Written by: Sarah Wassner Flynn
Posted: Wednesday, 25 June 2008
What does it feel like to swim in the world’s
speediest suit? One New York swimmer takes to the water to find out.
In the build-up to next month’s
Olympic Games, athletes worldwide are angling for any edge that may make them
speedier, stronger, and one step closer to Beijing. And for swimmers, this
means a faster suit. Enter Speedo’s high-tech LZR Racer, which, since its
release in March, has brought on an unprecedented rush of nearly 40 world
records in less than three months. Created by a crack team of researchers and
developers, the LZR took three years of testing in various labs, including the
NASA Langley Research Center, before it hit the market. But the suit hasn’t
come without controversy: Rival manufacturers are claiming that the LZR amounts
to “technology doping,” giving those swimmers who wear it an unfair advantage
over those who don’t. TYR has even gone as far as filing a lawsuit in mid-May,
accusing Speedo of attempting to monopolize the competitive swimwear
marketplace with this one-of-a-kind suit.
Speedo, who said the lawsuit is “without
merit,” swiftly responded to these accusations by making thousands of LZR suits
available to any swimmer who wished to wear one at late June’s Olympic Trails
in Omaha. This included seven members from the Upper East Side-based Asphalt
Green United Aquatics (AGUA) swim club. And before the big event, we asked one
of their qualifiers, 17-year-old Lili Shiota of Manhattan, to test out the LZR
for the first time. Here’s how the speedy suit stacked up.
SUITED UP
It took Shiota a good ten minutes—and
the help of a teammate—to pull on the super-tight suit, which she likens to a
futuristic space suit. “It’s definitely constrictive, but not quite
suffocating,” Shiota says of the corset-like grip around her core, meant to
maintain perfect position in the water without limiting movement. “But I’m used
to squeezing into my racing suits. If they aren’t tight, there’s drag, and that
can cost you valuable time.”
LIKE A GLOVE
After Shiota takes off for a
50-meter sprint, she returns to the wall ecstatic. “It feels like I’m swimming
downhill. There’s no drag, and I’m just cutting through the water with ease,”
she says of the ultra lightweight and water repellent fabric hugging her long
and lean backstroker’s build. Ultrasonically welded to give the effect of a 100
percent seamless suit, Speedo says their LZR PULSE fabric provides swimmers
with better efficiency when it comes to oxygen intake, allowing for a stronger—and
longer—swim.
FAST FORWARD
The black accents on the suit,
made from a latex-like material, help to compress the body into a more
streamlined shape, reducing drag and enabling for more power and agility in the
water.
“The panels
make such a difference. The water rushes right off of them and I feel like I’m
being propelled forward,” says Shiota. They serve a fashion-forward purpose,
too: International design house Comme des Garçons created the inverted V design
on the front panel, which incorporates the Japanese character “kokoro,” meaning
Heart, Mind, and Spirit.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
The final verdict? “This suit is
awesome! Ten times better than my other suit,” says Shiota, whose formerly wore
FASTSKIN, the forerunner to the LZR Racer launched by Speedo in 2004. “I’d be disappointed
if I didn’t get to compete in a LZR, especially if I was up against other
swimmers who did.” Fortunately for Shiota and other AGUA Trials qualifiers,
coach Brian Brown purchased the suits for his swimmers, which retail between
$290 and $550. And he did so with
great expectations: “Not to discredit the value of hard work, but in a sport
where one one-hundredth of a second can make a difference between going to the
Olympics and going home, you take any advantage you can get,” says Brown.
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