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I think the reason a lot of this vanished is that textiles were quickly banned in competitive sports. Swimming is a great example - the advanced suit fabrics we
by appplication 3y ago
I think the reason a lot of this vanished is that textiles were quickly banned in competitive sports. Swimming is a great example - the advanced suit fabrics were really impressive engineering. As someone who had a chance to wear them (and the subsequent inferior replacements after the ban), they really did make a huge difference in performance.
For a while people thought the suit records would be untouchable, and many folks even specifically requested they be specially designated with an asterisk. Since then, the new generation of swimmers have absolutely stepped up to the plate, and many of the believed-immortal records have since fallen.
- qball 3y agoOne would think they'd just do it by division; it's not that difficult to have a Production division for standard suits and an Open division for the highest of the high-tech fabrics. Other sports that have this kind of division still have Open competitors get beat by Production ones anyway.
- appplication 3y agoI think in this case it was because people could essentially just buy speed to some degree, which was a first for swimming, and this had implications on equal access within the sport. The suit bans were both swift and restrictive, which was definitely a clear signal on how seriously this issue was taken. Ultimately, as fun as the super suits were, it was definitely the right call to put an end to the fabric arms race early.