FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Bigalke said 04/29, 10:38 AM
Swimsuit maker Speedo revealed a revolutionary new suit design in New York earlier this year, with phenom Michael Phelps helping introduce the new product. This suit, the LZR Racer, is designed to further reduce drag as a swimmer cuts through the water. Already, over 20 world records have been broken by swimmers wearing this suit in the three months since its release.

FINA, the international governing body of competitive swimming, approved the suit for competitive use... but some opponents have called for FINA to withdraw this approval, asserting that swimmers in the LZR Racer have a competitive advantage over swimmers in other suits.

Isn't that what advancing new technologies is all about? Like cyclists testing time-trial bicycle positioning in a wind tunnel to reduce drag, swimmers should have the same right to advance the technology of their sport. Swimming can only benefit from new technologies which allow these athletes to do even more with their bodies.

A suit can only do so much. Not even Speedo can quantify how much the LZR Racer reduces drag. FINA should keep approving Speedo's new design. In the end, swimmers gotta swim, and LZR Racers gotta race...

Bigalke said 04/30, 09:20 AM
One thing to keep in mind is that the "20 world records" number is slightly misleading... because athletes continue to best their own records and shave hundredths of seconds off. Second, it is not as though twenty scrubs put on the suit and suddenly became Olympic-caliber athletes -- the people breaking records with these suits were already some of the world's top talents BEFORE they ever put on a LZR Racer...

For example, the 200-m backstroke record fell to Kristy Coventry, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist. Alain Bernard, who set and reset the 100m freestyle record at the 2008 European Championships, was the 2007 gold medalist at the same tournament... WITHOUT a LZR Racer.

Who, anyway, is clamoring to have the Racer banned for competition? It is not racers; it is other swimsuit companies. And yet, even as they complain, they copy the design...

Arena International has spawned the first copycat. Others are sure to follow as companies realize the benefits of compression fabrics & unexposed seam welds. Other revolutionary suits have come and gone, each contributing more to swimsuit technology. Progress must continue forward; Speedo has inspired a new era in design for everyone...

Bigalke said 04/30, 03:34 PM
A new revolution in athletic technology must start somewhere. As I said before, this is not the first time full-body skinsuits have been introduced to skepticism and fears of unfair advantages. But technology cannot advance unless SOMEBODY releases it on the market and gets its copycats...

Speedo released the suit, & already companies are clamoring to replicate the results. By the Olympics, most every swim company should have their own version of this suit on the market for their branded athletes. Arena International already has copied the concept... more are sure to follow when they realize the benefits of this new technology.

Sports technology is always advancing... & those who are sponsored by the first company to release any technology enjoy the advantages of that technology before their competitors. But this is a worthwhile technology -- & anything worthwhile is destined to become widespread quickly as more athletes recognize the benefits of seamless suit technology and compression fabric.

Any company can create similar suits... and they are already in the works. Speedo has stimulated a new, faster AND fairer age as everyone jumps on the bandwagon...