The Speedo is a world wide company that stands behind Fastskin – one of the most popular competitive swimsuits on the market today. Without any doubt, in case this famous company shuts down everything they were manufacturing and selling male and female swimmers would suffer because they make a lot of essential equipment crucial for water sports.
Back in the early 2000s, the Speedo manufactured first of its latest line of superb swimsuits, the FastSkin. As they like to say Speedo kicked off the twenty first century in big style, introducing this innovative suit. The first model that was ever made is no longer in production. However, many new models from the same line work on the same well known principles. They are usually made out of Spandex and Lycra, materials responsible for its performance, and are basically copied after shark skin to reduce drag and increase the speed. Also, there are some models made out of Lycra and Nylon. Basically the material is developed to minimize muscle vibrations and skin vibrations, which minimizes drag and saves a lot of energy. As a final result, the Sydney Olympics saw 13 of the 15 World Records beaten in the FastSkin and 83% of medals conquered by swimmers.
Back in 2004 a FastSkin FSII was launched, which reduces passive drag by up to 4%. It was the most significant breakthrough in competitive swimsuit design that year. As a result, more swimmers in Athens Olympics decided to try their luck with Speedo than all of the other brands put together. Three years after that, FS-Pro was born. Basically, it was the upgraded version of the FSII. Professional athletes only had to wait for one year until they launched the new suit called LZR Racer. To this day it remains the best in its class, with few improvements made since it was first introduced.
Throughout the years, these fast suits were admitted to listing on the FINA Official List of approved suits. Just pay attention that on the Official List may be swimsuits that aren’t on the list that will still be totally legal if they agree with all of their guidelines. On the other hand the swimsuits on the FINA official list are guaranteed by the manufacturers and approved by the international governing body of swimming as completely legal.
So, if you wish to purchase one of the suits from the FastSkin line of swimsuits you should know that you are buying an ultimate piece of gear developed through many years of tradition and experience in order to answer the need of a professional swimmer.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
FastSkin Controversy – Revealing Some Facts
There has been a lot of controversy over Speedo FastSkin line of competitive swimsuits. Some even tried to ban this innovative swimwear. However, it's very hard to give opinion not knowing what exactly this swimsuit improves.
Let us take LZR Racer Elite for example. This suit is made of high-density microfiber and lined with polyurethane panels. This combination of materials shows very good performance and is contributing to a rash of World Records being set by athletes wearing them. The polyurethane panels that act like a girdle to streamline the athletes’ bodies also needed to be reshaped, so that the girdle structure wasn’t too far up the rib cage, therefore inhibiting athletes' breathing process. Wearing this suit makes the cells in the body absorb oxygen at a faster rate.
On the other hand, this suit, which had already been given a green light for use at the latest Olympic Games, has caused plenty of protests from several other manufacturers and many athletes, who claim that it represents an extreme case of unfair advantage for other athletes. Some say that the technology isn’t everything. But when you put two equally capable athletes to race against each other, the difference between 1st and 2nd place will probably be determined by what swimsuit they are wearing. But is this really the truth?
Just remember what happened at the Beijing Olympics when the greatest rivalry in swimming took place, Michael Phelps vs Milorad Cavic. In that race, Serbian swimmer led American for 99.99 meters before a half-stroke finish from Michael Phelps gave him a stunning, narrow victory and earned him a record-tying 7th shiny gold medal. The fact is that Serbian swimmer wore Arena X-Glide (this suit is constructed completely of polyurethane) and Michael Phelps wore Speedo LZR Leggings. And American swimmer out-touched him! The LZR Racer once again appeared superior to any other suit. But is it the athlete or the gear?!
For those who watched the 13th FINA World Championship that took place in Rome, the phrase fully polyurethane body suit is definitely still ringing in your ears. The revolutionary 100 percent polyurethane body swimsuits caused a lot of controversy, since there were 43 world records broken in the eight day championship.
Of course, not all of the 43 world records were broken by athletes in all fully polyurethane body suits. American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, and a Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry were the most notable exceptions, since they all chose to put their trust into LZR swimsuits that, just one year ago at the Beijing Olympics, were considered the best in swimwear industry. Not that the LZR Racer was totally innocent, however it was made only with a several patches of this obviously controversial fabric - polyurethane. And what was the final result? Sophisticated competitive swimwear has dominated conversation and the medal podium once again.
