好英语网如果没有高科技泳衣
OMAHA — The waves of technology lapping the Olympic pool this year are ferrying space-age goggles and contoured caps that will never be confused with couture. It is fitting that the head and the eyes are the focal points. With the era of polyurethane racing suits receding, people can once again look at swimmers’ times and rationally assume that they are unaided.
奥马哈——激荡今年奥林匹克游泳池的科技浪潮带来了太空时代的护目镜和贴合头部轮廓的泳帽，但这帽子绝不会和女士时装相混淆。理所当然，头部和眼睛成为了焦点。随着聚氨酯比赛泳衣时代的终结，人们又可以看着游泳选手的比赛成绩，然后合理地认为这成绩是他们在没有借助外力的条件下取得的了。
In the first five days of the United States Olympic trials, three American records fell while every world record remained standing. At the same point four years ago, 7 world records and 11 American records had been broken. The best American swimmers have not slowed; Missy Franklin, Ryan Lochte and Matt Grevers are part of the rising tide that USA Swimming officials hope will eventually lift all performances. It is the suits that have plateaued.
在美国奥林匹克选拔赛的前五天，有三项美国记录被打破，但每项世界记录都保持不变。在四年前的同一时刻，七项世界记录和11项美国记录被打破。最优秀的美国游泳选手没有慢下来；米希·富兰克林(Missy Franklin), 瑞安·洛赫特(Ryan Lochte) 和马特·格雷弗斯(Matt Grevers) 这些选手都被美国游泳协会(USA Swimming)的官员们寄以厚望，希望他们能站在潮头，最终提升运动的整体水平。进入了平稳发展期的反而是泳衣。
“I think the suits, where they are right now, is where they should stay,” said Gregg Troy, who is Lochte’s coach at Gators Swimming and the men’s Olympic coach. “We’re back to a little more true sport.”
“我觉得泳衣应该保持现在的样子，” 格雷格·特洛伊 (Gregg Troy) 说道。他是洛赫特在Gators 游泳协会的教练，也是男子奥运会项目的教练。“我们的运动又回归了真实。”
The caps that fit like a second scalp and the goggles that allow 180-degree peripheral vision are accessories, but not to the crimes that technology has perpetrated on the sport.
这种泳帽紧贴头颅，如同第二层头皮，而护目镜可以提供180度边缘视野。它们都属于附件，但还不至于让科技在游泳运动上犯下的罪行更加深重。
In 2008, Speedo introduced the first high-tech suit in the swimming arms race, the LZR Racer, a corset made of ultralight material that stretched from the neck to the ankles. With the suit, Speedo steered swimming down the road taken by equipment-driven sports like golf and tennis.
2008年，速比涛 (Speedo) 的第一款高科技泳衣在游泳装备竞赛中面世。这款泳衣名为LZR Racer，是用超轻材料做成的紧身衣，从颈部直至脚踝。速比涛用这款泳衣把游泳这项运动拉入了装备驱动型运动的行列，就像高尔夫和网球那样。
By the summer of 2009, Speedo’s competitors had flooded the marketplace with suits bonded by polyurethane that made swimmers so buoyant, there was no drag in their run on the record books. The technology suits, as coaches called them, were outlawed in the beginning of 2010, but not before 43 world records had been broken in 40 events at the world championships in Rome.
到了2009年夏天，速比涛的竞争者们制造的聚氨酯泳衣泛滥市场，这些泳衣让选手在水中轻飘飘的，在冲击新记录的时候几乎毫无阻力。被教练们称为科技泳衣的比赛服在2010年初被禁止，但在这之前的罗马游泳锦标赛中，有40项运动的43项世界纪录已经被打破。
One of the record-setters in Italy was Ariana Kukors, who shattered the American mark and lowered the world record in the 200-meter individual medley. Kukors’s time, 2 minutes 06.15 seconds, was a four-second improvement over her personal best going into the meet and five seconds faster than her clocking Thursday, when she earned a berth to the London Games with a second-place finish at the trials.
在意大利的那次比赛中，阿里亚娜·库科尔斯 (Ariana Kukors) 记录创造者之一。她打破了美国记录，降低了200米个人混合泳的世界记录。库科尔斯的成绩是2分06.15秒，比她进入比赛的个人最好成绩快了4秒，比周四的选拔赛成绩快了5秒。她在选拔赛中以第二名的成绩赢得了参加伦敦奥运会的机会。
Only in the wake of the high-tech swimsuits’ era could someone swim five seconds slower than her best time and cry tears of joy over making her first Olympic team.
