Perhaps you remember that 2009 was something of a big year for swimming. In fact, more records were set in the Olympics that year in swimming, both men’s and women’s, than ever before in any other sport. And then FINA, the organization responsible for regulating Olympic swimming, banned the suits the swimmers wore who set all these records. Why? They claimed it was the suits, not the athletes, who were harder, better, stronger, and faster this year.
The New Suit
The new Olympic swimsuit doesn’t look like your average day-at-the-beach pink pair of plastic shorts. It looks more like a risqué version of a Matrix jumpsuit. And at a half an hour just to put the thing on, they’re definitely not designed for an everyday swim. They’re designed for something very specific: competition swimming. And they’re unlike anything else previously created.
The LZR Racer Suit is unveiled at a press conference in New York City. Michael Phelps is at center, with Natale Coughlin to his left.
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