Michael Phelps Swimsuit Controversy - WHY?????

[FEARoNUKE]

No different than any other sport with technological advances... like baseball bats etc!!!

[lgbtTV4]

@FEARoNUKE The comparison is not entirely accurate. A bat is absolutely necessary in baseball, just like rackets are in tennis, and poles are in vaulting. But swim suits have nothing to do with swimming, and are worn for modesty. That why they got skimpier and skimpier until the high tech stuff appeared in the 1990s. These new suits enhance performance which is cheating, in my opinion. You might as well put on flippers.

[renelealh]

Wow you really don't know much about swimming do you? there's not many african swimmers because most of them are black and guess what, black people have different kind of muscles, this muscles makes it harder for them to float, but makes them better at sprinting. White people suck at sprinting for the same reason, ever wondered why theres no 100m runners?

[cutemikey]

@renelealh Care to provide an actual medical reference? I'm a medical student and this was certainly not taught to us in a/p or sports medicine.

And you should focus on the point of the description, which is not about African swimmers but how richer countries have an advantage with sports technology. Let's say what you say is true; it still doesn't negate his point.

[lgbtTV4]

@Obliexis wrote "shut up bitch you lost"

Looks like you have a crush on Phelps, and felt hurt by the controversy. Awwww, poor baby. Poor pathetic baby. Why don't you try replying intelligently? If you object to something, list it. And why would you tell someone to shut up in his her own channel? Moron.

[bryguyf69]

@Obliexis What are you talking about? Lost, how? Try quoting, loser, And give an actual argument. I just read the entire thread and I don't see anywhere where he lost at all. Lost to what? Who was the judge? Seriously, you look like a troll who can't read or understand the topic, and just came in here for attention.

[benji1083]

As much as I admire Phelps, Thorpe and Hackett who have all voiced concerns on the suits. It does have to be said that that they started the trend for high tech suits. But to be honest the decision to ban them was absolutely correct. The only place you should see full suits/ wetsuits is in open water swimming where water temperatures and distances require it to prevent hypothermia.

[1971VMAX2010]

Hight tech goggles, swim caps that reduce 5% friction, swim suits, everything is hight tech gear and not only in swimming. Should we banned them? My answer is no. There are many companies that make money working and improving technology. The olympics should understand how every piece of equipment used by the swimmers works and then make a decision if they should use them or not. Or regularize swim suits as soccer regularize size and material of the ball.

[boogie12ful]

i would like to see michael phelps al natural

[kenylay]

guys guys .. the major problem was that the LZR had a less than 30% OF polyurethane whereas ARENA made her swimsuit from polyurethane only ! making it 100% polyurethane :) .. fair ? NO ! thats why michael phelps talked about it especially when he lost with biedermann ..

[johnsonleanarutofan]

Michael phelps trains and trains a whole lot im not trying to sound like a swimming or phelps experrt here cause i suck at swimming xD but these games should be based on skill and maybe sometimes if ur lucky but not by next generation high tech suits that will help u cheat

[Ian7570]

the LZR suits had polyurethane panels, so the the swimmers wearing them were only cheating "a little bit" compared to the swimmers who weren't wearing them. The new suits are all poly so now the swimmers are cheating "a lot".

[heyimad]

you obviously know nothing about swimming.

they're only being banned because they give swimmers such a great advantage, not the fact that they five an advantage,

and yes i do agree all ELITE swimmers have acces to the suit but in the end it trickles down to lower class state championships for those younger swimmer.

they're the ones paying hundreds for the suits, and not all can afford that

The sport should be based on hard work , determination, and skill, not the suit one is wearing

[RationalSaneThinker]

I frankly don't understand the controversy. All these high tech body suits give the wearer an unnatural advantage yet no one complained in the past. Some say that this new suit is different because it's bouyant, allowing the swimmer to use less energy floating. Well, the older low friction suits also allow the swimmer to use less energy. As long as ALL swimmers have access to the suit, what's the controversy?

[RationalSaneThinker]

It's Phelps own decision not to wear the X-Glide because of his contract with Speedo. Why should other swimmers be penalize for his business decisions?

In truth, I think all these high tech equipment, i.e. body suits, should be banned. We're measuring human ability, not scientific ability. Suits and other equipment should only be sued for safety and protective reasons, i.e. goggles.

[RationalSaneThinker]

Using high tech suits also put poorer swimmers at a disadvantage (i.e. why aren't there any great African swimmers?). Nor can we compare older records with new ones since they didn't use low friction body suits 20 years ago.

Swimmers should be limited to a bikini swimsuit, i.e. Speedos, goggles, cap and ear/nose clips -- all standardized by one company. Most of the original Olympics was done nude because they wanted to judge pure athleticism. We need to approach those ideals again.

[RationalSaneThinker]

While I'm at it, here's my Olympic rant. The medal count, especially by the US, is stupid. The US is rich, with high tech health care, nutrition and sports facilities, so of course we'd win more medals. Heck, many foreigners come here to train. And we're a large country with varied climate and terrain so of course we'd participate in more events. Finally, we have a large population thus more athletes to choose from. There really is nothing to be proud of since we have so many advantages.

[RationalSaneThinker]

If we must do a medal count, at least do it fairly. Factor in the number of athletes participating from each country. If, for example, Bhutan only has one athlete and she medals, then they get a 100% rating. That should be better than the US having 100 athletes but only 70 medals (70%). Even better would be to incorporate the country's population, and even its wealth (GNP). As things stand now, an absolute medal count is pointless and a silly ego boost for the US (and Russia, China, etc).

[melowa1]

@RationalSaneThinker Body at this level of competition the suits are for free. This Year, 2009 world championships, when phelps was beaten the suits were for free. They were giving free Jacked, Lzr, Blue seventy, X glides. I think I is good to have em. Qualification times will get faster, people will start swimming faster...its even...

[melowa1]

@melowa1 Buddy*

[heyimad]

you obviously know nothing about swimming.

they're only being banned because they give swimmers such a great advantage, not the fact that they five an advantage,

and yes i do agree all ELITE swimmers have acces to the suit but in the end it trickles down to lower class state championships for those younger swimmer.

they're the ones paying hundreds for the suits, and not all can afford that

The sport should be based on hard work , determination, and skill, not the suit one is wearing