If you wish to add something regarding FastSkin controversy, please post your comment.
Let us take LZR Racer Elite for example. This suit is made of high-density microfiber and lined with polyurethane panels. This combination of materials shows very good performance and is contributing to a rash of World Records being set by athletes wearing them. The polyurethane panels that act like a girdle to streamline the athletes’ bodies also needed to be reshaped, so that the girdle structure wasn’t too far up the rib cage, therefore inhibiting athletes' breathing process. Wearing this suit makes the cells in the body absorb oxygen at a faster rate.
On the other hand, this suit, which had already been given a green light for use at the latest Olympic Games, has caused plenty of protests from several other manufacturers and many athletes, who claim that it represents an extreme case of unfair advantage for other athletes. Some say that the technology isn’t everything. But when you put two equally capable athletes to race against each other, the difference between 1st and 2nd place will probably be determined by what swimsuit they are wearing. But is this really the truth?
Just remember what happened at the Beijing Olympics when the greatest rivalry in swimming took place, Michael Phelps vs Milorad Cavic. In that race, Serbian swimmer led American for 99.99 meters before a half-stroke finish from Michael Phelps gave him a stunning, narrow victory and earned him a record-tying 7th shiny gold medal. The fact is that Serbian swimmer wore Arena X-Glide (this suit is constructed completely of polyurethane) and Michael Phelps wore Speedo LZR Leggings. And American swimmer out-touched him! The LZR Racer once again appeared superior to any other suit. But is it the athlete or the gear?!
For those who watched the 13th FINA World Championship that took place in Rome, the phrase fully polyurethane body suit is definitely still ringing in your ears. The revolutionary 100 percent polyurethane body swimsuits caused a lot of controversy, since there were 43 world records broken in the eight day championship.
Of course, not all of the 43 world records were broken by athletes in all fully polyurethane body suits. American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, and a Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry were the most notable exceptions, since they all chose to put their trust into LZR swimsuits that, just one year ago at the Beijing Olympics, were considered the best in swimwear industry. Not that the LZR Racer was totally innocent, however it was made only with a several patches of this obviously controversial fabric - polyurethane. And what was the final result? Sophisticated competitive swimwear has dominated conversation and the medal podium once again.
If you wish to add something regarding FastSkin controversy, please post your comment.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Speedo FastSkin – One Side of the Story
Swimsuits have improved over years. And with the arrival of new technology they are becoming more and more important for winning at contests. Speedo developed FastSkin series of swimsuits to help reduce drag by around 8 percent. But this story has not one, but three sides. Speedo’s, FINA’s, and facts.
Needless to say, new and advanced technology has come to men’s and women’s competition swimsuits. By analyzing swimsuits and using fluid dynamics this innovative piece of professional swimmers’ equipment had led to faster swim times for all types of strokes. Speedo’s development engineers have been challenged to integrate high performance materials which will ensure results and improve efficiencies by using innovative solutions. Shark skin and submarines have been studied to look at the flow of water over the shark’s body/submarine’s surface. These results helped in future Speedo’s competitive swimsuits design. Some other swimwear also incorporates buoyancy elements which make the swimmer faster in the pool.
Let us take FSII Full Bodyskin for example. This suit is probably the most popular model of this series of swim suits. However, keep in mind that this is not the latest model from this line of fast suits. Nevertheless, it remains popular to this day. And why is that? First of all, the FSII suit has a very thin, super-powerful, and extremely-low-profile panels that reportedly help the athlete maintain best possible body shape and also reduce drag along his body. All of these features combine together to make up to 8 percent less drag (please note these statistics are provided by the Speedo's global research and development centre) than previous models from the same series of competitive swimsuits, 4.5 percent faster starts and around 5 percent improved oxygen efficiency. The second reason why this suit is popular to this day is the not so high price compared to newer models from the same line. These allegations are very good. Also, many world records have been broken by athletes wearing the FastSkin 2.
