Cory+Kirk

**​Why are some swimsuits illegal?** Cory Kirk

 In the summer of 2008, the world watched the "Water Cube", the aquatic facility in Beijing used for Olympic swimmers. There had been some questions raised when finals for swimming started up. At that point, Speedo had recently released their new suit, the Speedo Fastsking LZR Racer. Michael Phelps said he felt like Superman in it. World records shattered.By March 2008, thirteen had been broken. Officials, coaches and swimmers alike started wondering how fair this swimsuit was. They decided to ban it. But why? ​  This swimsuit was developed by Speedo AquaLab and took three years to finalize. This suit is made out of extremely light and water resistant polyurethane membranes material instead of the normal woven fabric. This change of material reduces drag by twenty- four percent. The “seams” are put together by ultrasonic welding. The main body of the suit is a core stabilizer to support the swimmer’s body even more. Also, the suit reduces skin friction because of the amount of skin it covers. NASA was even involved because of their knowledge of fluid dynamics.

For swimmers, this is a big deal. It would be like a new football helmet that guaranteed you would never get a concussion again, no matter how hard you got hit. Or having a sprinter drop five seconds off of a 100 meter dash, just because of the shoes they wore.


 * [[image:http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/aug2008/6/1/BC1BAD0F-F3FA-E892-CB987703D8FA5787.jpg width="242" height="202" caption="Michael Phelps in Fastskin"]] [[image:http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2008/images/ch-10.jpeg width="289" height="339"]]



Works Cited:** http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2008/ch_4.html