New competitive swimsuit?

[bcla]

Where are you seeing suits that have non-fabric seams? And the logo is typically just a painted on sticker that comes off after multiple uses.

The taped/welded seams seem pretty shiny on the Speedo LZR X suits. It's obviously some sort of non-fabric seam tape on the outside.

 

[robinb]

The taped/welded seams seem pretty shiny on the Speedo LZR X suits. It's obviously some sort of non-fabric seam tape on the outside.

From the FINA rules:

Surface treatment of the textile fabric: any material added on to the surface of the textile fabric (any part thereof) or processing of the same (e.g. coating, printing, impregnation, heating, calendaring etc.) shall not close the overall open mesh structure of the base textile fabric. The treated material shall further comply with all requirements in particular in regard to thickness, permeability and flexibility which must be and remain complied with, both at production stage until finished product stage and when the swimsuits are in actual use. The rules regarding surface treatment do not apply to seams (sawn, welded, taped, glued, etc.), markings (manufacturer and/or sponsor logos as permitted by the applicable competition rules: printed or affixed on the base material) or labels7 (technical labels as permitted by the rules).

The suit my DD swam in for her last club meet, one of the Central Zone Speedos Sectionals meet in March (which is one step down from Jr. Nationals) wore a suit with welded seams.

 

[robinb]

Here she is a month earlier at another meet rocking her crocs.

 

[bcla]

The suit my DD swam in for her last club meet, one of the Central Zone Speedos Sectionals meet in March (which is one step down from Jr. Nationals) wore a suit with welded seams.

I saw some marketing material that claimed up to 6% less drag simply from using taped seams. Obviously that can help when the difference between competitors is in the hundredths of seconds.

I'm pretty sure the suit makers do everything to be right on the edge of being illegal, as you found out when your daughter's was rule over that edge. Basic fluid dynamics says that a material that doesn't absorb water will produce less drag. And the weave of a conventional fabric obviously produces a bit of drag, so covering it with something smooth (or with something like a shark skin pattern) will reduce that.

I've heard some odd things over the years. One was that in order to level the playing field regarding aerodynamic suits, swimming at the highest level should be done without any swimwear. Maybe just goggles and a swim cap. That would be interesting. Will never happen of course, but that would of course eliminate equipment advantages.

 

[sonnyjane]

I've heard some odd things over the years. One was that in order to level the playing field regarding aerodynamic suits, swimming at the highest level should be done without any swimwear. Maybe just goggles and a swim cap. That would be interesting. Will never happen of course, but that would of course eliminate equipment advantages.

I can't imagine that you read that anywhere credible, but I feel like you love debates so I'll bite lol. That would definitely not "level the playing field" because then, as opposed to the advantage being due to equipment which you can purchase, it would be due to something you can't control, which is your anatomy. As a girl, you wouldn't want breasts to get in the way; it would be a huge amount of drag. You'd want to be as flat-chested as possible. Would you then find swimmers having double mastectomies to gain an advantage? At least compression suits give everyone a fairly comparable shape.

 

[bcla]

I can't imagine that you read that anywhere credible, but I feel like you love debates so I'll bite lol. That would definitely not "level the playing field" because then, as opposed to the advantage being due to equipment which you can purchase, it would be due to something you can't control, which is your anatomy. As a girl, you wouldn't want breasts to get in the way; it would be a huge amount of drag. You'd want to be as flat-chested as possible. Would you then find swimmers having double mastectomies to gain an advantage? At least compression suits give everyone a fairly comparable shape.

It wasn't necessarily a serious suggestion, and I did say it was odd. I remember several of these non-serious suggestions to swim naked back around 2008, when it seemed that the advantage of the Speedo LZR Racer was affecting the competitiveness of swimming based on costs and/or sponsorships.

But of course body types definitely matter in all sorts of sports. I'm imagining mutant feet shaped like flippers being an ultimate advantage in swimming. Aren't there numerous discussions about the ideal height, shoulders, hips, legs, etc in swimming? Missy Franklin was supposedly at an ideal height at 6'1", with big feet and big hands. Maybe not like duck feet, but big hands/feet are definitely like paddles.

Didn't the Amazon mythology include burning/cutting the right breast in order to aid in archery? Heck - competitive shooting uses fancy clothing designed to dampen movement for a steadier shot. So yeah there's a lot of stuff that's done to overcome basic human limitations.

I don't really follow that much swimming, but I remember when someone told me that a HS classmate was a world-class swimmer. It was odd because she was from Japan and supposedly came to the US for training. She was rather unassuming and hardly looked like "an athlete". I looked it up, and she finished 4th in the 100m breaststroke at the 1984 Olympics.

 

[sonnyjane]

It wasn't necessarily a serious suggestion, and I did say it was odd. I remember several of these non-serious suggestions to swim naked back around 2008, when it seemed that the advantage of the Speedo LZR Racer was affecting the competitiveness of swimming based on costs and/or sponsorships.

But of course body types definitely matter in all sorts of sports. I'm imagining mutant feet shaped like flippers being an ultimate advantage in swimming. Aren't there numerous discussions about the ideal height, shoulders, hips, legs, etc in swimming? Missy Franklin was supposedly at an ideal height at 6'1", with big feet and big hands. Maybe not like duck feet, but big hands/feet are definitely like paddles.

Didn't the Amazon mythology include burning/cutting the right breast in order to aid in archery? Heck - competitive shooting uses fancy clothing designed to dampen movement for a steadier shot. So yeah there's a lot of stuff that's done to overcome basic human limitations.

I don't really follow that much swimming, but I remember when someone told me that a HS classmate was a world-class swimmer. It was odd because she was from Japan and supposedly came to the US for training. She was rather unassuming and hardly looked like "an athlete". I looked it up, and she finished 4th in the 100m breaststroke at the 1984 Olympics.

Yes that’s actually what Amazon means... from the Greek a mazos (without breast).

Breastrokers (lots of breast talk lol) aren’t usually built like swimmers of other strokes. It’s a completely different set of muscles. Most of my breastroker friends were short and muscular... gave them fast turnover.

 

[bcla]

Yes that’s actually what Amazon means... from the Greek a mazos (without breast).

Breastrokers (lots of breast talk lol) aren’t usually built like swimmers of other strokes. It’s a completely different set of muscles. Most of my breastroker friends were short and muscular... gave them fast turnover.

Well, she finished 4th in 1984, where the boycott by the Soviet bloc made a massive difference. I remember McDonald’s had this promotion with scratch off game cards where an American medal in an event would result in anything from small fries to a Big Mac. They were giving away a lot of them.

 

[robinb]

I don't really follow that much swimming, but I remember when someone told me that a HS classmate was a world-class swimmer. It was odd because she was from Japan and supposedly came to the US for training. She was rather unassuming and hardly looked like "an athlete". I looked it up, and she finished 4th in the 100m breaststroke at the 1984 Olympics.

My DD's club coach is an two-time Olympic Gold Medalist.