Below, SwimSwam partner SwimShop.co.uk takes a look at three of the major racing sports, and how different technologies have affected them. Specifically, the goal is to determine at what point technological advances go from progressive to flat-out cheating.
I think the tech suits are by far the biggest advantage. Here is proof positive. Look how poorly this guys does because he does not have a tech suit. If the other guys hadn’t false started i think they would have won easily.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woYG6Uq6OVU
I can’t fathom training daily without goggles. I wear drag suits often enough, so while wool suits would certainly be less convenient and slow you down, they would not stop normal training.
Either way I just wish guys could get leg skins back. those made me feel like a super hero wearing them around.
You can still get them and swim in them, just not in officially sanctioned pool competition.
I want one of those American flag LZR leg skins…
It says goggles 1976 in the first chart. Not sure exactly what that means, but my father was wearing goggles in practice and in meets well before that.
The thing about goggles is that while they were allowed in competition before 1976, it was their impact IN TRAINING that led to the MASSIVE time drops between the ’72 and ’76 Quads. I assume this chart only indicates by which point goggles were allowed in competition.
The impact of goggles for training cannot be understated. It was the single most important advance in swimming history. Check the time drops in all races between quads, when goggles became widespread. It’s not so much a factor in races, but in training.
I suggested this to author and statistician Ray Stefani, who wrote about similar improvements across other sports. In an article, he noted specifically the impact of indoor rowing on… Read more »