April 14, 2008

"Tech doping"? How Speedo's LZR suit breaks swim records : As the Associated Press reports, "the LZR now has been worn for 21 of the 22 world records set since it was introduced in February."

read story | posted by bobfoot to Olympics at 10:51 PM CDT (22 comments total)

I couldn't remember if this was discussed yet, I did a search in spofi for LZR and got no result though...
I thought the concept of tech doping would be a bit of a reprieve from regular doping. I'm thinking of Bonds' arm guard.

posted by bobfoot at 10:54 PM CDT on April 14

Bonds' arm guard provides protection from injury.
LZR suits are designed only to assist the racer to swim faster.

And keep their naughty parts hidden.

posted by grum@work at 11:23 PM CDT on April 14

I think this is an incredibly fascinating "controversy"! I've been a long-time critic of many of the logics underpinning the ban on drugs in sport, and this is one indisputable example of technology surpassing "nature" (i.e., human skin) in a significant way. Don't get me wrong, it's super-cool! Engineered fabrics making swimmers go faster than ever is almost comic-book-good! But it does beg many serious questions about its legitimacy and fairness of use in the pristine world of international competition.

MUZZLE DICK POUND!

posted by Spitztengle at 11:54 PM CDT on April 14

"Bonds' arm guard provides protection from injury."

Earlier on Spofi it was suggested that Bonds' arm guard also aided him in keeping the arm straight and removing the threat of being hit by a pitch. I recall it being an interesting point.

posted by bobfoot at 12:07 AM CDT on April 15

And keep their naughty parts hidden.

Have you seen the non-retouched photos? the naughty bits may be hidden, but the suits don't exactly make them look like Ken and Barbie dolls like the PR photo.

posted by goddam at 1:04 AM CDT on April 15

Bonds' arm guard provides protection from injury."

Earlier on Spofi it was suggested that Bonds' arm guard also aided him in keeping the arm straight and removing the threat of being hit by a pitch. I recall it being an interesting point.

Bonds' arm guard also provides him with the confidence to stay in the box on an inside pitch, without it, he would be backing off these pitches instead he can swing at some of them, another performance enhancing example.

posted by SAVANX at 5:53 AM CDT on April 15

Aren't the swimmers who can actually get one of these suits tops in the world already? True they may not have been world record swimmers, but weren't they already pretty good?

posted by opel70 at 7:49 AM CDT on April 15

"...who must wear new suits every 10th swim."

WTF? Any swimmers out there that can explain this to me? Is this normal for any swimsuit, or just the LZR?

I wouldn't call this technological doping so much as a technological arms race. Wearing an old-school suit now is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. I'm sure less-wealthy countries will recall the universal values of Olympism as they're getting pasted in the pool.

posted by smithers at 8:16 AM CDT on April 15

I suggest we all buy speedo stock.

posted by Bill Lumbergh at 9:51 AM CDT on April 15

WTF? Any swimmers out there that can explain this to me? Is this normal for any swimsuit, or just the LZR?

A friend of mine (who is a swim coach) said that it's 'cause it's like squeezing into a compression sock ... only it's like a nylon in that if it gets a "run" it's hooped. They are seamless and super-tight-fitting ... so I guess it's the getting them on and off that reduces their life-expectancy. Or so I'm told.

posted by Spitztengle at 10:24 AM CDT on April 15

21 of 22? What was the other swimmer up to?

posted by geekyguy at 10:38 AM CDT on April 15

Have you seen the non-retouched photos?

Wow. So right now they are training the Chinese cameramen to focus on the swimmer's faces. Not much left to the imagination. But then again, there is shrinkage ...

posted by smithnyiu at 11:09 AM CDT on April 15

Bonds' arm guard also provides him with the confidence to stay in the box on an inside pitch, without it, he would be backing off these pitches instead he can swing at some of them, another performance enhancing example.

The same could be said about batting helmets.

posted by grum@work at 12:14 PM CDT on April 15

The article would be a much easier read if it had highlighted Stephanie Rice instead of Phelps.

posted by irunfromclones at 12:16 PM CDT on April 15

WTF? Any swimmers out there that can explain this to me? Is this normal for any swimsuit, or just the LZR?

What spitz said. Suits that are designed to help one swim faster are very, very skin tight and their effectiveness will reduce with wear. Since they cost a ridiculous amount of money it is rare to see swimmers wearing them except for big swim meets (excluding Olympians and other very skilled swimmers).

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 2:00 PM CDT on April 15

You can tell the Olympics are coming when the local papers start having their baseball/football guys write columns on swimming. Our paper had one where the guy questioned even the possibility of suits making you go faster, and suggested the recent records were "because they worked harder".

posted by Smackfu at 2:50 PM CDT on April 15

MY local paper's baseball\football guys can't even spell Olimpicks, much less write about them. Although if you think about it, if those suits are so very, very skin tight, the swimmers might be working harder to get out of it faster.

posted by irunfromclones at 4:35 PM CDT on April 15

Nations sponsored by Speedo, then, are gaining an unfair advantage, some charge.

American swimmers will be wearing Speedo.

Same old septics. Always cheating. ;-)

posted by squealy at 3:14 AM CDT on April 16

If we were truly septic, no one would get into the pool.

posted by yerfatma at 9:39 AM CDT on April 16

But then again, there is shrinkage ...

Is that shrinkage of the suit, or shrinkage of body parts caused by wearing the suit? It looks damn uncomfortable to me.

posted by Howard_T at 1:09 PM CDT on April 16

"Have you seen the non-retouched photos?"

So that's what Gary Neville has been up to.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 6:20 PM CDT on April 16

after seeing the photos, my guess is the American men's team could sing soprano in the choir!!

posted by Fly_Piscator at 9:06 AM CDT on April 17

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