This article makes two points: the swimsuit has a major impact on performance, and a pair of shoes doesn't. But why?

If basketball players had to use leather sandals, and you let one guy use top athletic shoes, he would have a definite advantage.

Maybe right now we just haven't realized that all the previous swimsuits were old leather sandals?

I'm not convinced by the article's dismissal of tennis shoes and lack of explanation why swimsuits are somehow different. You can't rely only on the "broke records" argument because that falls as illustrated by the leather sandals example above.

I just want to know more.

why can't we go back to the old days of the olympics where everyone was naked and on an even playing field?

i mean, why do we ban performance-enhancing drugs, but allow performance-enhancing clothing?

KingFatty - to be fair, they are not saying that shoes don't make a difference, and swimsuits do. At least not the way you are comparing.

The quote made is this:
"Every athlete doesn't have access to this technology ... some countries have contractual obligations to other manufacturers. In ... basketball ... a pair of shoes won't make any real difference. But ... for swimming, a suit has a major impact on performance."

The key is that they are comparing the field as it sits today. So in a sport like basketball, there is not much that a single shoe manufacturer can do to give them a major edge over another. Thus having a contract with Nike or Adidas won't give an athlete a significant edge over another athlete.

You are right with the analogy about the old suits being sandals, though. I mean, these new suits, which have been out in some form or another since 2000, have significantly changed the sport. When you look at it, as of last year, only 3 world records exist from before the introduction of these new suits.

The real question now becomes - when does technology push what a human can do too far?

I would say that ultimately, if you are with a non-Speedo country, then your country is dumb, but also I would pay a lot of money for Speedo to make one of these suits for me with my country's logo and sponsor's logo (this is done a lot in other sports).

Athletes should perform nude again following the Olympic spirit! But of course, you can not even be nude in a sauna in the US without being seen as a sexual offender. To bad America and other continents are so prude. Athletes are actually very nice to look at even when naked.

For everybody who has a twisted relation to nudeness, come and visit Europe for once. There are bare boobs and other explicit body parts visible on public statues all over the place and nobody sees that as offensive or pornographic.

Not even the church!!! The actually have some of the finest statues on display themselves!

i think that swim suits can't make that much of a difference. if people are complaining than just standarize the kind of swim suit. As KingFatty says above they're not doing it for shoes, so why swimsuits???

Well KingFatty, you drastically exagerated the example, but anyways shoes do matter a little in tennis, basketball
BUT swimsuits mean a LOT more to swimmers then shoes do to tennis players or basketball players.

This is just technology marching on.

In many sports, financial world (stock markets), space race, electronics, etc., people pay BIG $$$ for a small improvement when they are on the 'bleeding edge'. This is how they stay in front.

On rare occasion it makes enough difference to overcome the competition in a big way, mainly because the competition is doing a similar thing.

In this case it seems they found what makes a dolphin swim fast with relatively little energy compared to others in the same environment. You could compare this to using a dimpled versus smooth golf ball. The dimpled goes much further, counter to 'apparent common wisdom' on the subject.

In the financial markets, faster communications and computers may allow making trades a second or two earlier, and make the difference in many $$. There statistics are kept by comparing the bottom line.

I would be interested in knowing this suits 'coefficient of drag' versus a nude body of the same shape and versus a 'standard suit' all in the same 'standardized conditions'. Judging this based on independent races of various individuals is not good science. Or we need to wait till we have a 'statistically significant' amount of date (one or two events do not qualify, try hundreds or thousands).

With the way that records have been falling there is no doubt in my mind that Speedo created a superior suit. But the argument, at least as I hear it, is that some swimmers can't get the suit because they have contractual obligations with other suit makers. Well, I don't know about you but the I am getting disillusioned by home commercialized the Olympics are getting anyways. If everyone is determined to sign contracts with specific companies, and yes I know it is necessary to get the training, equipment, experts, and myriad of other expenses paid, then tough! You signed with the wrong people. If they tell people you can't use this new suit then you can kiss all new and significant innovation in this area goodbye. Companies like Speedo and Nike are driving innovation in performance equipment in order to get into situations like Speedo is in now. These innovations start here in the extreme athletic field and end up in everyday suits, rescue equipment, etc. Don't stop this innovation! It WILL have too MANY consequences!

I don't really follow the sport, but a valid question is how drastically have records fallen since the introduction of these suits? One could do a fairly in-depth statistical analysis of the frequency of broken records before this innovation to see if there's even been a jump, and if so to what degree. There's also undoubtedly more professional swimmers and sanctioned competitions today than there were say, just 10 years ago, further increasing the likelihood of new records.

I have been a compeditive swimmer since about the age of 6. Speedo is making history with its new suit and believe me, in 2 years EVERY compeditive swimmer who wants to win (which is all of them) will have one of these suits or a knock-off.

To make a better point; what is the current standard suit that every swimmer has been using for the past 15 years called? A speedo. Do you know what happened when Speedo (the company) released their 1st speedo? The company made a metoric rise to its current position as the number one competition swim suit maker in the world and every standing record from before the speedo's release was crushed.