xbomberd08
02-27-09, 06:13 PM
I saw this article in the Cincinnati Enquirer:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090227/SPT0301/302270085/1062/SPT
CANTON, Ohio – After he swam the fastest races of his life in the Division II state championships on Friday, Wyoming High School freshman Pat Dierker took off his suit, washed it out, and gave it to another swimmer.
That’s because the suit, a Blue Seventy model which sells for $250-350, is too valuable for just one person to use.
As coaches predicted last summer, the high-tech arms race for the fastest swimsuits has filtered from the Olympics to high school pools, simultaneously lowering state record times and stretching budgets.
Girl swimmers broke four Ohio state records in Friday’s Division II preliminaries, often considered a warm-up for Saturday’s final round.
In Kentucky, Ellen Williamson, a sophomore at Notre Dame Academy, set a state record of 54.98 wearing the Blue Seventy in the 100-yard butterfly at the state meet Feb. 14.
It was one of eight state records to fall at that meet. Three were broken by Beechwood’s Krissie Brandenburg, who also wore a Blue Seventy suit.
“You feel like you have a thin layer of water between you and the outer layer of the suit,” Williamson said. “And that puts you higher in the water, almost like you’re skimming over the top of it, which really reduces drag.”
But the records have come at a cost to parents and programs.
The Blue Seventy and Speedo’s LZR Racer are the two most popular and effective suits for lowing times because of their construction and material which help reduce drag.
With a price tag of $250-$350 and a lifespan of 25-100 races, the Blue Seventy is substantially cheaper than the $500 LZR Racer, which loses its effectiveness after 10-20 races.
Still, teams and clubs are concerned that the suits’ cost will price some swimmers out of competing. As a result, they buy suits for multiple swimmers to share.
Mike Leonard is a volunteer coach at Wyoming and the director of competitive swimming at the Powell Crosley, Jr. YMCA in Finneytown. He purchased two Blue Seventy suits and an LZR suit for swimmers like Dierker, who is sharing his suit this weekend with Walnut Hills senior Jonathan Kleinhenz.
“If you don’t have either the Blue Seventy or the LZR, you’re at a major disadvantage,” Leonard said. “I’ve been coaching 23 years and have never seen such a positive result from a swimsuit. When I saw my swimmers in it, I almost felt like I was coaching a higher-caliber athlete.”
Dierker said he doesn’t mind sharing as long as Kleinhenz, who was planning to wear the suit Friday night in the Division I state swimming championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium, washes it out.
“To be able to share a suit like this and split the cost is nice,” Dierker said. “Every guy you swim against has one of these suits, so if you don’t have one, you’re already behind when you jump in the pool.”
Dierker wore a Blue Seventy for the second time on Friday in the Division II preliminary races and, like many swimmers who wear it, said he experienced a sensation of buoyancy.
He swam a personal-best time of 22.36 in his first race, the 50-yard freestyle, qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
Technically, a swimsuit that is buoyant, or floats, is illegal by standards established by FINA, the international swimming federation. But FINA approved the LZR and Blue Seventy for competition last winter, prompting their inclusion in the Beijing Olympics, where 25 world records fell. All but two current Olympic records were set in Beijing.
College and high school swimmers were next in line to order the suits, and the results have been predictable.
“The suits are obviously making a difference in times,” said Jason Roberts, coach of the Northern Kentucky Clippers swim club. “I’m trying to keep younger kids out of them because I don’t want younger kids to get the false sense that you don’t have to work hard to go fast. But for our high school-age kids, we purchased five of them in December and went to a meet in Michigan and swam out of our minds.”
What do you think of all these pricy suits athletes wear? Is the sport becoming the sport of the wealthy? Are records meaningless because more credit goes to the suit than to the swimmer? How far are new inventions in suits going to be allowed go?
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090227/SPT0301/302270085/1062/SPT
CANTON, Ohio – After he swam the fastest races of his life in the Division II state championships on Friday, Wyoming High School freshman Pat Dierker took off his suit, washed it out, and gave it to another swimmer.
That’s because the suit, a Blue Seventy model which sells for $250-350, is too valuable for just one person to use.
As coaches predicted last summer, the high-tech arms race for the fastest swimsuits has filtered from the Olympics to high school pools, simultaneously lowering state record times and stretching budgets.
Girl swimmers broke four Ohio state records in Friday’s Division II preliminaries, often considered a warm-up for Saturday’s final round.
In Kentucky, Ellen Williamson, a sophomore at Notre Dame Academy, set a state record of 54.98 wearing the Blue Seventy in the 100-yard butterfly at the state meet Feb. 14.
It was one of eight state records to fall at that meet. Three were broken by Beechwood’s Krissie Brandenburg, who also wore a Blue Seventy suit.
“You feel like you have a thin layer of water between you and the outer layer of the suit,” Williamson said. “And that puts you higher in the water, almost like you’re skimming over the top of it, which really reduces drag.”
But the records have come at a cost to parents and programs.
The Blue Seventy and Speedo’s LZR Racer are the two most popular and effective suits for lowing times because of their construction and material which help reduce drag.
With a price tag of $250-$350 and a lifespan of 25-100 races, the Blue Seventy is substantially cheaper than the $500 LZR Racer, which loses its effectiveness after 10-20 races.
Still, teams and clubs are concerned that the suits’ cost will price some swimmers out of competing. As a result, they buy suits for multiple swimmers to share.
Mike Leonard is a volunteer coach at Wyoming and the director of competitive swimming at the Powell Crosley, Jr. YMCA in Finneytown. He purchased two Blue Seventy suits and an LZR suit for swimmers like Dierker, who is sharing his suit this weekend with Walnut Hills senior Jonathan Kleinhenz.
“If you don’t have either the Blue Seventy or the LZR, you’re at a major disadvantage,” Leonard said. “I’ve been coaching 23 years and have never seen such a positive result from a swimsuit. When I saw my swimmers in it, I almost felt like I was coaching a higher-caliber athlete.”
Dierker said he doesn’t mind sharing as long as Kleinhenz, who was planning to wear the suit Friday night in the Division I state swimming championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium, washes it out.
“To be able to share a suit like this and split the cost is nice,” Dierker said. “Every guy you swim against has one of these suits, so if you don’t have one, you’re already behind when you jump in the pool.”
Dierker wore a Blue Seventy for the second time on Friday in the Division II preliminary races and, like many swimmers who wear it, said he experienced a sensation of buoyancy.
He swam a personal-best time of 22.36 in his first race, the 50-yard freestyle, qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
Technically, a swimsuit that is buoyant, or floats, is illegal by standards established by FINA, the international swimming federation. But FINA approved the LZR and Blue Seventy for competition last winter, prompting their inclusion in the Beijing Olympics, where 25 world records fell. All but two current Olympic records were set in Beijing.
College and high school swimmers were next in line to order the suits, and the results have been predictable.
“The suits are obviously making a difference in times,” said Jason Roberts, coach of the Northern Kentucky Clippers swim club. “I’m trying to keep younger kids out of them because I don’t want younger kids to get the false sense that you don’t have to work hard to go fast. But for our high school-age kids, we purchased five of them in December and went to a meet in Michigan and swam out of our minds.”
What do you think of all these pricy suits athletes wear? Is the sport becoming the sport of the wealthy? Are records meaningless because more credit goes to the suit than to the swimmer? How far are new inventions in suits going to be allowed go?