A Space-Age Speedo
I remember the 1972 Summer Olympics for two reasons: the Munich massacre and Mark Spitz. I had just turned 12, an extremely impressionable age, and I was spellbound by the drama unfolding on TV (a horrifying preview of terrorist attacks to come) when a Palestinian group known as Black September kidnapped and later killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. The worst part was the botched rescue effort. If the violence wasn't enough to jar me into puberty, there was the iconic image later that week of seven-time gold medalist Spitz in his tiny stars-and-stripes Speedo.
Fast-forward 36 years. We still have the terrorist issues, unfortunately, but take a look at these swimsuits:
The full-body sheaths have nothing to do with modesty. (Even though they cover more real estate than typical bathing suits, the fit is literally skin-tight.) Rather, the suits are the latest -- and apparently the greatest -- offerings for swimmers intent on speed.
Since the LZR Racer suits debuted in February, 44 out of 48 world records were set by swimmers donning the new duds. The secret of Speedo’s success? A new seamless fabric that slides through water and polyurethane panels to mold the body into more aerodynamic shapes.
Speedo turned to NASA to help with its design, which tested about 60 fabrics and shapes through wind tunnels at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., to determine how much drag, or resistance, each material created. The smoother the fabric, the lower the drag -- whether in air or water. Hope NASA doesn’t think the suits are too racy for its Spinoffs magazine.
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