technizzel

This year seems to be filled with incessant action, especially for America. Since 8.08.08, the media has finally turned its cameras from the relentless presidential candidates Obama and McCain and onto other formidable heroes. Among the flyers of the parallel bars and the balance beams and the speedsters on the track, is the inherent race to be the dominant country of sports. For example, China and the USA are now head to head for who can come out on top with the most number of medals. And while, China has claimed the gym as their court at hand, Phelps and the rest of the USA swim team have commandeered the pool.

            Some may suggest theories of steroids, but Speedo has its own theory. For once the technology to sponsor faster and better is not from a gadget, but from the twisting of polymers and amalgamation of materials. From the recent past to the live Olympics, Speedo has created a suit not only partially responsible for winning races but for breaking world records. From Phelps’ quest to seize 8 gold medals, Eamon Simmons’ victory in the 100m freestyle, to Kitajima’s crushing win in the breaststroke, the suit seems to be the common factor towards swim success.

            The LZR Racer suit is used by the best in the world, and perhaps by the end of the article, we will see why. There is a team of aspects that works together to promote the sleek and triumphing design of the suit. First is called the LZR pulse, which is pretty much the swimsuit itself. The ‘pulse’ is ultra light and water repelling that was created to “reduce muscle oscillation and skin vibration through powerful compression” according to Speedo.com, which further adds that its suit decreases drag speed as well. That of course, is step one in the handbook for breaking world records.

            The LZR panels are located all over the suit, which are ultra thin and low drag panels that promote a streamlined shape for the swimmer. The internal Core Stabiliser is located at the hips and is designed to act like a corset that enforces the swimmer to maintain the best body shape throughout the water in a race. Further contributing to the infamous streamline position, are the bonded seams throughout the suit; the LZR Racer suit is the first suit with ultrasonically welded seams that provides a smooth and flexible surface. And last of all the facets is the three dimensional three-piece pattern that optimizes the shape of the swimmer.

            For avid swimmers, the suit has 5% less drag and is 4% faster than the FastSkin FS Pro along with being 5% better in oxygen efficiency in comparison to most normal suits. Such stats and material technology have attracted swimmers across the globe, including those previously mentioned, newcomers to the Olympics, Katie Hoff and Alaine Bernard, and many others. Michael Phelps further corroborates the success of the suit by saying, “Whether it’s the extra 100^th to win the gold medal or to break a world record, I’m confident knowing that I’m wearing the fastest suit known.” His teammate Ryan Lochte commented on the feel of the suit as well: “It feels amazing. It feels like you’re sliding through the water. It feels really tight on you and it feels real slick!”

            The development of the suit took place in Speedo’s AquaLab, a heaven for engineers in some sense. According to Speedo.com, “Aqualab works with world class experts from diverse industries including aerospace, engineering and medicine.” With all the talk of how the suit reduces drag significantly, Speedo justifies such findings with its coalition with NASA. It tested over 60 different materials in NASA’s famous wind tunnels to see which resulted in the least amount of negative drag. Water flume testing was also conducted- a test that provides an indication in regards to wind flow and patterns. At the University of Otago in New Zealand, tests were conducted through a range of competitive swimming velocities which produced results about the net drag on a swimmer. The experts responsible for handling these records involved biomechanics- a field mixing both human and the machine elements of the world. In regards to Lochte’s comment, the AquaLab had conducted 3D scan of a typical swimmer’s body to target the compression and streamline aspect of the suit.

            With all the research done, Speedo was left with one more hurdle before it could release its aquatic epiphany to the elite of the sport: Performance testing. Among a myriad of tests performed, the important ones that assessed start times, flexibility, turning, free swimming, and drag, were the ones the mattered most to swimmers. The results, of course, can be seen by the quotes of the most renowned swimmers of our time.

            Speedo has definitely out-engineered itself this time, contributing to the dazzling races unfolding in the 29^th Olympics. With records being smashed left and right, we do not need to credit illegal drugs but perhaps to a swimsuit beyond its time. Not only is the LZR Racer just any swimsuit, it is the fastest! Computational fluid dynamics along with the typical engineering mind can be held primarily responsible for jumpstarting a league of new race times.  This field is used to “predict how existing and new product designs will behave in real-world environments, [and] has been used to evaluate the friction, pressure and fluid flow characteristics around swimmers.” By recognizing where drag occurs most along the human body, Speedo can build its suits to minimize the drag in these areas. Since 1992, Speedo has been trying to show the swimming world that your best is an evolving term, and as long as we apply our engineering expertise, we can always find room to be better.

For more information and see athlete feedback as well as videos on development of the suit, check out Speedo80.com .

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Biomechanics, Materials Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.