In 2008, Michael Phelps and his team all wore an “older style” racing suit to the ‘08 Beijing Olympics. According to CBS News, the suit Phelps wore was created in a collaboration with Speedo and NASA. They named it the LZR Racer, but it is more commonly known as the Supersuit; thus, many others found it rather unfair that he won 8 gold medals and qualified for two final races while they all wore these higher-tech suits, which were guaranteed to help them win, which resulted in the supersuit being banned in 2010.
What was the supersuit, and what is a tech suit?
Supersuits and tech suits are not the same, yet not so different. They both have differences, similarities, pros, and cons. A tech suit is not a full coverage suit as it just covers the torso and above the knees for women, and it goes right above the knees for men. On the other hand, a supersuit is designed to hold everything in as it covers from the ankle all the way to the neck, just leaving the arms out. CBS News also said that tech suits usually range from $300 to $600, depending on the brand and what size you get. A supersuit costs roughly $20,000, which makes it very difficult to get.
What are their differences?
Supersuits- Supersuits are a higher-quality version of a tech suit. They provide higher performance with their full body coverage, increased buoyancy, and reduced drag. Wikipedia stated that since they’re made of polyurethane, they are made to repel water, giving them that nice glide effect in the water. While this sounds great and all, there are also cons to this suit. Supersuits tend to be very pricey at their $20,000 price. They also have a huge advantage in the water, which was said to be unfair to other swimmers. Since they are made of very delicate material, and to reduce drag, they are 10x harder to get on than the average techsuit.
Tech suits- Tech suits are a more affordable and more commonly known suit amongst swimmers. They are known for their improved buoyancy aspect as well as helping swimmers maintain a nice line whilst in the water. Tech suits are also able to compress muscles, which helps create a nice blood flow, thus helping the wearer have adrenaline to go faster in the water. Depending on the brand you get, both determine the pricing and the quality. A higher price is higher quality, whilst a lower cost is lower quality.
But why was this turned into a ban?
Most people found it rather unfair, maybe a little strange, how Phelps won 8 gold medals and qualified for 2 final trials. Due to the Supersuit being made by professionals and its very high-tech material, this put Phelps and his team on a higher level than other swimmers. This caused a huge blowup of questions of how and why, whilst they were paying the extra price to get the best of the best tech suits. Supersuits obviously had a huge advantage over the other suits, which is what resulted in the ban.
