Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

[Rob Copeland]

For those who want to debate the significance of buying high performance gear for their children.

[pwb]

You sure you want to start this fun debate again?

I think I'm at peace with what I've said elsewhere.

[Rob Copeland]

You sure you want to start this fun debate again?

No.

But I thought I would allow those who wanted to respond to Shawn’s question do so on the other thread and those who want to discuss the topic at large to do so here without hijacking another thread.

[jaadams1]

I personally don't think it's worth spending the money for a young kid in a tech suit. These kids can be so hit and miss already as it is, and most of the time they're improving times based solely on growing and gaining strength/body mass alone.

On the USA-S team that I train with, there are a couple of younger girls (age 12) who tend to wear "techy" suits at meets, and these are at all meets, not just the "A Champs" or "Regionals", etc. Kids at this age are so emotional as it is anyway, and are more concerned with "she beat me, I beat her" vs. "did I make the National cut?"

[thewookiee]

Come on Rob, 50% of the fun on this forum is thread hijacking. 45% of the fun is insulting Geek, and 5% of the fun is the intellectual discussion of swimming.

Why did you want to ruin it for us? Geez.

[knelson]

On the USA-S team that I train with, there are a couple of younger girls (age 12) who tend to wear "techy" suits at meets, and these are at all meets

Yeah, that's what I'd be worried about. Once you let that genie out of the bottle a kid isn't going to want to put it back in!

I see plenty of young kids with their own iPads these days, so I'd assume they expect their parents to buy them several hundred dollar suits, too, as a matter of course.

[That Guy]

Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

Depends. Is your kid a sandbagger?

[fmracing]

Dpends on a few factors. If you're rich and spending that kind of coin on a swimsuit for a kid doesn't bother you then there's no real downside that I can see besides maybe the envy or ridicule of others.

For me though I'd get an honest look at my kid's performances and how they rank. I'd also look at my kid's stroke and race and see where the bottlenecks and mistakes are. What's holding them back. I wouldn't be spending 200-400 bux on a suit for them until it was THE ONLY thing holding them back below say a top 20 finish at a state level. You're only talking a small percentage difference over a cheap suit. This is the way I view it as well for my own swimming.

[Rob Copeland]

Come on Rob, 50% of the fun on this forum is thread hijacking. 45% of the fun is insulting Geek, and 5% of the fun is the intellectual discussion of swimming.

What can I say… On this the feast day of Pope Saint Gregory III, I thought I’d try broker peace in the iconoclastic controversy between the Byzantines and the Lombards.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been taking my kids to age group meets, but I helped run one this past weekend and there were the assortment of swimwear from low to hi-tech. Between entry fees, travel, hotel and food I would guess a lot of folks from out of town at the meet were spending $300-$500. With this outlay of cash, why wouldn’t you want to maximize performance of little Suzy?

On the flip side, when I go to our Masters State meet I see a lot of folks in tech suits. And most of the folks wearing these are no closer to making it to the Olympics than little Suzy. So if it isn’t worth spending money on your kids is it worth spending the money on yourself?

[aquageek]

Dpends on a few factors. If you're rich and spending that kind of coin on a swimsuit for a kid doesn't bother you then there's no real downside that I can see besides maybe the envy or ridicule of others.

There are plenty of downsides. First, especially with girls, we know they drop time like it is free until about 13 or so. Then, things happen and time drops can be few and far between. Suiting your under 12 up is double pointless since they are going to drop time anyway and they will equate that to the suit. When they hit 13/14 and they don the suit and nothing happens, what will they think?

Probably the biggest benefit of the suits is compression and 12 year olds don't need that generally.

By 13/14 I do think suits are important, combined with the right championship meet prep.

[fmracing]

There are plenty of downsides. First, especially with girls, we know they drop time like it is free until about 13 or so. Then, things happen and time drops can be few and far between. Suiting your under 12 up is double pointless since they are going to drop time anyway and they will equate that to the suit. When they hit 13/14 and they don the suit and nothing happens, what will they think?

