When listening to Aaron, the man is deeply wise beyond his years - as well as an extremely strategic thinker overall ! I think many others would also hear, what it is he's saying here -- 2, 3 insightful steps ahead of the question. Shout out and respects, from an old assistant, going way back : ) It was a priceless opportunity and time indeed. Honestly, as I recall, Aaron was this brilliant and straightforward as well, an age-grouper in gold gr.....
This is such great insight to hear from a WR holder who is willing to admit his time may not have been as fast without the suit. Not many people will have the dignity to admit that, top respect for Piersol.
Aaron's comment that it was obviously cheating is spot on. You dove in and immediately knew it. I didn't buy one until they were going to be banned because people were saying it didn't make a real difference, but I'm kicking myself because if I had known they drop your time that much I would have been a lot faster swimmer in my prime. I did an experiment by wearing a supersuit in prelims but not finals, and in another race wearing it for finals but not prelims. It made about a 1 second improvement per 50, compared to a fastskin jammer, which is already pretty helpful.
On one end, I remembered the Super Suit Era as the "breaking every swimmer's parents bank" era. I knew it got out of control when I saw 12 year olds wearing LZR's and Jaked at age group meets. Being a teen at the time, I stuck with my FS II and I still wear the FS II today in Master's. On the other end, it was exciting on the international stage, something Ford vs. Ferrari-esque. With ISL getting more traction, I really hope the plastic suits make a comeback in their own category. It'll be cool to see swim tech pushed to its limits.
Only records I think truly benefited are the biederman records. I raced him as Junior and he swam 1.48-1.49 and a 3.50 and then again 08 and he narrowly beat me in the 400. Think he went a 3.47. To drop that much time a year later is crazy. Maybe he was just due a big PB having only dropped 2 seconds from 04 to 08. But even still it’s pretty mad
Been killing it lately with the guests and conversation topics. Question is, does Paul Biedermann still get the WR if he wears a LZR and not a Pro Glide?
1:42.00 is easily the most ridiculous record out there. Since Yannick Agnel no one has even been within 2 seconds of that record. 7:32 in the 800 is close to being as ridiculous, but that 200 free record is just stupid fast.
@@nickbaker3588 It was but the fact it wasn't full Poly meant it wasn't AS buoyant. The suit kept PB high in the water and let him move where the LZR didn't really affect the buoyancy as much
Agree with everything Aaron (legend, btw) said except "Fina went too far." No they didn't they finally got it right. No more full body suits (a la Thorpe) going from wrist to ankle.. even with textile material would be "cheating" imo. Heck, if it was up to me it would be nylon briefs only.
I agree with everything Aaron said except his thoughts on buoyancy. In my opinion, the polyurethane suits are not buoyant, not at all. It’s easy to get that impression because they ‘feel” buoyant, but that is the result of loss of sensory input, not because they make you float. Put one on and you can glide to the other side of the pool underwater without struggling against buoyancy even the tiniest amount. This common misconception about buoyancy is important because it misses the real reason that these suits were so effective, which Keri pointed out. They make the body slippery and dramatically reduce drag. This is why they disproportionately benefited swimmers who weren’t lean because they not only reduce drag from soft tissue, they concentrate more mass into a hydrodynamic container. The extra mass carries more momentum. If the suits were buoyant, why didn’t we see the records for distance events get smashed? They should have seen more benefit, not less. Same with long course over short course. But it was the speed events and the races with the highest percentage of time underwater that saw the biggest gains. This is because drag increases exponentially with increased velocity. And at high speed with low drag, the body can ride higher in the water. I agree that the suit era was mismanaged on the front and the back end, as Aaron says, but I also think that full body suits made with the currently legal state of the art materials would be nearly as fast as polyurethane. Finally, leggings are FAR less effect than full body suits because the torso generates most of the drag, so there’s no asterisk next to Aaron’s record.
@@carmelopearman5721 That's a great idea. They already have underwater leagues where guys get fins and mini O2 tanks. I think if anything changed, the men's suits should've just been the same open backed onesie/knee-skin tech suits that the women where today. Would've stopped from such a massive setback in times. Not a full eradication on body suit technology, just changing the materials it's made of to textile, considering it seems the sport will go back to anyway.
@@Slick_Nick imagine if the ISL allowed super suits and it became sort of formula one/ Lemans style where athletes and companies competed to see what the limits of the individual and the suit were
@@carmelopearman5721 The ISL would probably begin to overtake standard swim meets because people would at the end of the day want to watch the fastest guys. Especially if they didn't just do SCM and did LCM as well.
Nike and Under Armor etc make new shoe technology every year... and then have to sell those shoes... and they use athletes to promote them. I think the technology and materials breakthroughs were a GOOD thing for swimming, and people who make their livelihood from swimming.
If it weren't for the supersuits, Thorpe's 400 WR would probably still be standing today, with only Sun Yang coming close. He truly was incredible.
