Why are there different olympic swimsuits

Question

Watching the olympics, ive noticed there are about 3 different types of swimsuits- a full body one that covers the legs and chest, the one that only covers the legs, and the small bicycle short kind. Ive seen Phelps where all three of these in different races but i also see athletes in the same race wearing different kinds. Does it just come down to personal preference or does a particular suit have an advantage with a particular stroke? And what happened to the speedo? Do they just not hold up as well?

Thanks

Answer 1

hi, im a swimmer so hopefully i can be of some help :)

there are different kinds of suit and in the end it does come down to personal preference HOWEVER...

you are most likely to see the full body suits, the ones that cover the up half of your body when doing frontcrawl where you need to be as streamlined as possible. when doing butterfly, breastroke and typically backstroke, it is best to use the costume that covers the bottom half of your body so as not to restrict arm movement.

with breastroke it is best to use the shorts because it enables your kness more movement and your arms movement.

in regards to speedos, the new costumes make you more streamlined. thats why you see many male swimmers shaving.

also, check out the americans new swim suits..supposedly 0.04 seconds faster...pretty good!

anyway, hope this has helped :)