只有在高科技泳衣时代结束之后，才会出现这种情形：某个选手的比赛成绩比个人最好成绩慢了5秒，却获得了参加奥运会的资格，并为此流下了喜悦的泪水。
Kukors, 23, acknowledged that the suits were “a huge advantage for me” before they were banned and said: “I really do think the suits helped my underwater swimming significantly. No matter how long I stay underwater now, I don’t think it’s the same.”
23岁的库科尔斯承认高科技泳衣在被禁之前“给我带来了很大优势”：“我真的觉得这种泳衣对我水下的表现有极大帮助。现在，我再怎么训练，我都感觉和以前不同了。”
In 2009, Eric Shanteau broke American records in the 100 and the 200 breaststroke. His record in the 100 is 58.96. He finished second to Brendan Hansen at these trials in 1:00.15, which he described as his “best time.” When pressed, he said, “It’s easier than saying my best time not in one of the high-tech suits.”
2009年，埃里克·尚图(Eric Shanteau)在100米和200米蛙泳中打破了美国记录。他在100米蛙泳的记录是58.96秒。他在这次的选拔赛中以1分00.15秒仅次于布伦丹·汉森(Brendan Hansen) 名列第二。他说这是他的“最好成绩”。追问之下，他说：“说没穿高科技泳衣条件下的最好成绩不是太啰嗦了么。”
Frank Busch, the national team director for USA Swimming, said: “The suits were a huge, huge advantage, and I think there were some athletes who depended on those suits to go fast.... It’s like, ‘Wow, where did that velocity come from?’ ”
美国游泳协会的国家队主管弗兰克·布施(Frank Busch)说：“高科技泳衣能带来巨大优势。我认为有一些运动员依靠这种泳衣来提高速度……你会感到惊讶：‘这速度是哪儿来的？’”
He added, “But I think that’s now two years, three years removed, so I don’t think those are the athletes we’re dealing with right now.”
他继续说：“但我觉得那是两年或三年前的情形了，所以我认为我们现在的运动员不是那样的。”
The next generation is taking aim at the records posted by swimmers in that era but with none of the psychological baggage from wearing them. First-time Olympians like Franklin are focused on the records and not on the swimsuits that made those records possible.
新一代运动员的目标是挑战高科技泳衣时代创造的记录，但他们没有使用高科技泳衣带来的心理包袱。对富兰克林这样首次参加奥运会的运动员来说，他们把注意力放在打破记录上，而不是放在使那些记录成为可能的泳衣上。
“It became a bit of a guessing game what the influence of the technology suits was,” Busch said, “and we had a lot of kids rise to the challenge of making the standards.”
“科技泳衣的影响有多大，这已变得有点像猜谜游戏，” 布施说，“有很多年轻选手现在都追上了当时的水平。”
Franklin, perhaps not surprisingly, was one of the three swimmers to break an American record in the first five days of the eight-day competition.
也许这并不令人惊奇， 在八天比赛的前五天中，富兰克林是打破美国记录的三个选手之一。
The women’s 100-meter butterfly record, 56.05, is considered out of reach by, among others, Sarah Sjoestroem, who established it at the 2009 world championships. The best time by a swimmer not wearing a high-tech suit is Dana Vollmer’s American record, 56.42, in the semifinals here. (She made the Olympic team in the final with a 56.50.)
女子100米蝶泳的记录是56.05秒，很多人，包括在2009年的世界游泳锦标赛中创造这项记录的莎拉·舍斯特姆 (Sarah Sjoestroem)，都认为这个记录难以企及的。没有高科技泳衣条件下的最好成绩是达娜·沃尔默 (Dana Vollmer) 的美国记录56.42秒，这是她在这次选拔赛的半决赛中创下的。（她在决赛中以56.50秒的成绩成功进入了奥运队。）
“I’ve always wanted to get an individual world record,” Vollmer said. “I know I can go faster than anybody’s been.”
“我一直想创造个人世界记录，”沃尔默说道，“我知道自己能游得比别人快。”
That is music to the ears of coaches like Troy, who said: “The record flurry was fake. This is real.”
对特洛伊这样的教练来说，这正是他们想听到的。他说：“那些破记录的高潮都是假象，这才是真实的。”
He added: “I personally like the situation that everyone doesn’t break records all the time because it makes the ones you do break special, and they’re supposed to be special. That’s why they’re world records.”
他继续说：“运动员不再不停地破记录，我个人认为这样才对，因为只有这样，你真正打破一个记录时才显得特别，破记录理应是特别的。这就是为什么它们被称为世界记录。”