http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZR_Racer
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimsuit#Competitive_swimwear:
"
Competitive swimwear
Unlike regular swimsuits, which are designed mainly for the physical appearances, competitive swimwear is manufactured for the purpose of aiding athletes in swim competitions. They reduce friction and drag in the water, increasing the efficiency of the swimmer's forward motion. The tight fits allow for easy movement and are said to reduce muscle vibration,[2] thus reducing drag. Starting around 2000, in an effort to improve the effectiveness of the swimsuits, engineers have taken to designing them to replicate the skin of sea based animals, sharks in particular.[3]
These swim suits are created in order to make water resistance as minimal as possible and thus allowing a swimmer to move more efficiently in water. The company Speedo, for example, came out with a swimsuit called “Fastskin”. It was discovered by scientists studying sharkskin that human skin is inadequate at “slicing” the water because of its porous design.[4] Sharkskin is made of scales spaced very closely together called dermal denticles. It is the grooves in between the scales that produce drag resistant skin.[5] The ridges allow water to pass around the shark more efficiently. More recently, Speedo launched a new swimsuit called "Fastskin LZR RACER". Scientists carried out a global 3D body scanning exercise involving some 400 athletes to discover more about the precise shape of their bodies. Using Computational fluid dynamics, which can predict how existing and new product designs will behave in real-world environments, was used to evaluate the friction, pressure and fluid flow characteristics around swimmers. This analysis indicated where most drag occurs on the swimmer’s body, allowing Speedo to design for optimal drag reduction."
The racing suits not only reduce drag, but the newest models models also support and guide muscle movement (from what I understand) and therefore decrease th amount of effort required to swim faster. The problem in my eyes is that they have made it much too easy for world records set with traditional suits to stand the test of time. So many swimming world records have been broken and rebroken since the racing suits have been permitted in international competition.
As long as all athletes have acces to these suits (IE: that certain countries don't have acces to the due to other countries having exclusivity contracts I'm not aware of), I see no problem with them, since everyone has acces to the same competitive advantage. One thing I would like to see though is a distinction between old style suit records and racing suit records.
What do you think?