Probably the biggest benefit of the suits is compression and 12 year olds don't need that generally.

By 13/14 I do think suits are important, combined with the right championship meet prep.

I suppose you could "wear out" the mental factor of wearing the suit by wearing it all the time. Teenage swimmer girls are generally headcases anyway in my experiences, let alone adolescent teenage girls. So, I do agree with you on the gradual loss of mental motivation of simply putting the tech suit on when you already wear it all the time for those athletes. (i see this in masters meets too at every meet). BUT, it is still purely psychological. It seems to me that a strong minded athelete would still perform the same in spite of this. I suppose its arguable that no athlete under 12 is mentally strong... in which case I'd have to say they don't need a tech suit even if you're really really rich and can put them in a new one every day.

[fmracing]

when I go to our Masters State meet I see a lot of folks in tech suits. And most of the folks wearing these are no closer to making it to the Olympics than little Suzy. So if it isn’t worth spending money on your kids is it worth spending the money on yourself?

I got people in my area that wear them to EVERY masters meet, not just state or local championship type meets.

[ande]

Should I buy my kid a tech suit?

NO, I would not buy either child a tech suit, neither swims. Though if I had a child who's swimming talent, work ethic, goals, and ability deemed it obvious & necessary, I definitely would. To me the child should be at least 13, 14 or older & striving to make JRs or SRs or about to participate in an important championship meet. I'd probably have them pay for part of it so they have some skin in the game and would hopefully take better care of it, not damage it or lose it at a meet.

[ekw]

I got people in my area that wear them to EVERY masters meet, not just state or local championship type meets.

It may be a modesty issue - there are some older ladies in my area who much prefer to wear the kneeskin-style suit than a tank. They aren't wearing true high priced tech suits, but rather things like Yingfas and Tyr Fusions.

[knelson]

Also most masters swimmers are competing much less frequently than kids are. They want every race to 'count.'

[fmracing]

Also most masters swimmers are competing much less frequently than kids are. They want every race to 'count.'

True, but I see people that don't even have anything close to masters national cuts rockin the $200 suits at what I'd consider a meet with "dual meet" importance.

These are the people that'd be buying kids tech suits as well, I'd imagine.

[magick17]

Nope he buys his own or the team buys it for him, if he's good enough

[The Fortress]

Also most masters swimmers are competing much less frequently than kids are. They want every race to 'count.'

Yes.

I absolutely wear a tech suit at every meet I compete in, even if just for fun. I want to learn to race in the suit; it changes how you feel in the water, kick counts, breakouts, etc. I notice absolutely zero diminution in mental motivation from this practice. To the contrary, I always look forward to racing in my kneeskin.

For adults, I've never thought the appropriateness of wearing a tech suit should be tied to how fast their times are.

[The Fortress]

There are plenty of downsides. First, especially with girls, we know they drop time like it is free until about 13 or so. Then, things happen and time drops can be few and far between. Suiting your under 12 up is double pointless since they are going to drop time anyway and they will equate that to the suit. When they hit 13/14 and they don the suit and nothing happens, what will they think?

Probably the biggest benefit of the suits is compression and 12 year olds don't need that generally.

By 13/14 I do think suits are important, combined with the right championship meet prep.

I like this post.

Also, many teams have rules to prevent use/overuse of tech suits by kids such as limiting tech suit use to champs meets or banning them altogether for 12&Us.

[smontanaro]

I use whatever I happen to be training in on those rare occasions that I swim in a meet. For me these days that's a Speedo Endurance+ jammer. I suppose I ought to spring for something like a Yingfa once just to see how it goes. (I've never shaved for a meet, nor worn a cap before either. If I'm going to do one I suppose I ought to do the others as well, though my lovely wife will surely roll her eyes. )

Once bought, there's the "why waste it?" line of thinking too. Especially if you don't swim that many meets. After all, you can't take it with you...