Really what makes an advantage an unfair or fair one. People get access to world class training and coaches and sporting facilities, dieting are all advantages that one athlete can have over the other. Why can’t we add swimsuits to that list. In most sports there always technological improvement ot improve performances. Lets say someone using latest technology from the AIS to help improve training performances (there are using virtual reality in somes sports) that other countries don’t have access to. Should we ban that because that is an unfair advantage? Should we have standardise coaching. facilities as well to even the odds.

“More evidence of the effect of the high-tech suits on performance comes from Libby Trickett’s ‘misjudgment’ in not using the suit in her semi-fina[l] of the women’s free style 100m. Her times of 54.10, ‘the 9th fastest’ in the semi-finals, compares poorly with her record of 52.88.”

Listening to Ray Hadley and Nicole Stephenson on ‘GB, apparently Libby has always had a habit of qualifying for races well below her PB and often just sneeking in. Eg., in John Huxley’s SMH article ‘Shock therapy’, Trickett after winning Silver in the 100 freestyle, the paragraph reads:

– Trickett, of course, was her usual self: smiling, bubbling, counting her blessings that she had even been allowed to swim, in lane eight, following the disqualification of a Chinese swimmer [Jiaying Pang]. “I’m so thankful for that because in Athens, I never got another opportunity, so to come out there was wonderful. I really wanted to give it my absolute all. I wanted to be hurting right at the end of it, and I definitely did that. Full credit to Britta [Steffen]. She swam a fantastic race.”

http://www.smh.com.au/news/swimming/shock-therapy/2008/08/15/1218307227431.html

But it certainly was interesting when Eamon Sullivan completed the 50m freestyle qualifier dash that before uttering a word to Seven’s poolside commentator Daniel Kowalski, he asked Dan to ‘please unzip me’, such must be the discomfort of being so compressed in those things.

In reality those hi-tech swimsuits must be more uncomfortable and annoying than the current skin-tight rugger jerseys as worn by the Wallabies & co… (thanks to an overly observant Pom, SCW!)

0.00000000173 sec before he started !

. . . finally a swimming world record worth thinking about !

Interesting what Cowley says in his article about the pool in Beijing: “the one in the Cube is lightning quick.”

One simple solution to create a ‘level playing field’ would be to standardise the swimsuits for all competitors, but ultimately is that really in the interest of progress? Eg., at the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA when the US track cycling team debuted those initially controversial ‘performance enhancing aerodynamic helmets’ (with the pointy bit sticking out the back). Today all time trial cyclists wear them as standard gear, as even our Cadel Evans did recently in the TDF.

Cowley’s article also points out:

“This pool is … a metre deeper than usual. This means … ‘less resistance and turbulence off the bottom’ for the swimmers.” (So presumably this assists the swimmer swim faster unimpeded. I’d have to say I’m for it.)

“It’s also wider … one empty lane either side,” yes, did notice that, “which means any waves can be dissipated into those lanes, then into the gutter, which is a simple overflow system. That means ‘the water runs into the drains and away, rather than bouncing off a raised gutter and back into the pool as waves.’” (Again the pool design, let’s call it ‘state-of-the-art’, therefore further enhances and compliments the swimmer’s ability/athleticism by dissipating the waves into the ‘simple overflow system’. This pool design is now presumably the new benchmark, or should be imho.)

“Then there are the anti-wave lane ropes, designed so that swimmers don’t get any wash from their opponents’ in other lanes, ‘meaning they can swim in calm water’. In the days before such ropes, swimmers sometimes had to deal with surf-like conditions.” — Yes, seem to recall the ‘surf-like conditions’ quite well, so by reducing that effect, it creates more of a level playing field, so to speak. Again credit to the designers.

For mine there’s also a lot of merit in Aus coach Alan Thompson’s comment that the standard of coaching is higher than ever, and the athletes fitter. The way we blew the Chinese and Yanks out of the pool — and who were also wearing the latest tech suits by the look of them — in that brilliant Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay final yesterday was and is such a morale booster for the country. (Hope our Wallabies saw it, and attempt to emulate the feat in the next few weeks.)

Personally I’m for the advancements in the new swimsuits, and better designed Olympic pools etc. Makes for great entertainment as well. Go the Aussies today again — blitz ‘em!

Can someone confirm that one?

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the suits, but you can’t stop progress. Providing it’s avaialbale to all.