Speedo's new swimsuit pushing buttons

Debate about LZR Racer causes sizable ripple effect

By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 27, 2008 at 10:38 p.m.

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American swimmer Natalie Coughlin is one of the many satisfied customers of Speedo's new LZR Racer swimsuit.

Natalie Coughlin was was clearly uncomfortable - and embarrassed.

In Australia to test Speedo's revolutionary LZR Racer suit, the American Olympian needed help just to squeeze into the full-body corset, a piece of apparel that Spider-Man might envy.

"It's humbling when you're in a locker room and naked and having two people stuffing you into a tiny little suit," she said.

Embarrassing or not, the LZR was a perfect fit. Shortly after Speedo unveiled the suit in February, Coughlin broke her own world record in the 100-meter backstroke, the start of what could become a sea change in the sport.

During the past four months, swimmers wearing the NASA-researched suit have broken 38 world records, with more marks sure to tumble during the U.S. Olympic trials, which begin Sunday in Omaha. Other suits have contributed to only four records during that time.

"When I put it on, I feel like I'm some kind of action hero, ready to take on the world," said American Ryan Lochte, who set three world records at the World Short Course Championships in April.

"That's just when I put it on. When I dive in that water, (it's) like I'm swimming downhill."

Added Katie Hoff, a multiple-event standout: "It definitely makes me feel like a different swimmer. (You) dive in and you just feel like you're shooting through the water."

So unusual is the suit that it has been on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in an exhibit of super-heroes.

That doesn't amuse critics, who are, well, suitably angry.

"Technological doping," charged Italian national coach Alberto Castagnetti, whose team wears Arena suits. "Cheating."

"We will sink into mediocrity (if not allowed to switch to the LZR)," said German swimmer Thomas Rupprath, who wears adidas.

Tyr Sport Inc., the second-largest American swimwear manufacturer, has sued Speedo, alleging that it conspired with USA Swimming to stifle competition. The company also sued American Olympian Erik Vendt because he defected to Speedo.

The LZR Racer will be available to all swimmers for the U.S. trials and Beijing Games, even those under contract to other swimwear companies.

Nike is allowing seven of the Olympic hopefuls it sponsors to wear Speedo at the U.S. trials, perhaps the ultimate tribute to the LZR, which Speedo says has 10 percent less drag than its previous Fastskin FSII suit launched in 2004.

"FINA (the international governing body of swimming and other water sports) approved this suit every step of the way and its development," said Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' coach. "I think Speedo has done their job very well and made the suit within guidelines."

Innovations are hardly new in swimming, where reducing the drag of an athlete in water is a constant preoccupation.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, 15 world marks were tied or broken with the help of angled starting blocks, anti-wave ropes, ozone-treated water and Speedo's "sharkskin" bodysuits, which allowed water to pass over swimmers more efficiently.

But LZR might be one of the biggest breakthroughs since polyester fabrics were introduced in the 1950s.

For starters, the suit is fully bonded, meaning all the seams are ultrasonically welded together, which eliminates stitching and overlapping fabric. Even the zipper is bonded into the suit to minimize drag. Until the LZR, swimsuits relied on traditional garment-making techniques.

The girdle-like quality provides support and compresses the core of the swimmer's body, resulting in a more streamlined form in the water. Speedo says swimmers wearing the LZR use 5 percent less oxygen.

"I feel like that suit keeps me from thrashing," Hoff said, referring to her longer races.

And the fabric is the world's lightest woven material, according to Speedo, able to compress, repel water and resist chlorine and overstretching. It also dries faster than any racing suit Speedo has made.

During three years of research and development, the company turned to NASA and several international research institutes for assistance, though swimmers who wear the suit are naturally hesitant to credit the suit with their success.

"You can't take someone off the street, put them in a suit and turn them into an Olympic athlete," Coughlin said.

And Speedo vice president Craig Brommers told Yahoo: "The Speedo LZR Racer is not a miracle suit. It has set zero world records."

But The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. national team coach Mark Schubert has suggested to American swimmers that they would be at a disadvantage without the Speedo. And Schubert publicly backed Speedo's claim of a 2 percent performance advantage in the new swimsuit.

Which is why Coughlin is willing to contort her body to put on the sci-fi-like LZR.

"You have to be very patient," she said. "It's just inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter."

• June 28, 2008

  2:36 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Francesca writes:

  Flattens things out? Gene... ROTFLMAO! (That's the whole idea though.)

• June 29, 2008

  8:51 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  sustan writes:

  This article is almost word for word the same as stories in newsmagazines and other newspapers.
  So, is it called plagiarism when the writer rearranges, manipulates and uses quotes/story lines from Speedo's press release?
  Or is it only called plagiarism when the writer uses quotes/cadence from other print media?
  Either way, should a Rocky byline be on the story? How can the Rocky "author" call the story his own?
  Brings new meaning to "copywriter."

  See: AP, NYT, LATimes, Newsweek, Speedo Press Release.
  More media outlets/Google.

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