January 3, 2025

Jessica A. Dennehy 

11th Grade

Williamsville East High School

Swimming is a race against time, where a thousandth of a second can differentiate between the world record and a silver medal. Athletes constantly push their bodies to the breaking point, forever in pursuit of the ideal balance between speed, power, and endurance. With the margin of error being near negligible on the competitive level, any advantage a swimmer can use, whether it be gear, training, or even diet, makes an impact in the water. Correspondingly, the 2008 release of the Speedo LZR Racer, hailed as “the most technically advanced swimsuit in the world,” made a splash in the world of competitive swimming. Developed by Speedo, the swimwear brand worn most by Olympic gold medalists, in collaboration with NASA—the U.S. government agency behind the moon landing—the LZR Racer was a true feat of engineering. Crafted with the help of swimming biomechanists, sports textile manufacturers, world-class swimmers, and various experts from the fields of kinesthesiology, computational fluid dynamics, and aerospace engineering, the suit was more than simply a piece of swimwear; it permanently altered the sport and transformed the rules of competitive swimming forever.

Prior to the advent of the LZR Racer, the last major shift in competitive swimming was in 1976 when swimming goggles were introduced on the competitive level. Although it doesn’t seem revolutionary looking back, this change actually resulted in a tidal wave of world and Olympic records being smashed. In the ensuing decades, the swimming industry shifted its attention to swimwear and how to minimize drag. The 1950s marked the introduction of nylon as the textile component of swimsuits, and in the 1980s, high-stretch synthetic elastane fabric—referred to as Lycra—became the standard. However, meaningful advancements in swimsuit materials stalled for over two decades, until the late 2000s. Recognizing the market's lack of innovation as a window of opportunity, Speedo—the iconic swimwear brand whose logo is often mysteriously found decorating Olympic pool decks—embarked on the groundbreaking project to develop the most advanced swimsuit to date. Collaborating with the likes of sports institutes, universities, and even NASA, Speedo utilized cutting-edge technologies and expertise from various disciplines to birth the LZR Racer. Surface drag experiments were carried out by engineering and industrial analysts at NASA's Langley Research Center, while computational fluid dynamics analysis and water flume testing were done by the engineering firm Ansys and the University of Otago in New Zealand. NASA used wind tunnel simulations to provide additional insights to address important testing gaps. Speedo’s engineers, using digital water flow analyses, created virtual models of over 400 elite swimmers to identify areas where drag reduction was most critical, with findings informing the placement of polyurethane panels, which were strategically integrated into the suit to minimize resistance and maximize speed. The placement of polyurethane panels, which were strategically integrated into the suit to minimize resistance and maximize speed, was established by analyzing water flow and pinpointing places where drag reduction was most important using virtual models of more than 400 professional swimmers.

According to a 2004 computational fluid dynamics study by Speedo's Aqualab research and development, viscous drag accounts for around 25% of the overall hindering force in competitive swimming. Researchers tested more than 100 textiles and textile coatings in a wind tunnel that mimics low-speed viscous drag to counteract this drag. This method allowed them to create the LZR Pulse textile, which was the material used in the LZR Racer. In comparison to Speedo's most advanced suit fabric at the time, the FastSkin II, the LZR Racer, which was made of incredibly fine, water-repellent nylon and spandex microfibers combined in a high-density weave, could reduce skin friction drag by an additional 24%. The LZR Racer also utilized the Hydro Form Compression System, which melded into the body similarly to how a corset does. The compression of the suit assists swimmers in maintaining their form, allowing them to swim faster for longer, improving efficiency by up to 5 percent. Tying together the wearable feat of engineering, the LZR Racer was also the first fully bonded, full-body swimsuit with ultrasonically welded seams, with the overlapping fabrics of the swimsuit being fused instead of being sewn traditionally, reducing drag by up to 6 percent. The zipper, which was also ultrasonically bonded inside the fabric, contributed to reducing drag by 8 percent compared to a standard zipper. These significant components in the design process, combined, reduced additional drag, as they added extra compression to the fabric.

The LZR Racer debuted in February 2008, taking competitive swimming by storm right off the blocks; the LZR Racer was formally prohibited in January 2010. Given that the swimsuit's large base of opposition claimed that donning the LZR Racer amounted to "technological doping," its quick ascent and fall illustrate the contentious aspect of living life in the fast lane. Swimmers wearing the full-body "rubber suits" smashed an incredible 140 world records between the time of their release and the World Championships in July of 2009. The LZR's supremacy was also evident during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with 92% of world record-setters and 94% of event winners wearing the suit. Its transformational effect was felt even by the swimmers. The renowned swimmer Michael Phelps gushed about it, saying, "I feel like a rocket when I hit the water. [The LZR Racer] is going to revolutionize swimming as a sport.” Other swimmers likened the feeling of wearing the suit to "swimming downhill" or even "a knife slicing through butter."

This eventually resulted in FINA, the international governing body for aquatic sports now known as World Aquatics, banning the use of all swimsuits with polyurethane during competitions, and requiring suits to be made of textile-only fabric. The ban also limited men's swimsuits to "not extend above the navel nor below the knee.” Women’s swimsuits were similarly limited to “not cover the neck or extend past the shoulders nor shall extend below the knee." The ban was put into place for a variety of reasons, with FINA admitting that the LZR Racer and similar suits were actually in violation of their rules as a piece of performance-enhancing equipment. Additionally, high-profile swimmers were boycotting the suit, including Michael Phelps, who won 8 Olympic Golds in Beijing wearing the suit, citing that “It will be fun when swimming gets back to swimming.” This was because not everyone had access to the suits, as initially, they were available exclusively to Speedo-endorsed teams. The need for alternatively sponsored swimmers to wear a $550 suit that was so fragile it only lasted for a few wears created an unlevel playing field between those who were sponsored by Speedo and those who weren’t, along with swimmers who could afford to break contracts to stay competitive in comparison to those who couldn’t.

Mark Schubert, head coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic swimming team, summed up the situation by saying, "My advice to athletes is, 'You have a black-and-white decision—the money or the gold medal.'"

World records have continued to break since the ban, albeit at a significantly slower pace. At the 2012 London Olympics, nine world records were broken; at the 2016 Rio Olympics, eight, both on par with the rate before the era of high-tech suits. The more moderate rate of record-breaking signifies a return to the norm, in which incremental advances in swimwear technology, as well as other inventions and innovations, such as in pool design or an athlete’s training regimen, contribute to a more gradual evolution of the sport, where merit, not technology, wins gold.