In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
To celebrate the 20th birthday of its Fastskin material, swimwear brand Speedo set up a spectacle to answer just that question. World record-holder Caeleb Dressel suited up in a 2008-era Speedo Fastskin LZR racer bodysuit to take on a 50 short course meter freestyle.
Dressel gets real about going 20.4 three different times in the supersuit. He breaks down how the suit changes your body position and what changes he had to make. Dressel reveals that the week before, coach Gregg Troy did not take it easy on him; quite the opposite, having him log 70k in workouts on the week.
Caeleb is also gracious enough to share his opinion on the suits in general. He confesses that racing in it was a lot of fun and he’d love to see more events, with actual competitors, occur in the future. Think about it: The Illegal Games.
Dressel swam yesterday at the La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center in La Mirada, California. Speedo filmed the race and released results on YouTube today.
The event was billed as the sub-20 Challenge, with Dressel aiming to swim under 20 seconds for the first time in history. You can watch the event here:
Though Dressel didn’t hit 19-second territory, he did put up one of the ten fastest swims in history at 20.40.
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
Far from the fastest suit because it only has polyurethane panels, not solid surface. Didn’t Speedo kill the whole tech suit because its suit was inferior to the competition and they lost market share? Oh, and MP refused to compete in a tech suit world. A little hypocritical for Speedo to capitalize this way.
Agree with you all about turning it into more than just a one swimmer one aim sponsored event. Swimming is gaining momentum now with ISL starting up (pain about Covid restricting live party atmosphere attendance). That has led to this and the ball should be kept rolling. Bring the 21st century to the pool. Sharp, fast, exciting individual, team racing across a series as well as single meets. Broad coverage, commercial interests, swimmers rewarded as the top athletes they are.
Imagine doing 70k in training last week and still managing to go 20.4
…in our dreams!
Looked like the underwaters were a little less explosive with this suit? Anyway it was really cool and he is a cool dude.
Edit – he said something about this in the video.
speedo should have just released this podcast, waaay more interesting and informative than the original video
…it is all Dressel. He’s just so matter of fact.
Just like the Nike marathon under 2 hours challenge by Eliud. He didn’t make it in his first attempt but in his second one there were perfect conditions and he was able to crush the time! I believe Caeleb will be given another chance to crack 20 and Speedo will do a better job setting the stage. It would be helpful if Troy collaborates more and give the man some 3-4 day rest before the big day!
Maybe he should go to Vienna and try there… worked for Eliud!
Out of topic: Gastaldello swam a 53.4 on the 100 free at french nationals today, getting under the Olympic qualification time (Wattel in second with a solid 53.7)
Wow, he does look like he’s riding a lot higher in the water in that suit than his usual. I only wore a bodysuit LZR for one meet but it definitely did take some adjustments – my first race was absolutely horrible, it was actually my first time in a bodysuit of any type.