Sunday, August 17, 2008

Did “Space-Age” swimsuit help Michael Phelps reach his 8-medal dream?

Eight records in swimming have ben broken by improbable margins in Beijing Olympics. In the men's 4x100m relay, the record was smashed by an astounding four seconds. All these record-breaking swimmers had one thing in common. They were wearing Speedo's new swimsuit, the "Fastskin" LZR Racer.

The LZR Racer breathes high tech. Speedo designed the suit with input from NASA, ran tests on more than 100 different fabrics, and conducted body scans of world-class swimmers. The ultra-thin suit material repels water, reduces muscle oscillations, and lowers hydrodynamic drag by up to 10%. The individual panels are ultrasonically welded together, rather than stitched. Speedo even claims it increases a swimmer's oxygen efficiency. It can take 30 minutes for a swimmer to struggle into it and, once on, shoehorns the body into a more aerodynamic shape.

Ad of the space age swimsuit -

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