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The games is suppose to be about the athlete. So shouldn't the swimmers be wearing swimsuits of the same fabric, bicycle racers riding bikes of the same technology, etc?
The games is suppose to be about the athlete. So shouldn't the swimmers be wearing swimsuits of the same fabric, bicycle racers riding bikes of the same technology, etc?
I think swimmers should were swimsuits of the same fabric though it should not matter what color their suits are but I don't know what you mean that bicyclers riding bikes of the same technology.
I think swimmers should were swimsuits of the same fabric though it should not matter what color their suits are but I don't know what you mean that bicyclers riding bikes of the same technology.
Think of the International Race of Champions (IROC) in auto racing. Drivers from different specialties drew at random as identically manufactured and maintained race cars as possible to be a test of the driver and not the overall racing team. In bike racing the federation or whatever rules cycling would set up the bikes and by random draw the racer gets bike X and perhaps bike Y in another heat. However the problem with bikes is they demand a different set up for racers of different sizes.
Think of the International Race of Champions (IROC) in auto racing. Drivers from different specialties drew at random as identically manufactured and maintained race cars as possible to be a test of the driver and not the overall racing team. In bike racing the federation or whatever rules cycling would set up the bikes and by random draw the racer gets bike X and perhaps bike Y in another heat. However the problem with bikes is they demand a different set up for racers of different sizes.
IROC was an interesting excercise, the problem though was that the nascar drivers always had the advantage, since the cars were essentially nascar stock cars. of the IROC series promoters had used a variety of cars, for instance at one track use the nascar style cars, at another use the indycar style cars, then you would have had an interesting series. but i digress. once again my question is,
if the items in question conform to the rules laid down by the rules committee, then what is the issue here? for instance, take the bicycles. do they all weight the same? is he gearing the same? are the tires and wheels the same? do the frames all conform to the rules? if so there is no issue, even though the frames might be different designs.
If swimmers should be wearing suits of the same fabric then all mens basketball players need to be the same height. all soccer players need to have the same agility skills.
with that being said i get what you're saying. as a swim coach myself if everyone wore a several hundred dollar LZR suit would it make the competition more "natural". in reality it would not. you put the last seed in an event in the same suit as the #1 seed you're not going to see any real competitive difference. suits only really take off a second in most cases.
if you really wanted to even the competition you would want to look at variables such as a coaching, practice / training plan, resources and facilities, nutrition and health plans, etc..
you could mandate athletes in this case swimmers utilize the same suit, but again the outcomes would not be that different. and again to be honest the swimmers who are competing in the finals of their event are all pretty much wearing the same technology anyways, so it's really a mute point.
If swimmers should be wearing suits of the same fabric then all mens basketball players need to be the same height. all soccer players need to have the same agility skills.
with that being said i get what you're saying. as a swim coach myself if everyone wore a several hundred dollar LZR suit would it make the competition more "natural". in reality it would not. you put the last seed in an event in the same suit as the #1 seed you're not going to see any real competitive difference. suits only really take off a second in most cases.
if you really wanted to even the competition you would want to look at variables such as a coaching, practice / training plan, resources and facilities, nutrition and health plans, etc..
you could mandate athletes in this case swimmers utilize the same suit, but again the outcomes would not be that different. and again to be honest the swimmers who are competing in the finals of their event are all pretty much wearing the same technology anyways, so it's really a mute point.
The proper analogy would be basketball players wearing the same shoes. But then it would be the Olympic Committee or the international basketball authority getting the money from Nike and not the player, or his coach/school
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