6 racing suits that revolutionized modern swimming

A swimsuit is a statement.

It defines a swimmer for who they are and what they do.

It is an extension of their body, a shield and sword against a swimmer’s greatest enemy. Due to constant desire for improvement and innovation, we are now able to experience a race in a remarkably different way than just twenty years ago. The racing suit is the ultimate symbol of how far our sport has come — it has changed as much as the sport has itself. Regardless of whether or not a suit was banned, they still were able to improve competitive swimming by forcing us to focus on what was really important: the actual swimming.

Here are six racing suits that revolutionized modern swimming:

  1. Speedo Aquablade

The Aquablade was introduced in 1996, just in time for the Olympic games in Atlanta. The suit was a huge success. Worn by most medal winners, the Aquablade was a major improvement over its predecessor, the S2000.

  1. blueseventy Nero Comp

Worn by a multitude of swimmers at Beijing, the Nero Comp was a lesser-known alternative to the LZR.

  1. Speedo LZR

A discussion could be had for hours about which suit has had the most impact on the sport, but the LZR has my vote. “The world’s fastest swimsuit” was worn by a whopping 98% of medal winners at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

  1. Speedo Fastskin II

The FSII was an incredibly innovative suit for its time. Modeled after sharkskin, the FSII not only reduced drag, it did so with style. You were the cool kid on the deck if you had the FSII when it came out, as it was an obvious improvement over the Aquablade. Nonetheless, the FSII is a remarkably durable suit, and can still be occasionally seen today, ten years later.

  1. Arena X-Glide

Arena’s response to Speedo’s success with the LZR, the suit brought a wave of controversy with it. At the 2009 World Championships, Paul Biedermann smashed two world records, which many attributed to the suit itself.

  1. Jaked 01

The 01 helped Jaked become the Italian Swimming Federation’s official sponsor in 2008. A suit that combined heat-sealing technology that improved muscle oxygenation, the Jaked 01 was similar to the X-Glide in that it was 100% polyurethane.

26
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

26 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
So Very Opinionated
10 years ago

Don’t forget about the Speedo FS3 in 2012!

Reply to  So Very Opinionated
9 years ago

Haha such a failure

Jim C
10 years ago

How big of a tech advantage do you think swimmers have today over 1980s swimmers? In particular how big of a tech advantage do you think Ledecky has over Janet Evans 1987-1989 in the 400, 800, and 1500 free? I would guess the advantage is greater in shorter races.

Tim
10 years ago

FSII over the original FS? The FS was incredibly cool for its time and was a huge improvement over the Aquablade. The FSII just refined the FS.

I think I’ve still got my black FS jammers and blue FS legskin somewhere. Still think they’re the some of the best looking suits, better than the later Fastskin models!

Admin
Reply to  Tim
10 years ago

Though I didn’t write this, to me the FS was more revolutionary, but the FS2 is more significant, because of its staying power. You still routinely see kids wearing FS2’s at meets, a long, long time after they were released.

Stef
Reply to  Braden Keith
9 years ago

A few weeks ago I was looking at a page on swimswam that showed a progression through time on either world records or winners’ times at olympics. I can’t find the page anywhere now!
Can you help me?

Triguy
10 years ago

What about ian thorpes Adidas suit. While it didnt take off, at the time swimsuit wars began to brew because of it

aswimfan
Reply to  Triguy
10 years ago

The swimsuit war didn’t start because of Ian Thorpe’s Adidas suit. Speedo already had bodysuit in early 2000. All the top swimmers already wore speedo bodysuits in Australian and us Olympics trials and 2000 Sydney.
In fact bodysuit with sleeves were not popular at all compared with sleeveless bodysuits, as the sleeved bodysuits were less comfortable than sleeveless bodysuits, especially for freestylers. It was almost always speedo that revolutionized swimsuits.

It’s the same reason why breaststrokers chose to wear knee-length suits instead of ankle-lenght suits.

Lane Four
10 years ago

One suit that deserves a mention (although it is from a long long time ago) is the Belgrade for women. This was revolutionary (for that time) because it was skin tight and the so-called “modesty panel” was gone. The East Germans introduced this suit back in the early 1970s but no one paid it any notice UNTIL the 1st World Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (at the time). People assumed the suit was responsible for all of the world records (but we know better now). Anyway, this suit changed the landscape for women’s suits forever.

hwmswim
Reply to  Lane Four
10 years ago

absolutely…..when USA finally approved no “modesty panel” (pretty sure it was before SC Nationals in ‘Dallas in 74), US times came down, too. Besides the “Belgrade”, we just called them “skin suits”.

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  Lane Four
10 years ago

The DDR brought in Lycra & Racer backs & higher cut legs . I can still remember that swirl of little squares DDR .

For women ( the author is male) this was even more innovative than the LZR because it helped every girl every training session & throughout the day instead of having red raw strap indentations on the shoulders& armpits. Straps needing to tied together with elastic & a mad scramble in the school bag . We colonials at least had to wear Establishment tie up school shoes as uniform so there were always laces though next morning shoes often had no laces . Drama!

Lane Four
Reply to  Gina Rhinestone
10 years ago

I remember my female teammates using the shoe strings! I completely forgot about that! Plus, they always complained that the water would weigh them down when it would flow from the top of the old suits all the way down. I also remember quite a few feeling uncomfortable with the skin suit because as one said, she felt naked with the it on. But the times did come down quite a bit. The 1974 Nationals in Dallas saw a boat load of American records set by the women. Usually by pretty big chunks.

Mike E
10 years ago

How do you put the FSII above the original Fastskin bodysuit?
It’s the first widely used full bodysuit and started the arms race among manufacturers that led to the LZR, Jaked, Nero Comp, and others.

mcmflyguy
10 years ago

I think every swimmer has had a time of their suit coming off, or splitting. its not a matter of if its happened but when. I was racing 100 fly in college, just a dual meet, dove in and my jammer guess I forgot to tie it, came down past my butt, I just let it happen. highschool coach always told us you just gotta race with what happens. (goggles fall off or something like suit coming off.)

Danjohnrob
Reply to  mcmflyguy
10 years ago

Well, if your wife/girlfriend/daughter’s suit somehow split in the front during backstroke or IM you might feel differently, LOL! 😉

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Danjohnrob
10 years ago

Lolllllllllllllzzzzzzzz

mcmflyguy
Reply to  Danjohnrob
10 years ago

hahaha ya I would I bet, I have never seen a girls suit rip in the front, I’ve seen the side and back.

aswimfan
10 years ago

The 2007 speedo fs

aswimfan
Reply to  aswimfan
10 years ago

The 2007 speedo fs pro II worn by top swimmers at 2007 worlds was a huge improvement over the previous version.