November 22nd, 2022

The swim racing season has begun! Whether you are an experienced swimmer, beginner, or enjoy swimming recreationally, it’s good to be aware of the basic functions and variety of competitive suits available to use for training and at meets.

What makes racing suits different from the bathing suits you see at the beach is the fit and material. Racing suits are, with a few exceptions, designed to be form-fitting to streamline the body and reduce drag in the pool. Racing suits are also made with synthetic fabrics specifically selected for their resistance to deterioration from chlorine exposure, like lycra or nylon. While you can technically swim in any bathing suit, racing suits are far more ideal when training for competition.

Two suit styles dominate the ideal men’s racing suits. The speedo, also called swim briefs, and jammers. The speedo causes very little drag in the water and it was used commonly in high-level competitions before new styles were innovated. Today, swimmers wear speedos at both practice and low-level competitions. The jammer is a knee-long swim short that appears similar to biker shorts. The jammer has more water and drag resistance than the speedo, which is why you’ll find more jammers in high-level competition settings.

There’s a bit more variety for women’s racing suits. Burkinis are swimsuits designed as water sportswear for Muslim women, and typically cover the whole body apart from hands, feet, and face. 

Then there are one-piece racing suits, which are divided into racerback, crossback, v-back, and microback categories. The racerback suit is the standard and most common training style, giving comfort, streamline, and coverage with thick straps and a key-hole opening in the back. The crossback suit has thin straps on the back which form an X, and is an umbrella category for many niche styles. An example would be one of the most popular styles among young competitive swimmers; the tie-back suit. The v-back suit is a hybrid between the racerback and crossback, with thin straps giving more movement and flexibility along with the standard racerback blueprint. The microback has the smallest straps and virtually nothing else on the back, so it gives the most movement and the least coverage. And if those weren’t enough choices, there are also countless colours and patterns!

But what do Olympic swimmers wear? In the 2008 Olympics, many athletes were wearing bodyskins and legskins. These suits were form-fitting and composed of technologically advanced fabrics; some even mimicked shark skin! The bodyskins typically fit sleeveless at the top and went all the way to the swimmer’s ankles, while the legskin went from waist to ankle. They improved buoyancy, drastically reduced drag, and aided athletes to break 23 out of the 25 world records broken in the 2008 Olympics. However, these suits were banned from FINA competitions in 2010 for giving swimmers unfair advantages. Kneeskins (which look like knee-length bodyskins) and jammers dominate high-level competitions including the Olympics after the ban in 2010.

There are so many racing suits to try throughout your swimming career, and new technologies are always being developed. Have fun swimming!

By Taylor Murphy

Categories: Sports