LONDON 2012: Speedo strike first blow in Olympic swim suit battle

By Angharad Hughes, Sportsbeat 

TWO years after swimming's world governing body banned supersuits - after 43 world records were smashed at the World Championships in Rome - and Speedo have fired the gun in the battle for brand supremacy at next year's London 2012 Olympics.

SUITED: Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington will wear Speedo's new Fastskin3 technonology at the London 2012 Olympics (Speedo)

Gone are the days when a pair of trunks and goggles were all you needed, the appliance of science is now almost as important to swimming as it is to Formula One.

Speedo's controversial polyurethane LZR Racer, designed with help from NASA, dominated the 2008 Olympics, with 89 percent of medal winners, including Michael Phelps and Rebecca Adlington, wearing the suit.

Within 12 months their rivals, such as Arena and Jaked, had caught up but Speedo insist their new groundbreaking Fastskin3 technology will again give their swimmers the edge in 2012.

Fina, swimming's governing body, has given approval for a cap, goggle and suit engineered to work together as one racing system - with Speedo claiming it will offer swimmers a 'cohesive, hydrodynamic solution to cut through the water with maximum efficiency'.

However, whether the new suit will assist to reset any of the records broken during the years of now banned polyurethane suits remains to be seen - at this year's World Championships in Shanghai only two new records were recorded and one was in the 1500m freestyle, a long distance event where the design of suit is less critical.

Michael Phelps once described the LZR Racer as making him feel like 'a rocket' - but he stopped short of such superlatives to describes its successor.

“It makes me feel completely at one with the water. I feel confident, I feel comfortable and I feel like I am wearing the fastest," he said.

Some doubt whether Speedo can ever match the outlawed LZR Racer, whose design was likened to 'technological doping', although they concede their product will probably be the best on the market next summer.

However, American Ryan Lochte, who became the first swimmer to break a world record in 20 months with his 200m medley time in Shanghai, believes the new Speedo suit will make a big difference.

Despite the British Olympic Association's exclusive deal with Adidas, Team GB swimmers are allowed to wear suits of their own choosing at the Games, with world champions Adlington, Liam Tancock and Keri-Anne Payne all part of Speedo's stable of talent.

“It all comes together. I feel fast. I feel strong," said Adlington, of Speedo's new designs.

While suits, caps and goggles are conventionally designed separately, Speedo has designed and engineered all three elements together to generate a 'unified system'.

Swimmers will have their heads 3D mapped so caps fit the contours of their scull and face exactly, women swimmers will also benefit from a system that shapes longer hair to fill the gap at the curve of the neck so that it enhances the swimming form and improves hydrodynamics. Goggles will offer 180 degree peripheral vision and have been specially designed to all but eradicate the risk of movement during a swim.

“Speedo has always been the pioneer of new swimwear technology and innovation, and this reputation is underpinned by the development of the Fastskin3 racing system, another world-first from Speedo that will help swimmers achieve their full performance potential," said Speedo president David Robinson.

© Sportsbeat 2011