Speedo: Innovation in the Aqua Lab

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Designers inserted panels known as the "core stabilizer" within the suit to smooth the body's silhouette like a corset. Speedo

Seams were welded together ultrasonically to melt the fabric together, further reducing drag on the swimmer, claims Speedo. Speedo

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Over the years, racing swimsuits have gone through considerable changes, from wool to nylon and then to tighter, lower-slung models aimed at reducing drag. Speedo's Fastskin, introduced in 2000, replicated a shark's skin.

Olympic Hopefuls

Several manufacturers are chasing one another to introduce engineered pool gear for the Beijing games. Arena's new suit is called the R-Evolution, while Adidas unveiled the TechFit Powerweb, as well as a suit designed specifically for breaststroke swimmers. Meanwhile, Huntington Beach (Calif.)-based TYR, a unit of Swimwear Anywhere, launched the Tracer Light and Tracer Rise as their Olympic hopefuls.

At TYR, the development of new suits centered on creating a lighter-weight fabric that doesn't leak or take on water, using a woven rather than a knitted fabric, after TYR's researchers found that knitted fabrics drop moisture between fibers. A polyurethane coating was added to create a smoother surface, and compression panels reduce muscle undulation.

One difference with Speedo's LZR is that TYR's new model—which will retail for between $80 and $350—has stayed with stitched seams. The advantage of stitching, argues Jeremy Tongish, TYR's merchandising director, is that it holds the fabric around the compression panels more effectively, which means a firmer grip on the muscles and therefore greater energy return. "If [athletes] squeeze themselves into a tighter suit with bonded seams, it exerts a lot of force on the fabric," he says, implying that sewn suits will be longer-lasting and tighter-fitting.

Fastest Suit in the Pool

So far, both types of design ingenuity appear to be paying off. Dozens of records already have been broken by swimmers wearing the new Speedo and TYR suits in competition, leading to some complaints that such models give wearers an unfair advantage or do not comply with guidelines set by FINA, the swimming world governing body, which has already approved both suits. However, at a meeting held over the weekend at the World Championships in Manchester, Britain, to consider the criticisms, FINA confirmed, "All swimsuits approved so far are complying with specifications."

Still, Speedo's Rance maintains it takes more than a suit to win a race. "LZR is the fastest suit out there, and the suit helps," he claims. But, he adds, "it is the cumulative effect of the suit and the swimmer" that wins the race, not merely the suit itself.

Ernest Beck spent almost a decade as a staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal in Budapest and London. After leaving the Journal in 2002, he became a freelance contributor to numerous publications including the New York Times, Metropolitan Home, and SmallBiz. He is the editor of the book Brancusi's Endless Column about a mysterious sculpture in Romania (Scala, 2007).