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SPORTS

Making a Splash

Speedo's new and controversial high-tech LZR suit is helping swimmers smash dozens of records. How the company plans to capitalize on Olympic gold.

By Keith Naughton | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Jun 30, 2008

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  • Posted By: b939625 @ 08/01/2008 6:30:10 PM

    Comment: The suit is like any other equipment used by athletes. Might as well give a baseball players a old stick found in the woods, a runner must only use his/her bare feet, a boat rower must use a all wood boat (no faberglass or composites), tennis players they must use a wooden racket, and archery u must use a old longbow. I can go on and on about equipment that helps out a athlete. So drop the issue and let Phelps destroy every swimming record out there. They are made to be broken.

  • Posted By: caitygirl120 @ 08/01/2008 6:07:51 PM

    Comment: @ rob P. the OLYMPIC swimmers wearing suites should tap into their olympic fund and buy some LZR's there is no unfair advantage...just less seams..

  • Posted By: thedroid @ 08/01/2008 6:04:01 PM

    Comment: i THINK IT IS AWESOME!! AND YES I'M YELLING ABOUT IT. While some may say that the Olympics Games are about physical strength, training and endurance, I believe it is also about the mind and how we use it to get ahead competitively. After all, don't these swimmmers shave every square inch to reduce drag? maybe that should be discontinued too. If the truth were to be known Speedo just got wise and figured out that the
    large suit gave them more surface area for their marketing efforts! Since we will do anything to win, just the thought that they may go faster may just give the swimmer the mental advantage before they get on the starting line. On the other hand they may be a big belly flop and you will never see them again. Ain't life grand.
    Thedroid

  • Posted By: archmsu @ 07/27/2008 5:14:27 PM

    Comment: Cheaters.................

    • Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 07/28/2008 15:43:00

      Comment: How exactly? If the suits are avaialbe to all atheletes, then that comment is invalid.

  • Posted By: Old Lou @ 07/25/2008 11:08:11 AM

    Comment: To make it fair, athletes should compete naked. Like in the good old days..

    • Posted By: RobPonzi @ 07/27/2008 20:23:30

      Comment: I think there would be an unfair advantage against those with more, um, drag.

    • Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 07/25/2008 16:23:43

      Comment: I second that idea.

      Only use what was used in ancient Greece.

      • Posted By: b939625 @ 08/01/2008 18:19:42

        Comment: If you wanted the rules to be fron Ancients games than you are going to have to eliminate multiple different sports from the olympic game and men wrestle completely naked (did alot of the sports naked), but I guess thats what you want.

  • Posted By: ymorgan @ 07/24/2008 5:34:07 PM

    Comment: A technical note from the first paragraph, you don't do a flip turn in 100m butterfly...not a big deal to non-swimmers I'm sure, but any 10 yr. old competetive swimmer would know, so the editor might want to correct that. (P.S. In butterfly and breast, swimmers use open turns.)

  • Posted By: ymorgan @ 07/24/2008 5:33:31 PM

    Comment: A technical note from the first paragraph, you don't do a flip turn in 100m butterfly...not a big deal to non-swimmers I'm sure, but any 10 yr. old competetive swimmer would know, so the editor might want to correct that. (P.S. In butterfly and breast, swimmers use open turns.)

  • Posted By: fast phil @ 07/22/2008 5:52:09 PM

    Comment: Modification of the suits should not be permitted as all prior records have been established without
    this advantage. How can the athletes compare their times against all other records to guage them-
    selves ? In 2012 if it is proven that having flubber on the heels of your shoes will make you jump higher
    think what it will do for the longjump records .

    • Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 07/25/2008 10:18:42

      Comment: fast phil,

      Since many of the records were set before the advent of newer training methods maybe those shoudl be bannned too. Sorry but your arguement is flawed. The suits worn in the 1970's were different than those in the 1950's. As technology changes, new records are set and the sport advances.

      There have been advances in the shoes that runners wear. Should all runners be required to run barefoot?

  • Posted By: pilbi @ 07/21/2008 7:07:16 AM

    Comment: The point is not wheather or not the suit is going to make anyone wearing it to be the fastest, but that it gives people wearing it an advantage against others with nothing more but their -natural- skin.
    Should it be legal that the water slipping across your body runs faster because you wear a space-era suit? that is the question we gotta answer.

  • Posted By: tarkay1 @ 07/20/2008 6:15:40 PM

    Comment: After reading many post on here, it has become clear to me, that if so many are worried about it being a so enhancing and cheating, then I would guess that the gold, silver and bronze medal winners will all be wearing these suits. Furthermore has any of his teammates that also wear the suits been able to beat him ? I have to agree that it is not the suit that makes the athlete it is the person that makes the athlete.

