Swimsuit Technology

By Melissa Merryman

How it Works• The turbulator: suit

makers incorporate the turbulator into the fabric of the suit, which alters the water to flow over and around the swimmer.

• This device reduces the amount of drag which can improve a swimmer’s time by 3%.

3 Types of Drag

• Friction Drag: the force of water molecules as they pass over the body

• Pressure Drag: the strongest force, results from pushing the water out of the way

• Wave Drag: occurs at relatively high speeds and is the force exerted by waves created

Turbulator

• a strategically placed fabric-encased flexible tube that introduces a raised ridge on the suit

• Instead of water separating on the body it follows the body reducing drag, therefore creating the advantage.

World Records

• There have been over 100 world records broken since the introduction of the drag-reducing suits, introduced in 2008.

Swim Suits

Speedo LZR Arena X-Glide Blue Seventy

2008 Olympics

• The 2008 Olympics were one of the most watched summer Olympics due in part the success of Michael Phelps and the USA Swimming team.

• Phelps had an unbelievable performance, winning 8 gold medals and breaking Mark Spitz’s long time record of 7 gold medals.

Olympic Games World Records Broken

Beijing 2008 25

Athens 2004 18

Sydney 2000 15

Olympic Trends

Cheater Suits?• The BIG

question is are all of these world records legitimate?

FINA Banned Swim Suits

• FINA (governing body for international swimming) banned the high-tech swim suits January 1, 2010.

• One of the loudest supporters of this ban was Michael Phelps.

• Bob Bowman (Phelps’ coach) threatened to pull his star athlete from major international competitions.

Sponsor Obligations

• When an athlete signed with a swimsuit manufacturer they are typically obligated to wear that company’s product.

• Because of the rapidly changing technology of these suits sometimes an athlete was under contract obligations to wear an inferior suit.

Changing the Sport

• Because of the development of these high-tech suits the sport of swimming no longer was solely based on training and talent but who had the best suit.

“Bringing mediocre Olympic athletes medal level” –Mark Synder (my coach)

Works CitedBaker, Lois. “New Swimsuit Technology Developed at UB Introduced at World Cup Meet.” Buffalo News.

University of Buffalo, 30 Jan. 2004. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.buffalo.edu/ news/ fast-execute.cgi/ article-page.html?article=65620009>.

Cantor, Matt. “Swimsuits Banned, Records Questioned.” Newser. N.p., 20 May 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. <http://www.newser.com/ story/ 59560/ swimsuits-banned-records-questioned.html>.

Cooney, Michael. “NASA, Speedo build wind-tunnel-tested bathing suits.” Network World. N.p., 12 Feb. 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. <http://www.networkworld.com/ community/ node/ 24973>.

“Facts and figures: World records set in Beijing Olympics.” English Sina. N.p., 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. <http://english.sina.com/ sports/ 2008/ 0824/ 181308.html>.

Gadbois, John. Personal interview. 12 July 2009.Lawrence, Marta. “Is Speedo’s new swimsuit technology doping?” NCAA Dopeazone. N.p., 3 July 2008.

Web. 17 Apr. 2010. <http://www.doubleazone.com/ 2008/ 07/ is_speedos_new_swimsuit_techno.php>.Palmer, Bill. Personal interview. 18 Aug. 2009.Sataline, Suzanne. “Some Aging Competitors Call High-Tech Swimsuits Dirty Pool.” Wall Street Journal (Nov.

2009): n. pag. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. <http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB125721159786824325.html>.Whitten, Phil. “The Amazing Rise & Fall of Performance-Enhancing High-Tech Swimsuits.” Britannica. N.p.,

10 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. <http://www.britannica.com/ blogs/ 2010/ 02/ performance-enhancing-high-tech-swimsuits/>.