The LZR Racer is one of the most controversial pieces of sports equipment ever introduced. Critics have accused its manufacturers, Speedo, of 'technological doping' and complained it gives its wearers an unfair advantage. But there is no doubt that it works: 74 world records have fallen since the launch of the revolutionary swimsuit in March this year.
The suit can take 15 minutes - using a plastic bag over each foot - to put on, as it hugs the body up to 70 times tighter than other suits. Rebecca Adlington won two gold medals in hers, but complained of raw knuckles after the struggle to get it on. The elite swimmers still love them. 'I feel like a rocket,' said Michael Phelps, who helped test the suits, before going on to win an unprecedented eight golds in Beijing.
The suit was created by Speedo's Aqualab, the company's global research-and-development facility in Nottingham. It is headed by Jason Rance and includes the senior team of Charles Wilson (fabric development manager), Melanie Simmons (garment engineer) and Sophy White (designer). Rance waves away the controversy surrounding the suit. 'It is the swimmer, not the suit, that breaks world records,' he says. 'When you look back in history there has always been controversy. In 1928, when Speedo went from woollen swimsuits to silk swimsuits, there was moral outrage because it was skin-tight material. When we created the racer back to help Arne Borg [Swedish world champion in the 1920s] to swim faster, that caused outrage because you were showing the naked shoulder. Similarly when we removed the skirt from the female suits, which created huge improvements in performance.'
Biomechanical engineers, physiologists, sports scientists, physiotherapists, more than 100 elite swimmers - and even a wind tunnel at Nasa - were involved in the three-year development of the suit. Everything was done in secret to prevent copycat products. The swimmers, sworn to confidentiality, tested early in the morning or late at night - 'all very cloak and dagger', Rance says.
Aqualab invented a fabric that cuts drag and applies pressure on the body to make it more hydrodynamic. The swimmer moves more easily through the water, economising on oxygen by around 5 per cent. Other innovations included integrating a corset into the main body of the suit. 'It gives an athlete more core stability,' Rance says, 'and that helps them maintain the correct position in the water. Say Rebecca Adlington is swimming 800metres and starts tiring, her hips start dropping and her legs start dragging so she cannot swim as fast. But if she is helped to maintain the correct position then she is at a huge advantage.'
At £320, the LZR Racer is out of the price range of some swimmers, particularly those from developing countries. But in Beijing the company offered free suits to any athlete that wanted one and gave away more than 3,000. Much to Speedo's glee, swimmers sponsored by rival brands flocked to wear them; even more tellingly, 94 per cent of all Beijing's swimming golds were won by athletes wearing the LZR Racer.
'It's part of the evolution of the sport,' Rance says, 'and it's really exciting for swimmers. They say they feel like Superman.' Speedo has already started work on a new suit for 2012, which can only be good for competition: its rivals will not want to be caught out again.
