Light, Tight And Right For Racing

Why are the skinsuits faster? One wonders if the fabric has been injected with a miracle drug that gives the swimmer added strength. It is more likely, as coaches have noted, that wearing the suit is "like going from the propeller to the jet."

The claim made for the new outfits is that they eliminate or minimize the drag that arises when water gets inside a suit and forms a bulge, slowing the swimmer's progress. Coach George Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club sees a further advantage: "For training we want resistance. It is not unusual for swimmers to wear as many as three or four suits at one time to build drag. In competition, however, we need to eliminate it."

At the Swiss championships before the 1972 Olympics, national team members wore suits glued to the body at the neck, arm and leg openings with an adhesive. Italy's Novella Calligaris won the 800-freestyle in Belgrade in such a suit. It produced desired results, but the procedure, she complains, "is unsatisfactory because the adhesive is painful to remove."

Dr. Dottinger's patented suit features a narrow band of rubber that seals the arm, neck and leg openings, and it has the highest neckline, another improvement seen to some degree in all the new suits. "The high neckline worked fine for the 'fly, backstroke and the freestyle," says Dianne Rothhammer, "but when it came to the breaststroke, we still couldn't stop some water from getting in." That is when a latticework strip was added to the back to expel or force out water. Freestyler Greenwood noted, "You get a bubble in back when you come up in a turn. In the old-style suits it went away only after a couple of laps."

The skinsuit's racer back and larger armholes also give plenty of shoulder freedom and eliminate the straps that often were tied together in back to prevent them from slipping off. Another problem in the more conventional suit was the modest quarter-panel skirt—which could scoop up as much as a gallon of water in the turns. But eliminating the skirt was not that simple.

Since the beginning of the century the AAU rule book has decreed that women must wear skirts on their suits. And while they long ago shed black stockings and stopped measuring the length of their skirts from the ankle, women competitors still had to wear skirts until this past year. To get around the ruling, many mothers sewed lace bands or pieces of tape across the fronts of their daughters' Belgrads, often creating bizarre effects—which possibly was their intention. In the face of further ridicule, the AAU sanctioned the skirtless suit last April.

The new suits are still controversial, but all the coaches agree on one point—they should never be worn in training. Heather Greenwood says, "You wear the skinsuit only at big meets. You can lose your 'feel' for it if it's worn too much." Sherm Chavoor, coach of the Arden Hills Swim Club, says, "We don't practice in the new suits because they go too fast. We want to psych up for them. I like my girls to wear the suits when I designate. For instance, the first week in June I sent kids to Stockton for an age-group meet. Jill Shirley won a 400-meter freestyle race in 4:31 and Karen Hazen won one in 4:29 in slow suits. Two weeks later, at a Santa Clara international meet, I said, 'Wear your fast suits.' Jill won in 4:23, and Karen in 4:20. Now that meet was a high-pressure event for fast suits, and the kids felt, 'Boy, I can't go slow.' "

Coach Mark Schubert of the Mission Viejo Nadadores Swim Club says, "The main thing is the feel swimmers get in a tapered state of training. They pare their training from 16,000 or 18,000 meters a day down to about 3,000 in a three-week period. It's then that they get energy and the biggest time drops. Their mental image is 'When I get to the Nationals and put on this racing skinsuit I know I will swim to my ultimate.' "

Still, if swimsuits have come this far, one wonders what will come next. Perhaps the psychology of color and weight will give way to the final athletic demand—performance. At what price? Melissa Belote notes, "If nude swimming comes next, I'll quit." When the East Germans requested the Olympic Committee to permit nude swimming in 1976 they were turned down, some say primarily because it might have offended the spectators. But the advent of nude competitive swimming may not be that far off. Nude bathing is prevalent on European beaches and is becoming increasingly acceptable in the U.S.

One drawback to al fresco competition is that bare breasts create as much or more drag than air bubbles inside a swimsuit. "Girls with fiat chests could make better time naked," says Haines. "There is no question about it. But for the well-endowed girl, the elasticity of Lycra keeps her body streamlined."