NZ-tested togs whip up a storm
Swimmers wearing Speedos new LZR Racer have smashed 12 world records in the past fortnight, leading to calls for a debate about their use.
The swimsuit was tested at Otago University, using a special flume, like a wind tunnel with water.
The skintight swimsuit - a far cry from Speedos traditional budgie smugglers - was introduced last month amid a blaze of publicity.
It was developed in partnership with Nasa and has no stitching, using bonded joints based on technology from the space shuttle.
Clad in an LZR Racer at the European swimming championships in Holland at the weekend, Frenchman Alain Bernard broke the 100metre freestyle world record twice in two days.
World swimming governing body Fina has called for a meeting with Speedo over the LZR Racer, while French swimming officials have demanded a debate on them.
Otago University biometrics specialist David Pease, who conducted the testing, said he knew the swimsuits would perform well.
Its not that surprising, just because we know the technology is pretty unbelievable. But theyve probably gone a little bit better than we expected, to be honest.
The swimsuits secrets were a seamless design and a compression zone around the torso that helped swimmers to hold their form when they got tired.
They did not aid buoyancy or propulsion and were approved by Fina, he said.
Cornel Marculescu, executive director of Lausanne-based FINA, said there were two main issues: the thickness of the suit and availability.
Marculescu told SwimNews Web site (www.swimnews.com) there were concerns about buoyancy issues.
We have to review this. But there is no scientific test to say if a suit supports performance, he said.
The number one priority is that all suits are made available to everyone at the moment of launch. Any innovation should be available to everybody.
Under Fina rules, the swimsuits must be available to all competitors at the Olympics.
Bodysuits caused controversy from their genesis about a decade ago, with arguments over whether they broke rules outlawing buoyancy. FINA gave the green light in 2000.
Massive sums are poured into the technology of suit development.
Other manufacturers offer suits with special properties of their own and they too have had their successes, including victories at these championships.
Arena, with world and Olympic champion Laure Manaudou in their line-up, launched their new R-Evolution suit in Eindhoven, and adidas, the brand once worn by the mighty Ian Thorpe, will unveil their new suit shortly.
Swimming NZ has a sponsorship deal with Arena, but chief executive Mike Byrne said that did not mean its swimmers would be locked out of using the hi-tech suits for the Beijing Olympics in August.
Under the deal, theyre able to choose any technical equipment they want, and that includes swimming suits.
He said Arena had just introduced its new Powerskin swimsuit, which could prove just as good as the Speedo.
-with Reuters