When listening to Aaron, the man is deeply wise beyond his years - as well as an extremely strategic thinker overall ! I think many others would also hear, what it is he's saying here -- 2, 3 insightful steps ahead of the question. Shout out and respects, from an old assistant, going way back : ) It was a priceless opportunity and time indeed. Honestly, as I recall, Aaron was this brilliant and straightforward as well, an age-grouper in gold gr.....
This is such great insight to hear from a WR holder who is willing to admit his time may not have been as fast without the suit. Not many people will have the dignity to admit that, top respect for Piersol.
Thank you for letting us hear this conversation
Aaron's comment that it was obviously cheating is spot on. You dove in and immediately knew it. I didn't buy one until they were going to be banned because people were saying it didn't make a real difference, but I'm kicking myself because if I had known they drop your time that much I would have been a lot faster swimmer in my prime. I did an experiment by wearing a supersuit in prelims but not finals, and in another race wearing it for finals but not prelims. It made about a 1 second improvement per 50, compared to a fastskin jammer, which is already pretty helpful.
On one end, I remembered the Super Suit Era as the "breaking every swimmer's parents bank" era. I knew it got out of control when I saw 12 year olds wearing LZR's and Jaked at age group meets. Being a teen at the time, I stuck with my FS II and I still wear the FS II today in Master's. On the other end, it was exciting on the international stage, something Ford vs. Ferrari-esque. With ISL getting more traction, I really hope the plastic suits make a comeback in their own category. It'll be cool to see swim tech pushed to its limits.
Really? I’m 34 and had suits as a kid and now as a master and they’re like £300-400 for less material aswell
Only records I think truly benefited are the biederman records. I raced him as Junior and he swam 1.48-1.49 and a 3.50 and then again 08 and he narrowly beat me in the 400. Think he went a 3.47. To drop that much time a year later is crazy. Maybe he was just due a big PB having only dropped 2 seconds from 04 to 08. But even still it’s pretty mad
Been killing it lately with the guests and conversation topics. Question is, does Paul Biedermann still get the WR if he wears a LZR and not a Pro Glide?
No
@@InsidewithBrettHawke how many more decades till another swimmer goes 1:42.00 xD
1:42.00 is easily the most ridiculous record out there. Since Yannick Agnel no one has even been within 2 seconds of that record. 7:32 in the 800 is close to being as ridiculous, but that 200 free record is just stupid fast.
LZR was a supersuit too
@@nickbaker3588 It was but the fact it wasn't full Poly meant it wasn't AS buoyant. The suit kept PB high in the water and let him move where the LZR didn't really affect the buoyancy as much
Agree with everything Aaron (legend, btw) said except "Fina went too far." No they didn't they finally got it right. No more full body suits (a la Thorpe) going from wrist to ankle.. even with textile material would be "cheating" imo. Heck, if it was up to me it would be nylon briefs only.
I agree with everything Aaron said except his thoughts on buoyancy. In my opinion, the polyurethane suits are not buoyant, not at all. It’s easy to get that impression because they ‘feel” buoyant, but that is the result of loss of sensory input, not because they make you float. Put one on and you can glide to the other side of the pool underwater without struggling against buoyancy even the tiniest amount. This common misconception about buoyancy is important because it misses the real reason that these suits were so effective, which Keri pointed out. They make the body slippery and dramatically reduce drag. This is why they disproportionately benefited swimmers who weren’t lean because they not only reduce drag from soft tissue, they concentrate more mass into a hydrodynamic container. The extra mass carries more momentum. If the suits were buoyant, why didn’t we see the records for distance events get smashed? They should have seen more benefit, not less. Same with long course over short course. But it was the speed events and the races with the highest percentage of time underwater that saw the biggest gains. This is because drag increases exponentially with increased velocity. And at high speed with low drag, the body can ride higher in the water. I agree that the suit era was mismanaged on the front and the back end, as Aaron says, but I also think that full body suits made with the currently legal state of the art materials would be nearly as fast as polyurethane. Finally, leggings are FAR less effect than full body suits because the torso generates most of the drag, so there’s no asterisk next to Aaron’s record.
Make a super suited league like in car racing
Then the competition also becomes between companies
@@carmelopearman5721 That's a great idea. They already have underwater leagues where guys get fins and mini O2 tanks. I think if anything changed, the men's suits should've just been the same open backed onesie/knee-skin tech suits that the women where today. Would've stopped from such a massive setback in times. Not a full eradication on body suit technology, just changing the materials it's made of to textile, considering it seems the sport will go back to anyway.
@@Slick_Nick imagine if the ISL allowed super suits and it became sort of formula one/ Lemans style where athletes and companies competed to see what the limits of the individual and the suit were
@@carmelopearman5721 The ISL would probably begin to overtake standard swim meets because people would at the end of the day want to watch the fastest guys. Especially if they didn't just do SCM and did LCM as well.
@@Slick_Nick all the better that would be so entertaining
Nike and Under Armor etc make new shoe technology every year... and then have to sell those shoes... and they use athletes to promote them.
I think the technology and materials breakthroughs were a GOOD thing for swimming, and people who make their livelihood from swimming.