Feature by Kristen Heiss<\/i><\/p>\n
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, September 17. THE new swimsuits have been causing a stir since they were first introduced earlier this year. From the beginning, accusations were made that the suits cause too much buoyancy and that they give an unfair advantage to people who are able to wear them. <\/p>\n
From the commotion being made, some people seem to think the suits instantly propel anyone who wears them to a guaranteed new world record. It is interesting, however, to hear what the swimmers have to say about the new suits. <\/p>\n
Christine Magnuson, the silver medalist in the 100 fly in Beijing says that she does like the Speedo LZR Racer. <\/p>\n
"It adjusts the swimmer's body position in the water, raising it slightly at higher speeds," Magnuson said.<\/p>\n
However, she says that the hype of the suit is over exaggerated. <\/p>\n
"[The swimmer] still has to have good body position, speed, and a good stroke to take advantage of what the suit can do," Magnuson said.<\/p>\n
The suit do not give swimmers superhuman powers or allow them to do anything they are not physically capable of doing. <\/p>\n
NCAA champion and National Team member Emily Brunemann finds the suits work well for some of her races but not all of them. <\/p>\n
"[I] love the LZR for the 400 IM, but for the mile I would actually prefer the FS Pro," Brunemann said. <\/p>\n
Brunemann says that the LZR puts too much pressure on her shoulders for a longer race like the mile, and the lighter material of the FS Pro is "just a more comfortable suit for me." As Brunemann found out, the LZR simply is not the ideal suit for all swimmers in all of their races. <\/p>\n
Many people who wore the LZR at Trials found that the suit did not fit well. <\/p>\n
Olympian Christine Marshall found that the bottom part of the suit, especially around the hip area is "baggy."<\/p>\n
"The top is way too tight," Marshall said. "I can't get as much pull with it on because it's so tight [on the shoulders]." <\/p>\n
Marshall says that with the FS Pro, "my legs feel better." <\/p>\n
However, Marshall does concede that when the LZR fits correctly, she likes how the suit makes her feel tighter in the core area. <\/p>\n
On the pool deck at Trials though, one of the complaints heard most often of the LZR was that the area around the hips was simply too big for the average swimmer body, leaving bunches of fabric along the hips. Swimmers said that, because of the extra room in the hip area of the LZR, the legs of the suit filled up with water when swimming. No matter what the suit is supposed to be able to do, if it does not fit right, all alleged advantages are lost. <\/p>\n
The opinion on the new suits seems to be split among swimmers, with some people really liking them and others finding serious faults with them. <\/p>\n
Can the suit really be attributed to the year of blazing fast times? The 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Championship was the fastest meet by far in history. The catch? Not a single swimmer in the meet was wearing a new suit due to the NCAA moratorium on suits available after January 1, 2008. <\/p>\n
The debate on the new suits will be ongoing, with people both endorsing and condemning them. For many swimmers, their suit of choice comes down to personal preference. <\/p>\n
If a swimmer likes the feel of a particular suit and feels confident and fast in the suit, chances are the swimmer will swim fast. Just remember, the suit does not make the swimmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Feature by Kristen Heiss COLLEGE STATION, Texas, September 17. THE new swimsuits have been causing a stir since they were first introduced earlier this year. From the beginning, accusations were<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n