Suits and Shaving

[Phil M.]

Just curious. What % would you estimate wore the "fastskin" slippery suits? What % shaved? For those of you who wore conventional swimwear did you feel at a disadvantage?

[Dolphin]

I would say that 60-70% of swimmers wore a fastskin-type swimsuit. I noticed that there were 4 main types - Speedo Aquablade(the Victor suits looked the same as a Aquablade), Arena Powerskin, Fastskins and the TYR Aquapel. Although I think that the technogy does help swimmers to swim fast, I don't think that you can attribute 100% of the performance increase due to a lower drag co-efficient. Any of the suits that I have researched had claims of reducing the drag coefficiect by 6-7% over a lycra suit. Although I don't remember the formula from my high school physics class, there is a way to calculate the amount of force that would translate to. However, it would not equal the performance increases that some people were attributing to the suits.

When people claim to drop 10-15% off of their times because of the suit, I think that they are not attributing any performance gains to their training and pre-race mental state (If you think you will be fast - you probably will be)

That said, next year I will be in a fastskin as I am sick of shaving down

One thing I did notice was that most breastrokers did not wear the full leg suits(around 20-30 %). Most people I talked to felt that the suit constricted the breastroke kick and that their legs seem to slip through the water. I thought this was interesting.

[A.G. Thompson]

I taped and shaved for nationals in Cleveland. I'm primarily a breaststroke/butterfly swimmer and had 3 personal best swims in the 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly & 200 IM in a "speedo brief" suit. I don't feel disadvantage without wearing the new "body suits".

I do see a lot more men wearing the new suits, especially sprint & distance freestylers.

It would be interesting to look at the replay video from the meet and get some actual numbers of how many people wore the new suits. Did they keep the video feed on tape ?

[Allen Stark]

I have a fastskin suit. I find it much faster for free & fly,but slower for breaststroke. I don't like shaving,but as a breaststroker I'm just stuck.

[joy]

Someone ask about that video replay tape awhile ago and I never heard whether it was kept or not and if we might be able to get copies of races that were swam for a fee of course. Does anyone know about the video and whom to contact? Also I wear a Nike & Speedo long suit and love the compaction of the muscle part cuz ur legs do not feel the burn as much. I primarly swim back, free, fly and some IM. I feel it is true what they say about the breaststroke about the slipping of the legs in the kick with this suit on.

[breastroker]

Allen,
You did not say which fastskin you have, there are 4-5 models. If you have the full body suit that covers totally the arms and legs, it will not help breaststroke.

I have the version with material down to the knees, but the arms are free. Actually the best range of motion for the shoulders of any full body suit I have tried. It did cost a fortune, and it takes 30 minutes to get in. But I feel it is worth every cent I paid for it.

Looking at the 2000 Olympics, the breaststroke men did not use the full body suits available, like the thorpedo did. None covered their arms or lower legs.
Wayne

[jeremyc]

I'm wearing a TYR suit.

My wife said she would leave me if I ever shaved my chest again...it took 2 months to grow back last time.

$200 for a new suit is a a lot less expensive than a divorce.

I seem to get similar results wearing the suit to swimming shaved.

You should always swim your best times at nationals because you should be peaking and you should be tapered.

I've been wearing the suit at every meet since I got it, in the past I only shaved for championship meets.

So it's pretty hard to compare apples and oranges.

[tpalmer385]

Jeremyc. I really can identify with your response. My wife said the same thing. You made my day.
Thanks,
Terry

[jroddin]

What can I do to get my wife to make me such an offer?

[pneilley]

I know many breastrokers do not like the full (over legs) suit. I only own a full suit and although I can feel my breaststroke kick slide through the water rather than displace it, I get a net positive benefit from the suit. I have strong and poweful turns, and the suit allows me to take advantage of those turns with fast and long underwater pullouts. I make big gains on my competition during the turns. I do not know whether I would benefit further by having exposed legs or not, but I do know the suit helps my breaststroke over a plain old speedo brief.