The US Olympic Swim team is wearing Speedo LZR Racer suits using the FASTSKIN3 Racing System, a combination of a suit, cap and goggles. The suit was originally under some controversy, but Speedo was able to get approval for its LZR Racer Elite line. Here’s a closer look at the suits that are giving US Olympic swimmers advantages in the water this week.
Worn together the swimmers can see a 16.6 percent full body passive drag reduction. That could be why the US swimmers are doing a good job grabbing a few medals in the pool this summer.
The Speedo FASTSKIN Racing system requires all three elements, the suit, cap and goggles to be worn together. The effect streamlines a swimmer’s body in the water and creates much less resistance than previous suits worn by swimmers. The combined effort provides an 11 percent improvement in the swimmer’s oxygen economy, enabling the swimmer to go on at a stronger rate for longer. The suit combination also provides a 5.2 percent reduction in body active drag.
Breaking it down, here’s some details on each component of the FASTSKIN2 suit.
The Speedo FASTSKIN Cap features IQ Fit Cap Profile. The cap it designed using accurate 3D head mapping data. It offers comfort, hydrodynamic performance and they say ease of use. That means you won’t snag your hair putting the cap on or pulling it off. Swimmers with long hair also get the benefit of the Speedo Hair Management System, a bonded fabric cap with a non-slip edge that’s structured to hold the shape of longer hair to fill the gap at the curve of the neck in order to enhance the swimming form and improve hydrodynamics.
Slip the Speedo FASTSKIN3 Super Elite Goggles under the cap for even greater benefits. The goggles are designed with the same 3D global head scanning data. The efforts to create the design mean a more accurate fit, leak resistance, and comfort. The goggles feature an IQ FIT seal and strap. The Dive Stream outer profile provides a more streamlined form that improves the contours of the swimmer’s head in the profile. A localized force is reduced by up to 63.4 percent, minimizing the risk of goggle movement during a swim. A Hydroscopic Lens offers 180 degree peripheral vision.
The cap and goggles are a large part of the equation, but the FASTSKIN3 Super Elite Swimsuit is the largest part of the outfit. The suit incorporates a 3D Zoned Compression fabric system that sculpts to the swimmer’s body to create an efficient, hydrodynamic swimming shape in the water. It reduces skin friction drag by up to 2.7 percent. The system incorporates Hydro K-Zone 3D fabric, which provides higher power, graduated compression, and helps to achieve the optimum hydrodynamic profile.
A Pulse-Flex Fabric compliments the Hydro K-Zone. The Pulse-Flex Fabric is used on the shoulders and panels, and offers high stretch in one direction to go with freedom of movement and powerful compression. The suit itself features an IQ FIT “snap back” waistband on the male jammer, that eliminates the need for drawstrings and ensures a flatter, more efficient profile. A Body Stability Web constant seam framework gives greater stability, which improves stroke and enhances the effectiveness of starts and turns by up to 3 percent.
Female suits feature an Armhole Entry system that makes it easier to put the suit on while maintaining the best possible fit.
The three worn together are hard to beat, at the Olympic level anyway.