These five instances of 'wardrobe malfunctions' are what I culled from numerous articles about the LZR. Note each suit failure is in regards to quality, longevity, and fragility. In the photo on the left, the LZR material looks so thin that you can almost see Michael Phelps chest hairs through it when enough light is present. Also note that the failures below are the ones we are hearing about. I wonder how many we haven't heard:Nicole Jeffrey of The Australin, quotes Leisel Jones regarding her Speedo LZR taking in water during a 200m breaststroke event at a short course meet in Canberra, Australia: "...They stretch after about three wears," she said. "I really wanted to swim fast and I prepared well. I felt quite good but the suit filling with water didn't help me much. It makes you pretty fatigued, dragging the water along."I was happy that I swam only a second off my best. And I've only had three weeks of training (since the Olympic trials) so fitness is an issue." [Link]
NPR Day to Day: Brent Rutemiller confirms that the Speedo LZR will only last a handful of races. His exact quote: "The suit itself only lasts for 6 to 12 wears. Michael Phelps could theoretically go through 3 or 4 swim suits at 500 a pop at the Olympics. ..." Here is a link to an audio of that NPR, Day to Day interview: [Link]
Amy Shipley of the Washington Post: "... Three times since the suit was released this year, the drawstring in the waistband has ripped, according to Phelps's coach Bob Bowman
The most inconvenient tear occurred Friday, throwing Phelps's pre-race preparation into arrears. Moments before filing out for his race, he was sprinting across the complex to the Speedo tent to get a new suit -- but not the LZR. He wanted nothing further to do with fragile drawstrings. (He grabbed an older model FS-Pro instead.)
"It was very upsetting to him," said Jon Urbanchek, the assistant coach at the University of Michigan's Team Wolverine, where Phelps trains. "He will have to learn to control that. It was a good learning experience. He will have to have a Plan B, Plan C . . . What if it happens at the Olympics?"
Said Bowman: "By the time he got [back with the new suit], he was absolutely fuming. At that point, I knew the swim was somewhat compromised. ..." [Link]
From the Daily Telegraph: "... [Eamon] Sullivan's girlfriend Stephanie Rice, meanwhile, learned a valuable lesson when the 200 and 400m individual medley world record holder suffered a costume malfunction in the change rooms before the start of the 100m butterfly heats. ...
Things didn't go so smoothly for Rice, who split her Speedo LZR suit and did not have a spare suit in her kit bag. The 19-year-old had to resort to her Speedo nylon suit and missed the final with a time of 1:01.47 to place fourth, having to settle for a swim in the night's B final. ..." [Link]
From Hansen Sports Media: "MONTE CARLO, June 8, 2008: Twenty-four hours after Stephanie Rice’s suit mishap in Rome, prospective Olympic breaststroke medalist Tarnee White suffered a similar fate in the opening Mare Nostrum Swim Meet in Monaco today – before joining Australia's latest list of international record breakers.
World ranked number two White, showed all the composure that makes her a seasoned veteran, to overcome a suit malfunction of her own before claiming gold and a meet record on the first of the two days of the Monaco meet.
White’s zipper split apart just before the start of the 50 metres breaststroke heats, a day after Rice split her Speedo LZR suit before the heats of the 100m butterfly. [Link]
Photo comes from the "I love Sports" blog: [Link]
