took me a few moments - I let the voice play - then I was like, 'Oh, Libby'," Stoelwinder said. "It was a huge compliment. I spoke to Eamon, he's in Geneva, he's been to Oktoberfest and now is on his way to the Canary Islands. He's really excited. I think in Beijing, Libby asked Eamon a few questions about the program, and I think he had probably had some idea Libby was maybe looking at some options after Beijing."" [Link]