(I may be in the minority here, but the footage from the side of the pool between 2:55 and 3:03 is a work of art)
Fran Halsall saved her best swimming for the last day of the British Olympic Trials with a stunning 24.13 50m Free effort. The time equals Inge de Bruijn's textile best time set all the way back at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Halsall was just 0.02 away from her British record set in a techsuit in 2009. Getting that close to her suited best is a good sign for her 100m Free where she will likely need to get close to her techsuit best of 52.87 if she is going to be in contention for gold in London.
Sidenote 1 - Halsall's swim got me thinking, is Inge de Bruijn's 24.13 a better swim than Britta Steffen's 23.73?
- Britta Steffen - 23.73, world record, in a techsuit, to win the 2009 World Championship.
- Inge de Bruijn - 24.13, in the first version of Speedo's fastskin, in the semi final of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
De Bruijn's swim was a decade ahead of the rest of the world, but was done in the less pressured environment of a semi final. Steffen had the benefit of a techsuit, but is a full 0.15 seconds faster than any other swimmer in history, and was set in a world championship final. Tough one.
Sidenote 2 - Definitely advantage Arena Powerskin Carbon Pro vs Speedo Fastskin 3. Hannah Miley, Fran Halsall and Sarah Sjostrom all wore the new Arena suit and threw down the most impressive swims of the competition.
This is a Perfect Storm for fransesca. Last day of trials for Home Olympics with a known advantage & anyhow a second chance!
ReplyDeleteYes that suit - definite compression advantage with the backline creeping up. The only things not covered are the lats & arms & below the knees.
I give the %) of Inge the cred. That was really fast - use the % of the men's WR to prove superiority. Take the mens time as 100% & Inge is around -11%. Britte is around -13%
Equally Fransesca's % absolutely kills the mens 22.4.He he what is she giving Adam brown 11" in height?
OUCH.
There have been reports speedo-sponsored aussie swimmers will not wear the fastskin 3 during Aussie trials. Apparently the new suits are so bad and ill-fitting, especially for women.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it seems the new Arena suit is Fast. Judging from past experience, if I were speedo-sponsored swimmer, I'd ditch speedo and wear Arean instead. It could be the difference between gold and silver, or medal and medal-less
The cut & fit of Speedo has changed since it became a British firm. owadays I only own one Speedo -a drag suit.
DeleteI find the hips too big.If you go to a surf lifesaving carnival o a ironwoman training session or many squads you will se few Speedos. Their last good one was the normal fastskin one piece -it had a nice slim bottom.
I did not want to say it but the Fastskin did not do Rebecca A any 'attractive' favours. UGGHH. I think it might be ok if you are really tight & muscular build. The longer girls look like some sort of pepetual drip .
The best training/ fun/beach serious swimmers are Engine Aquadiva Kozii Funkita.
For competition Arena have always had nice lines.
But I am beginning to destest te knee suits. $450 is criminal.
Highlighting that Adlington wore the fastskin is a good point, not because she did not look like a model in it but because this once again shows (Like Rome 2009) that Adlington can swim utterly superbly in slow suits. Reports from most places are that the Fastskin is arguably slower than Speedo's 2011 suit. Meaning her 4.02 & 8.18 are by far better than her 2011 swims and there is room for improvement not only through training but also a suit change, I doubt Adlington will however, she is extremely loyal to speedo. Adlington can go 4.01 low and 800 fr WR in London the Arena suit, and maybe the fastskin.
DeleteAsk Adlington to change to Arena for London please. I want to see Evans' 8:16.22 finally broken in a textile suit.
DeleteWe need to keep in mind that the suits could affect swimmers differently, just like the tech suits did.
DeleteSome swimmers may find the fit better and the suits may not be baggy, tight or slow for all.
However, it is disappointing to hear of most swimmers' problems. Shame.
I'm surprise Craig Lord hasn't written anything about the Speedo trouble
ReplyDeleteSome how I doubt that billboards for speedo, ie phelps, lochte, adlington, coughlin, and james magnussen would ditch the fs3 even if it costed them some historic performances
ReplyDeleteWhat were other improvers wearing -Turner Faulkner Sophie Allen & Amy Smith wearing?
ReplyDeleteOf those that did less than desired eg Simmonds & the backstrokers.
Gandy did well in her old suit beating out Halsell's Arena. in the 100.
Yep we are back to talking about the suits & not the swimmers.
Thanks FINA
Unless FINA decides to mandate that all male/female swimmers must wear the same suit, we're always going to be talking about suits.
DeleteAll the sheffield girls mentioned (Faulkner, Turner & Allen) wore the Speedo cap so I'd guess they wore the fastskin too. Amy smith wore the Arena suit. Sheffield just had a fantastic meet. Simmonds wore fastskin too, from memory.
DeleteFurther I was just reading some of the Aust media. Not good.
ReplyDeleteLiesel Jones Libby Trickett & Eammon Sullivan will not be wearing them. It is thought that only 10 of the 800 swimmers will wear a fs3.
Speedo are o the defensive saying "Oh Phelps wore them & he did yadayada yada. And they put out Addlington. And that there is plenty of time before London. What BS.
It seems like they may suit sausage shaped girls with thin legs.
Fran's Arena looks like a circus strongman outfit albeit with nice straps.
I am finding it amazing how many people berating the Speedo suit and what 'shape' it suits, also your clear and distasteful snub at Rebecca 'sausage shaped' Adlington is quite insulting.
DeleteI doubt the speedo is as good as the Arena but Sophie Allen (Very muscular) and Eleanor Faulkner (TINY little thing) did amazingly in them.
But Sophie Allen and Faulkner are still young, no? They are having great natural progress at their age.
DeleteBut you gotta think about Olympics finals where one hundredths separate gold from silver, bronze from medal-less and even final from semis. Suits matter.
The main point behind my reasoning was that the only big event of 2012 so far is British Trials and people are already talking about this suit & that suit.
DeleteThese swimmers are adults and free to part company with their speedo suit (Even if they are a HUGE poster boy/girl)and switch to the Arena, fact is they do not meaning the knowingly compete at a 'disadvantage'. Time for some responsibility to be taken by swimmers, get in the pool and bloody race, don't like your suit, swith. Not rocket science.
We are talking fit & cut.
ReplyDeleteAs for beauty /attractiveness -no way jose in those Knee things of any brand.
Bring back the normal cozzies. Some of the high tech ones look very sleek & sporty.eg The Maru.
BTW I have just recovered from the new Track cycle helmuts. Those outfits are also very unattractive.
I suppose there is always Isabayava.
Youve gotta figure that the suits were designed for the people who are payed to wear them. They are thier guinnea pigs when it comes to testing the fit and the technolagies that come into building a suit.
ReplyDeleteDear peoples
ReplyDeletewhat's better , fs3 or the arena... ?
Then i can't see a different between fs3 and the arena powerskin carbon pro.
And are you faster when you buy the fs3 or the arena powerskin carbon pro with clossed back ?
THX for the answers !