While you’re watching your favorite swimmers compete for gold at the Olympics, keep in mind that it’s not just their muscles propelling them through the water. Their suits have a lot to do with it.

Speedo’s LZR suit, for instance, has a full-body, impermeable design that helped win 95% of the gold medals in 2008.

That was outlawed the next year, however.

So at this year’s Olympics, Speedo has equipped many competitors – including team USA – with its new Fastskin 3 suit.

The idea is that the design forces the body to move through the water like a torpedo…

As Speedo’s Vice President of product and marketing, Sean Hastings, says, “If you want an analogy of what the Fastskin racing system about, it’s trying to make the swimmer into a torpedo. We’re trying to take all the lumps and bumps and curves and make that into a perfect cylindrical shape like a torpedo, because that’s the fastest shape through the water.”

The suit might have helped a few gold- and silver-medal winners yesterday. During the highly anticipated 4 X 100-meter men’s relay, the guys from France and the United States were all wearing Speedo suits.

Source: Wall Street Daily