US Coaches Sound Off on the Speedo Suit
2008-03-27
Jeff Grace
Straight from the pool deck at Men's NCAAs, the top US college coaches sound off on the new Speedo LZR Racer
Coming off of a week where world records fell like a gust of wind hitting a line of dominoes, the hottest issue in the world of swimming is the use of the new Speedo suit. The NCAA has decided that the competitors will not be allowed to use the suit at this weekend's men's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships because of accessibility issues.

Many of the coaches who are in Federal Way, Washington for the championships had different thoughts on the suit and it's use, but there were two points that almost all of the coaches agreed upon; the suit should not be used until it is available for everyone and that the suit may aid in performance, but it is ultimately the athlete who is in the suit that will determine the result.

Bob Bowman (Michigan) "I think it is good at this meet it is not allowed because not everybody has access to it and I do think that everybody has to have access to it."

";I think there are a lot of factors that go into the success of athletes and not one of them is going to be an overriding thing, it is just part of the equation."

"I don't think the suit itself is anything magic I just think that it is very good."

Richard Quick (Auburn) "The suit is obviously helpful and I think we would be nuts to say that it is not, but there have been over the years, going way back, going way, way back there has always been development of suits to help athletes perform at a higher level. Now I don't know how it is tested or where it goes from here or that kind of thing, but if there was never any suit technology, we would all be swimming in Johnny Weissmuller wool suits."

"The same thing happened with the lycra suit back in the 70s. When we put on the lycra suits for the first time every single American record was broken, just like that in one meet."

"So this isn't unusual to me to see this happening. As long as everybody gets in the same suit it is still the best athletes that will perform better than the others."

"It is a very difficult thing to stop technology."

";In this meet they shouldn't allow it, because not everybody could get-it there are not enough suits, but I do think by the time we get to the Olympics everybody that wants to swim in this new Speedo suit will be able to do so."

Gregg Troy (Florida) "We had a pretty good chance to experiment with them because Ryan Lochte trains with us and we have a real good feel for what is going on. I don't think that the suit makes you go faster. I think it is technical equipment that if used properly will give you a tremendous opportunity to do well."

"It doesn't detract from the fact that you have to step up and make the commitment and do the right things in the water. You have to be focused on attention to detail and the little things. If you attend to those details then the suit may in fact enhance performance from the stand point that you may become more streamlined."

Frank Busch (Arizona) "I would be naive to think that this suit did not alter performances in a good way. I don't think we have seen so many records in so short of a time, I take my hat off to the athletes and what they have done."

"In all the studies that they have done, different body types benefit from these suits more than others. If you wore the suit and I wore the suit maybe it is more beneficial to your body type, than that would not be a level playing field and that is number one."

"Number two depending on what the material is made out of, it depends on the buoyancy and all of a sudden it changes the human's position in the water and again if you happen to be someone who benefits a little bit more from it then all of a sudden you become a little more buoyant than I do."

"I don't want to sound old fashioned because I think that technology is the direction this world is going in, but I just believe when we start talking about things that change a person's body position in the water to benefit them in a way more than say anybody else or just benefit them period. Everybody should have some type of suit made of this material or it shouldn't be allowed."

";I am a little skeptical about doing things that change the natural positions of our bodies in the water and that is pretty much what these suits do."