Speedo's Super Swimsuit Breaks Records, Creates Controversy

The biggest star to emerge from the pool at this year's Summer Olympics won't be Michael Phelps or Natalie Coughlin or any of the other swimmers who could win multiple golds in Beijing.

No, the biggest star -- the name everyone will be talking about in August -- isn't a record-setting swimmer but the swimsuit that the record-setting swimmers are sure to be wearing: The Speedo LZR Racer, which forces swimmers' bodies into an aerodynamic shape and repels water as they swim. As of the time I'm writing this, 44 world records have been broken this year by swimmers wearing the LZR Racer, and by the time you read this, that number may have gone up.

But there's a fundamental issue that the LZR Racer poses: Aren't the Olympics supposed to be about who's the best athlete, not who has the best technology?

The technological advantages of the LZR Racer are touted on the suit's official web site, but the claims made by Speedo aren't just advertising propaganda. It sounds trite to say that the LZR Racer uses space-age technology -- until you watch this video and see NASA engineers developing the suit:

Even on those tight, muscular Olympic athlete bodies, skin is flapping around all over the place while swimmers move through the water in an ordinary swimsuit, and that creates drag that slows swimmers down. The engineers who developed the LZR Racer have made reducing that drag their top priority. They've also made the midsection of the suit as tight as a girdle, to keep swimmers' posture perfect.

Rival swimsuit makers are threatened by the Speedo suit, but they're not quite sure how to approach it. The New York Times reports that TYR Sport -- which says its own high-tech suit, the Tracer Rise, is just as good as the LZR Racer -- will not allow its affiliated swimmers to wear the LZR Racer. Nike's swimmers, on the other hand, don't have to wear Nike suits in competition.

No one disputes that the LZR Racer gives swimmers an advantage, but the question is whether all that technology constitutes an unfair advantage. Italy's top swimming coach, Alberto Castagnetti, says it absolutely is unfair. He has compared wearing the LZR Racer to using steroids, calling the use of the suit "technological doping."

Castagnetti's point is worth discussing, but with the Olympics just five weeks away, it's far too late to do anything. It seems clear that there are going to be two classes of swimmers in Beijing: the dominating athletes wearing the LZR Racer and everyone else. If an athlete who had signed with TYR Sport is bitter about this, I wouldn't blame her.

After Beijing, however, the International Olympic Committee and FINA, the sport's governing body, need to seriously consider whether stricter standards should be implemented in dictating what swimmers are allowed to wear while they compete.

Perhaps the Ancient Greeks had the right idea: In their Olympics, the athletes were naked.

Swimming

OMAHA, NE - JULY 02: Garrett Weber-Gale celebrates setting the American record of 47.78 in his preliminary heat of the 100 meter freestyle during the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials on July 2, 2008 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Getty Images

OMAHA, NE - JULY 02: Jason Lezak celebrates setting the American record of 48.15 in his preliminary heat of the 100 meter freestyle during the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials on July 2, 2008 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The record was broken in the next heat by Garrett Weber-Gale at 47.78. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Garrett Weber-Gale celebrates setting the US record time of 47.78 during the men's 100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the US Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, July 2, 2008. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Michael Phelps looks at the clock after winning his heat of the Men's 100m Freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, July 2, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)

Reuters

Garrett Weber-Gale reacts to setting a new U.S. record in his heat of the Men's 100m Freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, July 2, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (UNITED STATES) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)

Reuters

Chinese swimmers remove blue green algae from coastal waters in Qingdao, eastern China, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. A little over a month before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games the venue for the sailing events in Qingdao has been invaded by a forest of blue green algae. City officials say they'll need at least two weeks to clear the coastal waters, mobilizing 10,000 workers aboard 1,000 boats. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)