Why are sharks able to swim so fast?

They create drag to reduce drag much like the tripwires on the TYR Aquashift were created to do. From ABC News: "...Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). Now a trick that helps them to reach such speeds has been discovered – the sharks can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball. ..." [Link]

Wiki on TYR Aquashift tripwires: "... The tripwires or "turbulators" are placed at several spots along the length of the suit including the chest, where a set of four tripwires runs across the whole chest, the buttocks (where a single tripwire is placed), the shoulders, and, if a swimmer has an Aquashift swim cap there is a trip wire on his or her head. Normally water hits the head and shoulders and immediately breaks, creating turbulence. However, with the addition of the tripwire, the water is forced to keep its flow consistent along the entire surface of the swimmer. The water flow is disrupted strategically so that it will break and reassemble, thereby keeping the flow stable across the entire body. The tripwires are made to be exactly congruent in height around the entire body, in an attempt to make them as effective as possible at disrupting the water flow. A patent is currently pending on the tripwires used in this suit. The suit was the co-invention of University at Buffalo professors Dr. David Pendergast, Dr. Joe Mollendorf, and Head Swimming Coach Budd Termin. The subjects for the study consisted of the men's and women's swimming team members at the University at Buffalo. ..." [Link]

I think this research validates the technology on TYR's part and I find it amusing that FINA ruled tripwire technology illegal but the LZR and it's analogs are okay?

Larsen Jenson and Erik Vendt are wearing the 'Speedo LZR' but they are not signed with Speedo

From the L.A. Times today: "... [Erik Vendt] is wearing the suit he feels is the fastest in the world, not because there is any deal pending," said Evan Morgenstein, Vendt's agent. "I'm hoping to have something for him but there's no guarantee."

"... Stu Isaac of Speedo, however, said talks are ongoing with Vendt and Jensen. ..."

They also bring up Cullen Jones who says he is sticking with Nike and makes it clear that he appreciates them as well. [Link]

I have a feeling that some time after this Olympic year, the Speedo LZR is going to be deemed illegal just like the TYR Aquashift was. In my opinion FINA is now being confronted with the fact that they have seriously alienated a myriad of companies over their meek definition of the word fabric. (Speedo, I believe, has mixed or layered in urethane within their fabric. Hence, is it fabric anymore? Is the neoprene on the blueseventy fabric? I don't know?

There is a lot of FINA sponsorship dollars involved here and those alienated companies might begin to think that the triathlons and triathletes might be a better investment than swim meets and swim stars. In fact, sports agents may suffer over this too. If TYR isn't signing, and NIKE isn't signing, then there goes their "bidding wars."

I think FINA will soon begin to feel their pain in the form of fewer sponsored meets and lots of corporate acrimony for the investment dollars they have been summarily lost will not be taken lightly.

Libby Trickett sets a WR in the 50 LCM Freestyle

She now owns both the 50 and the 100 LCM. Australian swimming is rising to great heights post the Ian Thorpe period led by names like Stephanie Rice, Eamon Sullivan, Emily Seebohm, Libby Trickett and the great Grant Hackett. Is the USA team as strong?

As the swimmers are introduced look at their physical profiles and note how strong and slender they look. Most of the above look thinner and stronger than any model ever produced at the "Vogue" or "Elle" secret DNA laboratories but some of these swimmers' "latssimus dorsi" muscle groups shake around like a fat lady's arm. I am convinced that the new Speedo Lazr is a ultimately a corset and the panels in between the "welded seams" are not fabric but rather what appears to be semi-rigid rubber. With that in mind the TYR Aquashift should not have been banned by FINA.

This quote from the LA Times has me wondering: "...One rare complaint, however, surfaced Wednesday at the trials in Australia. Jess Schipper said that the LZR filled with water as she competed in the 200-meter butterfly final and caused her to fade down the stretch. ..." [link]

Isn't water suppose to get into your swimsuit? If it can't, then isn't that using the air between your body and the suit to promote buoyancy? I think FINA may have a mess on their hands? Why does the TYR Aquashift and it's arm bands receive no FINA approval yet a quasi rigid LZR that has semi-rigid panels and resists water from crossing the seam/panel barrier get approval? That really disturbs me. All the Aquashift had were three trip lines or strings sewned into the fabric. The Speedo LZR has a rubber that has never been seen nor is it accessible.

For a higher-rez version, click here: [Link]

'PopSCI.com" on the new Speedo Lazr

Blogger Trevr sent me a link to a PopSCI.com gallery which features 10-images of Natalie Coughlin, Michael Phelps and a bunch of computer models wearing the new Speedo Lazr. [Link]

One picture illustrates a "girdle-like" construct within the suit to keep your core tighter. Now, if FINA can let THAT be okay, then why not "tripwires" on the Aquashift? Lame!

The Lazr costs $550; the jammers are $290. It's unfortunate that no swimming publication; albeit online or in print, have the courage to test these types of suits in a side-by-side comparison to see which brand really offers the fastest suit technology or even what sort of time advantage does one offer over the others. What if the Speedo Lazr is the fastest suit in the world but only offers a 2-tenths-of-a-second improvement in a 100 LCM free? Is the suit worth $500 to you if it makes you look like a "trekkie." Also, highly paid "mercenaries" do not count. Michale Phelps could probably with a 200 fly wearing wool board shorts.

Car and Driver has their "Car of the Year" and they certainly do shootouts from time to time.

Glenn Mills tests speedsuits to see if they make a difference

Gosh knows how long this article has been up; Glenn Mills compares each variation of a TYR Speedsuit, such as full body, jammer, etc. and posts how each suit effected his times. A bar graph with stoke comparison accompanies the article. What stuck me was that both 'fly and breaststroke are faster than briefs but not as fast as a 'body jammer.'

Currently TYR Aquashift suits are half off at the TYR web site so this article really interested me. (I receive no compensation or gifts from either Glenn Mills or TYR) [Link]