Shiny Suits Ball & Chained In A Watery Grave But Their Impact Lives On: ‘Progress’ 2008-16

This time a decade ago, Speedo, so long so much a part of the good things in and development of swimming, was preparing to weave the worst thing it ever delivered to the sport: hugely significant suit-assistance that altered natural angles of buoyancy and the flow of swimmers through the most unforgiving element in the world of sport – water.

The polyurethane panels of the LZR-Racer gave way to much more still in 2009, with other no-textiles plastered on the swimmer from neck to ankle, swimming sunk by an imposter that reigned between February 2008 and January 1, 2010, when the shiny suits era was locked in a box, the warning words of coach Bob Bowman (his boy would not be coming back to FINA events if the fed failed to name the day for a return to textile) the final nail in a coffin this author helped to build in a campaign that highlighted the undeniable facts of super-charged performances that some, including FINA ‘leaders’, sought to deny.

The pace of personal progress that it had taken Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe, their coaches Bowman and Doug Frost, and others of that ilk some years of building to get to, was suddenly available to many more in just the one season, it seemed.

The shiny suits coffin remains closed with a ball and chain for company at the bottom of the sea bed but the impact of the booster bodysuits lives on and will do so for a few more Olympic cycles yet in terms of the all-time rankings of standards among the elite of the sport. To get a sense of true progress in swimming speed deep through the ranks, the 2008-09 seasons must be largely excluded from the count – and more on that at the end of this January mini-series in swimming speed.

Throughout the month, SwimVortex will post some short articles and tables that represent the speed at which shiny suits are being over-taken at the helm of the world rankings 25 deep.

Our examples start with men’s sprint freestyle. All world records over 50, 100 and 200m freestyle remain in the grip of shiny suits and although the gap may have narrowed 2008/09-2016, the facts are clear: most entries in the swiftest 25 swims ever seen over 50m and 100m belong yet to shiny suits, while almost half of all top 10 and top 25 entries over 200m hark back to 2008-09.

Yannick Agnel, of France, by Patrick B. Kraemer

The world textile bests in each event below have something in common: they represent the outstanding effort of one individual who, as far as the clock goes, has at the most one other man for company:

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