But do all swimmers wear these revolutionary suits? Actually, there are some swimmers that argue that the FastSkin series of swimsuits and other similar types of swimwear shouldn’t be allowed at competitions. This issue has even been raised with FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation or the International Swimming Federation) potentially having more strict design standards in the future. The most important part of the proposal is a ban on wearing more than one performance swimsuit at a time. Swimmers have allegedly been wearing two or even three swimsuits at the same time to gain advantage.
So, there is no doubt that the FastSkin line of competitive swimsuits is great. These suits are made to beat world records! And that is a fact! When swimmers train for the competition they use many methods and tools to decrease the drag of the water on their body. Be it an innovatively developed swimwear, wearing several swimsuits to improve results (as we already mentioned), athletes use it. However, it seems very simple to say and think that this swimwear is to thank for these great record breaking times. Claiming that an athlete can play football or drive tour la France just as well as the professional one whose name is on the sports gear simply by putting the gear on is nonsense. And this is a fact as well. To win a gold medal you have to work for it, to beat the world record you have to produce an effort that has not been achieved before. As we like to say, winning is a miracle, but not a mystery.
In case you want to add something regarding FastSkin or some other competitive swimsuits, don't hesitate to post a comment.
Needless to say, new and advanced technology has come to men’s and women’s competition swimsuits. By analyzing swimsuits and using fluid dynamics this innovative piece of professional swimmers’ equipment had led to faster swim times for all types of strokes. Speedo’s development engineers have been challenged to integrate high performance materials which will ensure results and improve efficiencies by using innovative solutions. Shark skin and submarines have been studied to look at the flow of water over the shark’s body/submarine’s surface. These results helped in future Speedo’s competitive swimsuits design. Some other swimwear also incorporates buoyancy elements which make the swimmer faster in the pool.
Let us take FSII Full Bodyskin for example. This suit is probably the most popular model of this series of swim suits. However, keep in mind that this is not the latest model from this line of fast suits. Nevertheless, it remains popular to this day. And why is that? First of all, the FSII suit has a very thin, super-powerful, and extremely-low-profile panels that reportedly help the athlete maintain best possible body shape and also reduce drag along his body. All of these features combine together to make up to 8 percent less drag (please note these statistics are provided by the Speedo's global research and development centre) than previous models from the same series of competitive swimsuits, 4.5 percent faster starts and around 5 percent improved oxygen efficiency. The second reason why this suit is popular to this day is the not so high price compared to newer models from the same line. These allegations are very good. Also, many world records have been broken by athletes wearing the FastSkin 2.
But do all swimmers wear these revolutionary suits? Actually, there are some swimmers that argue that the FastSkin series of swimsuits and other similar types of swimwear shouldn’t be allowed at competitions. This issue has even been raised with FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation or the International Swimming Federation) potentially having more strict design standards in the future. The most important part of the proposal is a ban on wearing more than one performance swimsuit at a time. Swimmers have allegedly been wearing two or even three swimsuits at the same time to gain advantage.
So, there is no doubt that the FastSkin line of competitive swimsuits is great. These suits are made to beat world records! And that is a fact! When swimmers train for the competition they use many methods and tools to decrease the drag of the water on their body. Be it an innovatively developed swimwear, wearing several swimsuits to improve results (as we already mentioned), athletes use it. However, it seems very simple to say and think that this swimwear is to thank for these great record breaking times. Claiming that an athlete can play football or drive tour la France just as well as the professional one whose name is on the sports gear simply by putting the gear on is nonsense. And this is a fact as well. To win a gold medal you have to work for it, to beat the world record you have to produce an effort that has not been achieved before. As we like to say, winning is a miracle, but not a mystery.
In case you want to add something regarding FastSkin or some other competitive swimsuits, don't hesitate to post a comment.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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Friday, February 19, 2010
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Google uses the Doubleclick DART cookie to serve ads across it's Adsense network and you can get further information regarding the DART cookie at oubleclick as well as opt out options at Google's Privacy Center.
Privacy
I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site. The following discloses how I gather and disseminate information for this Blog.
RSS Feeds and Email Updates
If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates (powered by Feedburner), I ask for contact information such as name and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me - ever)
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Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
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