Speedo FastSkin LZR Racer Swim Suit Looks Cool, but is It Effective?

The new Fastskin LZR Racer by Speedo is the latest iteration of the Fastskin series of swim suits. It's a full-body suit that features ultra thin, ultra-powerful, ultra-low-profile panels that allegedly help the swimmer maintain optimum body shape as well as reduce drag along the swimmer's body. All of these features combine to produce up to 10% less drag than previous iterations of the suit, 4% faster starts and 5% better oxygen efficiency.

These claims are impressive. In fact, as of this writing, 8 world records have been broken in the past few days by people wearing this suit. It would seem easy to think and say that the suits are to thank for these faster times. Saying that would be akin to saying that a person can play basketball or run a marathon just as well as the pro athlete whose name is on the shoe just by putting the shoe on. It does not take the skill or athletic prowess of the wearer into consideration.

I feel that the suit has nothing to do with the ability of a person to swim fast. When people train for competition, they use various tools to increase the drag of the water on their body. Be it a specially designed drag suit, wearing multiple swim suits or anything to make you heavier and harder to move through the water. Ostensibly, come race day, when you're not wearing the drag equipment, you're faster by just that much since you don't have the added drag.

I can stand behind the science behind drag training. I do not understand the science behind these fast skin suits. I don't see how wearing a fast skin suit will make my start times, which I understand as the time it takes me to get into the water after the gun goes off be any faster. I don't see how wearing this suit will make the cells in my body absorb oxygen at a faster rate. However, just because I don't understand it, doesn't mean it's not true. I just have a hard time believing that when you put two equally capable swimmers to race against each other, the difference between first and second place will be determined by what suit they are wearing.