How It All Start
FastSkin is a revolutionary breed of performance suit that hit the swimming pool, big time, back at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia. These swimsuits appear to be like ‘long johns’ and cover up most of the swimmer’s body (both men and women). There’re a couple of variations on this theme. The tiniest covers only the thighs on men without covering on the torso (that is, same as bicycle shorts). The ladies’ version covers the torso much like a standard professional swimsuit, however, covers the thighs as well. Some other variations include covering the arms to the wrist or elbows and/or covering the whole lower body all the way to the ankles.
These innovative bigger swimsuits seem to be improving athletic performance. A huge number of world records have fallen since FINA (la Federation Internacionale de Natation Amateur or the International Swimming Federation) approved their use back in Nov 1999 than in any equal time period in previous years. Were the brand new suits partially or solely responsible for those? In case they were, just how do they work?
Advantages of the FastSkin Swimsuit
Professional athletes used to believe that the less fabric covering the skin the better the performance (naturally, all else being equal). Traditional wisdom was that swimmer’s skin (without any body hair) was much more slippery when compared to suit fabric. This all changed with the launching of the innovative competitive swimsuits. They’re available from several producers. Australian manufacturer Speedo calls their line of performance swimsuits the FastSkin. Here I will analyze some of the producers’ claims and discuss the experiences of some of the professional athletes who have tried out these revolutionary swimsuits. Can these suits enhance performance and if they can, just how do they do that?
Less drag: These swimsuits are believed to lessen drag resulting from friction between the water and the swimmer’s skin. Speedo has constructed a material which has a lower coefficient of friction (inside the pool) when compared to the athlete’s skin, shaved or not. As a matter of fact, the full-body swimsuits (wrists to ankles) make hair removal unnecessary since nearly all the body is covered. This manufacturer constructed its material to simulate sharkskin with V-shaped ridges. In case these claims are true, it’s not surprising at all that the swimmers are busy covering-up the bare bodies they have spent many years showing off.
Better swimmer’s position in the lane and pool (and therefore much better streamlining): Right before International Swimming Federation approved FastSkin swimsuits, they checked them to ensure they were neutrally buoyant. Or better still, they bunched up the swimsuits and held them under water. Once they let them go, these swimsuits did not float to the water surface. More precisely, the material has basically the same density as water. On the other hand, the human body doesn’t. Legs generally have a higher density when compared to the water. Therefore, covering the legs with a neutrally buoyant material decreases the density of the legs, and so reducing leg’s tendency to sink. A lot of professional athletes have reported that they feel these swimsuits make them ‘ride higher in the water’ and it’s not surprising at all. However, I am quite positive that International Swimming Federation considered this issue thoroughly prior to approving these swimsuits. Anything that helps ‘hold the feet up’ in competition will make the athlete much more streamlined and lessen ‘form drag’ by reducing the skin exposed to the water.
Muscles compression: This innovative swimsuit is made to be quite tight and typically takes around fifteen min to put on. This is to compress the muscles as well as to create a much sleeker aerodynamic athlete. This is a good idea. However, in longer lanes will it slow blood flow to the arms and legs?
Gripper: A lot of athletes have complained about losing their ‘feel for the water’ while wearing a swimsuit with long sleeves. In response to this Speedo constructed the Gripper, which is basically a small piece of material placed in the forearm area. This fabric is believed to increase friction and enable athletes to increase their feel for the water.
