Walking into the Cooper Natatorium at Bowling Green State University, coach Bob Thomas knew his team was an underdog, but it wasn't because of his swimmers' ability.
In February 2008, Speedo announced the release of its new competition swimsuit, the LZR (pronounced laser). The suit was said to be the biggest technological breakthrough in swimming history.
Some have said it is not just the biggest breakthrough in swimming history but the biggest technological breakthrough in sports history: bigger than the aluminum bat in baseball, the titanium club head in golf or even the shot clock in basketball.
The U.S. Olympic team wore the LZR at the Beijing Olympics. Since its release, more than 110 world records have been broken in the suit.
Speedo's largest swimming rival, TYR, later released the Tracer Lite. The triathlon company blueseventy also released a suit to rival the LZR.
All of these "speed suits," as they have been deemed, have come with as much controversy as they have excitement.
Opponents of the suits say they should be illegal because the suit traps air between the swimmer and the suit, creating more buoyancy. Thomas, a Ball State University swimming coach, said the buoyancy brings swimmers out of the water more and decreases drag, which increases the swimmers' speed.
Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), who is the governing body of international swimming, originally deemed the suits legal but is now reinvestigating the suits. Thomas said it is expected to make a ruling soon.
In the mean time, the suits are legal and being used.
At the Mid-American Conference women's swimming and diving championship last weekend, every team bought LZRs for their swimmers. Every team, that is, except Ball State.
Thomas said he and co-coach Laura Seibold-Caudill discussed outfitting their team with LZRs but decided it was not feasible.
"We decided, Laura and I, we are a TYR-sponsored team, and we're going to honor that contract," Thomas said. "Plus, the talk is that these suits are going to be illegal next year, so it was hard to justify using the suits."
Thomas said the biggest reason the coaches decided not to invest in suits was it would cost almost $10,000 to outfit their team with LZRs.
Seibold-Caudill said the $10,000 cost was not a big factor for most of the other teams, but Ball State does not have as much funding as some other schools.
"Everyone's budget is so different, and that's what makes it so tough," Seibold-Caudill said. "It's a case of the have's and the have not's. The have's are the ones that are winning and the have not's are at the bottom, struggling to get to the top. Every time you struggle and think you can get an edge here or there with more fundraising or what have you, you realize that they're always going to be on top because they don't have that struggle."
Some people might ask, "What's the big deal; it's a swimsuit?"
Well, it might just be a swimsuit, but there were 90 pool, MAC and individual school records broken at the championship. That has never happened.
But it has been the case at every other collegiate conference championship this year.
Ball State broke seven of the records. Of the 66 Ball State swims, 61 of them were season-best times, while 41 of them were lifetime best times.
The Ball State swimmers were allowed to use the LZR, Tracer or blueseventy suits, but they had to buy them themselves. Some swimmers opted to do this, while others borrowed suits from friends who swim at other schools and others swam in their regular suits.
Mary Ehresman said her parents bought her the LZR, and she also lent it to teammates who made the finals in their events.
"I could really tell a difference," she said. "As soon as I hit the water, my legs floated straight up. It felt like someone had a hook and was pulling me up. I kind of felt like Superman when I put it on. It definitely gave me a mental advantage at the very least."
Elizabeth Spilman decided to use the TYR suit provided by the team for the 1,650-yard freestyle. She broke her personal-best time by more than 15 seconds.
"Although it has been proven that the LZR affects your time," Spilman said, "I have always been taught it's not the suit you wear, it's your mentality and attitude that wins the race."
Thomas said it is uncertain how much the suits affected Ball State's performance.
"We were successful wearing whatever suit we had on," he said. "How much better we could have been, we'll never know. The girls that were able to wear the faster suit did well, but even the ones that didn't go that route did well. In order to compete at a team level, however, we have to take the step to get the suits."
Thomas said not getting the suits put his team at a disadvantage, which was echoed by other MAC coaches at the meet.
Seibold-Caudill said if the whole team would have had the speed suits, the team could have possibly moved into seventh place at the meet.
Many of the Ball State swimmers finished outside of the top-16 places, which score points toward the overall team score. Seibold-Caudill said if those swimmers were in speed suits, there would have been very good chance of them moving up into the top 16.
Thomas and Seibold-Caudill both said next year they will have to find a way to buy the suits. This might mean cutting the team's training trip to Florida and other travel expenses.
"Competition comes before training," Thomas said. "It has to. We make it a point to stay within our budget. If these suits are approved for next year, we will have to find a way to purchase them. I don't want to be put in the situation we were in this year again."
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