Swimming in the buff, the athletes of ancient Olympics believed clothes were a hindrance on performance. Modern technology, however, has changed that. Notably in swimming, the right suit can have an enormous impact. Introduced in February, Speedo's LZR swimsuit, 38 of the 42 world swimming records have been broken since then have fallen to swimmers wearing these suits. Some of those records have been claimed by less-than-notable racers, suggesting that the difference lies in the apparel, not the athlete.
The new suit is cut from a densely woven nylon-elastane material that compresses the wearer's body into a hydrodynamic shape but is extremely light. Moreover, there are no sewn seams. The first fully bonded bodysuit. The suit is ultrasonically welded, creating a smooth streamlined surface. Built with a core stabilizer, the suit holds the swimmer in a corset-like grip allowing to maintain the best body position in the water.
Sources:
Video - "How the Speedo LZR swim suit works"
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2008/04/21/how-the-fastest-swim-suit-works/
http://www.speedo80.com/lzr-racer/features/
Who would have ever thought that companies like Speedo would be teaming up with NASA?! This is an amazing look at how beneficial the merging and blending of ideas between companies can truly be. The science behind these new LZR Speedo swimsuits is unbelievable. It seemed that clothing was a pull against swimmers in action, however with NASA's technology; more coverage with the right materials has proven to be more efficient when actively swimming. Although this will not exactly benefit our society as a whole and besides the fact that, in my opinion, they seem to be extremely unattractive, Olympic athletes will take advantage of them and hopefully swim to new world records.
ReplyDeleteI must say the technology behind this is incredible… but is it fair? I do not necessarily agree with the use of these suits. It seems like an unfair advantage. Athletes these days have the upper hand. What happened to shaving down before a race (swimmers typically shave their entire body before a big meet)? These suits make athletes seem better than they actually are, they don’t necessarily make these swimmers better. How do we compare these records to the ones made before this new technology? Any comparison would not be accurate because the standards are not the same.
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