Speedo International Limited - Swimwear - Controversial Technology - LZR Racer

LZR Racer

Perhaps the company's most controversial move came with 2008's unveiling of the LZR (pronounced "lazer") Racer — a suit, as Speedo's website boasts, "so fast, it was banned from competition". Indeed the LZR Racer was banned by FINA in 2009, but not until swimmers wearing this suit had already broken at least 46 world records. The super smooth suit, which was optimized with the help of NASA wind tunnels, uses welded seams and multiple woven fabrics to reduce drag by up to six percent. In addition, the LZR, like the Fastskin, utilizes a core stabilizer, which acts almost as a girdle, to reduce muscle movement. This is designed to help the swimmer maintain the proper angle in the water for longer periods of time. Popular Science magazine named this suit to their "100 Best of What's New '08" list, calling it "The fastest swimsuit in the world".

FINA's ban on the LZR Racer and all "hi-tech" suits came shortly before Michael Phelps's 200 meter freestyle loss to Germany's Paul Biedermann at the 2009 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy. Wearing Arena's polyurethane X-Glide suit, Biedermann broke two world records that day and beat Phelps by more than one second. Even though FINA had already approved the ban, it had not been scheduled to go into effect until the following spring. The delay in FINA's hi-tech prohibition and Phelps's unexpected second place finish (his first loss since 2005) led Phelps's coach Bob Bowman to threaten a boycott of international swim competitions. In the first three days of the eight day competition, 15 world records were set.

The vague decision by swimming's governing body stated that suit materials would need to be textile, rather than polymer-based, but offered no specific deadline for this changeover to occur. The reason for the delay, FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu told the AP, is to give manufacturers enough time "to pass from polyurethane to textiles". The ambiguity continued when FINA was unable to define textile. The most specific aspect of the ruling returned men to bare chests and ladies to bare shoulders. The current rule (GR 5.4), as posted on FINA's website, states "Before any swimwear of new design, construction or material is used in competition, the manufacturer of such swimwear must submit the swimwear to FINA and obtain approval of FINA".

Speedo's latest version of the LZR Racer series, the LZR Racer Elite, carries the FINA stamp of approval. The Elite series, like its predecessor utilizes welded seams and compression material to sculpt the swimmer's body. The SpeedoUSA website specifically denies the new generation of LZR Racers is a "quick fix". The most recent list of FINA approved swimsuits, which was published in January 2011 lists 78 specific Speedo brand swimsuits among 45 worldwide brands and nearly 720 models. Among them, 71 are Fastskin models and 13 are LZR series suits. Several Speedo designs have been removed from the FINA list including the original LZR Racer, and multiple Fastskin models.