Does Speedo's New LZR Swimsuit Give An Unfair Advantage?

The Speedo's new LZR Swimsuit has been worn by some competitive swimmers since its introduction in February and has already helped bring home several medals. Now there is a question about fairness. Does Speedo's LZR Swimsuit give an unfair advantage to swimmers?

American swimmer Jessica Hardy, for instance, just broke a 50m breast stroke world record in England this April and, yes, she wore the Speedo LZR Racing suit for that win. But should the Speedo suit get a lot of credit for that? Jessica is a powerful swimmer anyway. The Speedo LZR certainly did not hinder her performance but unless those swimsuits come fitted with a jet propulsion system, the argument could be stated, wearing Speedo LZR swimsuits should not be considered an unfair advantage.

Is there an advantage to wearing a suit that reduces drag in the water? Of course there is an advantage. Should these suits then be banned because it gives the wearer that extra edge?

There has been speculation that part of the advantage may simply be that swimmers believe it will make them swim faster. This belief is very likely to improve performance whether or not the suit actually did help (the power of suggestion). However, since the Speedo LZR is designed to minimize friction and this seamless design certainly must give the swimmer a real edge over others wearing less streamlined styles. Even if the advantage is small, these details can mean the difference between losing and winning a race.

Reducing air or water resistance is why competitive bicyclists or swimmers, respectively, shave their legs and wear form-fitting suits rather than swim-trunks. Likewise, runners wear running shoes that are designed especially for running. If one pair of running shoes seems to give a runner an edge due to the design, I doubt that this would be deemed an unfair advantage.

However, the best argument for “unfair advantage” regarding the Speedo issue is that swim teams not sponsored by Speedo will not be wearing these suits and, therefore, will not be getting the benefits. Even if teams not sponsored by Speedo wanted to wear the suits, the LZR is cost-prohibitive for these teams ( The suit costs $500 to $550).

For this reason, some countries have apparently banned the suit from their competitions.

I don’t think that suit design alone should be considered an unfair advantage as long as no other artificial means of propulsion are incorporated. However, since the Speedo LZR’s seamless design reduces drag significantly--an ever-important feature in competitive swimming-- the question of unfairness will continue to be, understandably, posed.

By: Korey M.
Published: 04/15/08