Excerpt by Shawn Klosterman, originally published on SwimmingWorld.TV
PHOENIX, Arizona, November 17. MY old college coach stopped me at a high school meet to ask me what I thought about the decision to take the shiny suits away. Apparently he doesn't read my blog. He is a suit fan. He thinks they were good for the sport and he listed some pretty valid reasons.
I replied that I wasn't sure whether it was the right decision to take tech away but that I am curious to see where it goes. I remember saying that we might see a psychological phenomenon. You see, now that all these swimmers have gone so darn fast with the suits, I was anticipating that there might be some swimmers who can't deal with not going best times after going back to textile. I know a few swimmers who will probably struggle because they will not be able to rationalize it and will be tied to unrealistic expectations… and I could see them getting discouraged enough to consider hanging it all up.
But then, there was the other side of it. I had to wonder, how many swimmers will expect to keep swimming those fast times… and then live up to it?
Last year, at the Missouri high school boys championships, the talk on the deck was that swimming in our state had taken a real step up. It wasn't about the winning times. I believe that only two state records were broken, and they were in relays. What struck us all was the depth. There were times that would have won events just a few years before that would not have even made the top 8. It was fascinating. I know that I felt that we were part of something really special for our area. We all were pointing at the suits; not as the only reason Missouri was getting better, but as a catalyst that helped us move a few years ahead of ourselves since the 2007 meet.
Then this year, in 2009, even with the suits taken away, we actually got better.
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November 18, 2009 Missouri also raised the bar by allowing swimmers to practice with their club and HS teams at the same time, adding to their fitness levels.
But no one should discount the effect of moving the carrot farther out. Remember between 1974 and 1976 several men dropped the world record in the 400 meter Free from 4:00.something to 4:00.something. People were writing articles about how 4:00 could never be broken over 400 meters. Then in 1976 Rick DeMont broke 4:00 and in a year a dozen had broken it and now it is not a very fast time. Once the bar goes up people will find a way to reach it. Submitted by: kccoachmike
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