Speedo

[Diane]

I found an article today about how speedo swimsuits (http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/17-the-lycra-swimsuit-thats-worth-its-weight-in-gold?utm_campaign=DISCOVER%20Magazine%20Technology%20Newsletter%206%2E20%2E 2008&utm_content=dfjpt@shaw.ca&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=The%20Lycra%20Swimsuit%20That%27s%20Worth%20Its%20Weight%20in%20Go ld) are attractive to performance-enhancing-inclined competitive swimmers.

There is some debate apparently about whether the effects are placebo (all in the head) or real (measurable physically, decrease wobble etc).

Seems to me that (depending on how the fabric is constructed and the lines are designed) they might act like fish scales do on a fish, direct water flow backwards. From a nervous system perspective, wearing them might give the brain less cutaneous feedback, contain muscular effort and provide more proprioceptive/interoceptive feedback.

Any ideas?

[bernard]

They say the suits reduce drag, and they hope buyers will take that to mean faster times. Between measuring frictional properties of potential fabrics in NASA wind tunnels and modeling the fluid dynamics (http://discovermagazine.com/2003/mar/featscienceof/) of jiggling flesh, the manufacturers have definitely created some hydrodynamic suits. They just don’t test them for racing speed.