  • Posted By: K.I.S.S. @ 07/20/2008 5:41:54 PM

    Comment: According to an Article I read, this swimsuit improves the swimmers breathing. The panels decrease the effort of breathing while swimming, thus increasing endurance. The suit reduces drag, allowing an increase in swim speed. And here I thought the Olympics were all about Physical Capability. I am all for improvements and the breaking of World Records. This however, is a case of the Clothing making the Record Breaker, not the Person being the Record Breaker, or so it appears to me. I could be wrong though.

    • Posted By: tarkay1 @ 07/20/2008 18:11:33

      Comment: Well I've been reading all these post, and it became clear to me, IF these suit make a person so much better then I guess we should expect the gold, silver and bronze medalist to all be wearing one of these suites ? My point here is that even other athletes that are wearing these suites are not able to beat Mr. Phelps, so I would have to agree with the other people posting he is an amazing athlete.

  • Posted By: jen313 @ 07/17/2008 2:39:32 PM

    Comment: If I were to put on one of these suits and hop into a pool I seriously doubt that I will magically gain super swimming powers and start breaking records left and right. These swimmers train everyday, eat right, and workout with specialist to perfect their bodies for swimming. Add that in with their natural abilities to be great swimmers and you are going to see new records. It happens every year at the olypics, old records fall and are replaced with new ones. It happened four years ago without the suit so naturally it is happening again. It's what these people train to do. It's not a swimsuit that makes the swimmer, it's the athlete!!!

  • Posted By: Hatebeingrightallthetime @ 07/16/2008 3:01:46 AM

    Comment: Forget about the mustache analogy. What about skis, skates, downhill suits and aerodynamic helmets and poles etc...As long as there are losers there will be finger pointing whiners. It's the nature of sports. If a swimsuit (freakin apparell) kicked your butt at the Olympics and that's gonna be your excuse when you lose then walk away now pouty boy. That's just pathetic and so is the idea of banning a suit. Grow up soon o.k.

  • Posted By: landofahhs @ 07/15/2008 5:00:46 PM

    Comment: Hmm....a mustache grows on a mans face naturally...LZR body suits are manufactured, purchased or supplied via Speedo for obvious capital gain and gives swimmers an obvious advantage...quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, must be a duck (i.e.technical/physical assistance) ...can be confused with or inferred as 'cheating' unless EVERYONE has the same advantage. LZR should be banded unless available to all.

    • Posted By: bonsaiman75 @ 08/01/2008 00:57:38

      Comment: Last I checked all suits are manufactured, purchased or supplied for obvious capital gain. I am a swimmer and I would buy and use the LRZ if I had the chance. How does a swimsuit differ from any other peice of clothing or equipment in any other sport. If it changes the sport, then I think it is a wonderfull thing. I would rather see them wearing a suit than using enhancement drugs.

    • Posted By: sdv2336 @ 07/17/2008 17:41:36

      Comment: Have the other swimmers been blocked from purchasing or using the LZR suits? If not, then I don't see how they're not "available to all."

    • Posted By: sdv2336 @ 07/17/2008 17:40:29

      Comment: Have other swimmers been blocked from wearing the LZR? If not, then I don't see how they're not "available to all."

  • Posted By: scanerboy @ 07/09/2008 2:33:45 PM

    Comment: These suits are nothing more than external dopeing. Perhaps by the 2012 Olympics swim fins will be allowed. Just legalized cheating. I for one will not be watching the swimming this year. Where have all of the REAL athletes gone.

    • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/11/2008 18:49:37

      Comment: Oh, and one more thing, Mark Spitz wore a mustache when he competed because he believe that it helped him breathe better and have less water enter his lungs. I guess the mustache was tech doping too. DURP.

    • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/11/2008 18:48:18

      Comment: One more note. Mark Spitz chose to wear a mustache when he swam in the Olympics because he believed that it kept more water out of his mouth as he made a very shallow breath when he swam. I guess you could call the mustache tech doping as well. DURP.

      • Posted By: HiFiRo @ 07/13/2008 14:40:54

        Comment: Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/11/2008 18:48:18
        Comment: One more note. Mark Spitz chose to wear a mustache when he swam in the Olympics because he believed that it kept more water out of his mouth as he made a very shallow breath when he swam. I guess you could call the mustache tech doping as well. DURP.

        *Sigh* What idiot allowed your parents to reproduce????????

    • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/11/2008 18:46:33

      Comment: Oh, and one more thing, Mark Spitz wore a mustache when he competed because he believe that it helped him breathe better and have less water enter his lungs. I guess the mustache was tech doping too. DURP.

    • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/11/2008 12:34:16

      Comment: Grow up. I guess they should not have let Steve Prefontaine wear Nike's back in the day either, because they were New running technology. it is not the suit, it is the athelete. Given your logic, we could put the new suit on you and you would beat Phelps. Not. I even believe that if you could run a program on a computer with Phelps in the new suit and Champion Mark Spitz, the mustachioed champ would be buried by the most excellent Mr. Phelps, he's a fish. So whine and cry all you want, the suit stays and you lose by not watching some of the most exciting swimming the past half-century. We are Not talking swim fins, we are talking about bathing suits. Again, grow up, there is no such thing as "external doping". You can either swim fast or faster.

    • Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 07/11/2008 09:34:31

      Comment: Actually they are not external doping. Just as technological advances have changed the way that archery, riflery, running, and other sports are played (it is called the evolution of the game) so too are changes in swinsiuit technology. If you are going to whine about the suit, then make the athletes go back to the original ways of competing... in the nude. That way it is a guaranteee to be only the athletes.

      And the idea that using these suits makes the swimmers any less real atheletes, is absurd. LEt's see you even get a quarter length compared to these swimmers.

  • Posted By: scanerboy @ 07/09/2008 2:31:52 PM

    Comment: These suits are nothing more than external dopeing and should be banned. I will not be watching swimming at all. Perhaps swim fins will be allowed for the 2012 olympics. Where in hell have the REAL athletes gone. Just a little more (legal) cheating.

  • Posted By: popler @ 07/08/2008 10:32:21 AM

    Comment: high tech speedows are awesome

  • Posted By: qazxcv @ 07/08/2008 10:31:46 AM

    Comment: I'm with it because ... yeah you go faster and win (maybe) but yeah you should have some thing that helps you out

  • Posted By: Natterboo8408 @ 07/08/2008 10:31:24 AM

    Comment: i think swimmers should wear speedo's because it make them swim faster in the water and if they want to win they need to go faster.

  • Posted By: popler @ 07/08/2008 10:30:49 AM

    Comment: weird

  • Posted By: kios123 @ 07/08/2008 10:29:20 AM

    Comment: it is like steroids but in suits and i a m against

    • Posted By: popler @ 07/08/2008 10:34:06

      Comment: steriods are bad

  • Posted By: lil_uriel_x3highlife @ 07/08/2008 10:28:39 AM

    Comment: I think it was the high-tech so they should do it with no high-tech then see who's faster.

  • Posted By: missya_22 @ 07/08/2008 10:27:56 AM

    Comment: I think that it is wried how the older people can go faster and iam all slow like a lil turtle because i dont got a swim suit like that is that why i dont go fast in the pool cause i dont got a speedo well i guess i aint gonna be goin fast cause yall i aint bout to buy me a speedo just to go swimmin oo no no yall must be tripin o yall got some jokes cause i aint buyin me no speedo just to swim fast ha lol yall got me laughin! Just cause they swim faster dont mean that i wanna buy a SPEEDO EWWW! I think that it should not be allowed in the olymipics if it makes u go faster

  • Posted By: andii101 @ 07/08/2008 10:27:43 AM

    Comment: well with this high tech stuff now days they can do anything and change the times and end up being super fast and in a long time from now they will get faster not slower so it is good i am all fore these suit but they should make full body suits arms and legs and the rest so they can go even faster!

  • Posted By: Preciousboo @ 07/08/2008 10:27:18 AM

    Comment: AYE BAY BAY THiS YOUR GiRL MYRiYONBOO..
    YEAH i THiNK THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE THERE SWiMMiNG SUiT iN THE OLMPiCS BECAUSE iTS NOT HARMiNG THEM OR ANYBODY ESLE.. SPEEDO'S ARE iMPORTANT..

  • Posted By: Sp man325 @ 07/08/2008 10:26:37 AM

    Comment: I don't think its fair because some swimmers stroke really slow so the suit won't make them go as fast as the others.

  • Posted By: Natterboo8408 @ 07/08/2008 10:25:10 AM

    Comment: i think people should wear speedo's because they make them faster in the water

  • Posted By: R.I.P CUZIN_LAYNE @ 07/08/2008 10:24:40 AM

    Comment: AYE! DIS YOUR GURL KEISHA!!
    I THINK THAT IF THE SPEEDO'S HELP THE SWIMMER SWIM FASTER TO WIN THE RACE AND I THINK THAT IT SHOULD BE FINE TO WEAR THOSE OIF THEY WANNA WIN BUT I HONESTLY THINK THOSE THINGS ARE NOT CUTE BUT IT IS HELPING THEM REACH THERE GOAL TO BE IN THE OLIMPC!!!!


  • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/01/2008 5:23:42 PM

    Comment: /Durp...has anyone LOOKED at Phelps lately. He is simply a great athelete, he could beat everyone in the pool if he wsa wearing my bating suit., Sure would be ugly, though. Accck.

  • Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/01/2008 5:20:14 PM

    Comment: If this is technological doping, than I am Ootant

  • Posted By: Lcris @ 07/01/2008 3:31:51 PM

    Comment: then look at running shoes... they correct pronation, supination, and obsorb shock- allowoing many runners to compete that would otherwise be able to... and Nike, and Mizuno, and Brooks are constantly making innovations to allow for better support, lighter weight, better traction, stabilization etc... yet no one wants the the marathon to be run bare foot.

  • Posted By: Lcris @ 07/01/2008 3:29:04 PM

    Comment: then look at running shoes that correct all sorts of imbalances in the foot which make supination and pronation problems things of the past... distance runners used to have to have even more genetic predisposition to the sport in order to withstand the joint pounding... with shoes from nike, brooks, and other which stabilize the foot and absorb shock, people who would not otherwise be competitive are... I don't hear anyone demanind the marathon be run barefoot.

  • Posted By: starfish66 @ 06/28/2008 1:13:06 AM

    Comment: If there is an Olympic competition for computing or 100 meter calculating then I'll join you under the torch in celebration. Just use analogies that apply to make your point please.

  • Posted By: JGallardo @ 06/27/2008 7:31:11 PM

    Comment: We EVOLVE and part of it is technology. Let's not be hypocrites StarFish666, if that's the case then let's not use calculator's nor computer's, get back to doing everything by hand, Good for sports, good for fans, good for television and good for all athletes.

  • Posted By: starfish66 @ 06/27/2008 11:12:52 AM

    Comment: While I love the tech world, the suit seems to distort the standard in which all records were set. Body types, physique, and pure human power should be the judge. Not a suit that can make up time for inadequacies among athletes.

  • Posted By: starfish66 @ 06/27/2008 11:12:23 AM

    Comment: While I love the tech world, the suit seems to distort the standard in which all records were set. Body types, physique, and pure human power should be the judge. Not a suit that can make up time for inadequacies among athletes.

  • Posted By: Mark B @ 06/27/2008 9:37:16 AM

    Comment: Here we go again with the ahtlete is the reason if the product will do the job thing?
    Creams ,water suits and any other crap you drink,eat,rub or fit into that helps you shave off or out hit others seems a little unfair hhhhmmmmm. Take a page from Bonds is it worth the hype NO!

  • Posted By: kkswmrgrl @ 06/26/2008 10:27:01 PM

    Comment: the suit doesn't swim the time, the swimmer does. they all worked extremely hard to get to this point. the suit just helps out a little. and its looks pretty sweet on them. oh but there is no flipturn on a 100 fly. smart one there.

  • Posted By: Auzziebird @ 06/24/2008 2:52:00 PM

    Comment: If the suit fits...wear it! The whole idea is to gain an edge on your competitor. If the swimsuit is the "edge" then I say wear it! Do we really want to stop technology from advancing the human race; which includes the sports race? I don't think so.

  • Posted By: Johnsonium @ 06/24/2008 2:08:47 PM

    Comment: If it's not about the suit, then they should have rules saying all contestants should have to wear the same type of swimsuit. There must be a competitive advantage or so many of the athletes wouldn't be using them.

    Technology has ruined a lot of sports. Tennis is among them. What used to be a game of grace and finesse is now all about power. Long rallies have been replaced with short 100-MPH plus bursts that aren't very fun to watch. The new technology rackets are to blame. Golf is right behind with its giant drivers and exotic materials. If we care about athletics, then we should let the athletes decide the contests, not R&D labs.

  • Posted By: swimfast @ 06/24/2008 1:45:12 PM

    Comment: This years US Olympic swimteam comes once in a lifetime. This will be one for the books. As a former swimmer and parent of 2 young swimmers, it is funny to us that the press and others are all banking on this suit. This is not the story. Swimmers train their whole lives for this moment. The dedication this takes is incredible. There is so much that goes into each race. Forget the suit. These remarkable young atheletes are the story.

 
 
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