INTRODUCTION: The polyurethane swimsuits has become the notice around the pools in the past couple years. A better body position and the reducing of drag are believed to be some of the reasons that allow the swimmers wearing these swimsuits to go faster (Kainuma et al., 2009). The purpose of this study was to verify the distribution of different swimsuits used by male swimmers during the finals at the last world championships being held at Rome in 2009. METHODS: Results databases from the 13th FINA World Championships, in Rome 2009 were used. Only the male swimmers participating in the finals were analyzed, for a total number of 24 individual swimming events. The wearing swimsuits were observed from video recorded of the television broadcast. RESULTS: Male swimmers participating in the finals limited their choice to seven types of swimsuits, of four different brands. Jaked01 Full® was the most used (47%), followed by the Powerskin X-Glide Full® (35%), the Powerskin X-Glide Pants® (7%) and the LZR Racer Full® (5%). Less used were the Jaked01 Pants® (3%), the Hydrofoil Full® (1%) and the LZR Racer Pants® (1%). Powerskin X-Glide Full® was the most used in freestyle events (56%), followed by Jaked01 Full® (29%). In backstroke, male swimmers share a preference between Powerskin X-Glide Pants® and Jaked01 Full® (33% each). All the swimsuits used in the breaststroke finals were distributed by the Jaked01 Full® (79%) and the Powerskin X-Glide Full® (21%). In medley finals, the Jaked01 Full® remained in the preferences (56%) followed by Powerskin X-Glide Full® (25%). We also could verify that 41% of the swimmers wearing Powerskin X-Glide Full® reached the podium, as well as 29% with Jaked01 Full®. DISCUSSION: Male swimmers preferentially used full swimsuits, covering both the torso and legs, probably contributing for a higher drag decrease. We can observe a clear preference for two swimsuits types: the Powerskin X-Glide Full® and the Jaked01 Full®. It seems these swimsuits had greater success rate for achieving podium places. One can speculate that in backstroke swimmers used more swimming pants because they are in a dorsal position, where a full swimsuit could not allow much benefits of the torso cover. The existence of selected preferences by the swimmers highlights the importance of the swimsuits until the inclusion of the new swimsuit rule and might have on performances in the near future.
© Copyright 2010 Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming XI - Abstracts. Published by Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. All rights reserved.