Ninety-eight percent of the swimming medals won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics were won by athletes wearing Speedo's LZR body suit. When the LZR was subsequently banned, Speedo went back to the drawing board to create suits for London:
Ultimately, Speedo decided to rebuild not only the suit, but create a "racing system" that it claims combines the suit and the goggles and cap working in synergy to reduce drag and improve performance. At Aqualab, researchers took four years and spent 55,000 man-hours to produce what Speedo calls the Fastskin 3 system. The internal team of 19 supplemented by outside experts talked to hydrodynamic experts, aircraft engineers and nano textile producers. They called on experts in kinesiology, biomechanics, fluid dynamics and even a sports psychologist, who suggested a blue-gray tinge on goggle lenses to instill a sense of calm and focus.
The new suit relies on "compressing a body three times more than the LZR," and the cap-and-goggle redesign came from studying cyclists. For a timeline of swimsuit tech over the years, go here.
The Dish 