Click here to read more about the history of the competitive swimsuit on the Speedo website. The history of competitive swimwear March 11, One of the biggest changes in competitive swimming since the first modern Olympic Games in has been in swimwear. Swimming History. Find your local Swimming Club. At the Beijing Olympics Games, Phelps went one better than before, scooping eight golds in a single Games. In response, the Speedo team went back to the Aqualab and applied the same hydrodynamic principles to create a new FINA-approved Fastskin LZR collection, which catered for everybody from grass roots to elite-level swimmers.
The collection was launched in Two years later, ahead of the Olympic Games, Speedo unveiled its Fastkin3 racing system, consisting of a new cap, goggle and competition suit. The system featured fit point markers which allowed the three items to line-up and helped the swimmers gain the ideal fit and become one with the suit. Either way, the iconic brand is a staple for anyone who loves the water -- and actually has a pretty interesting history.
It wasn't until that they began making swimwear and produced the first non-wool suit can you believe swimsuits used to be made out of wool?!
And while you may think that the bikini caused controversy when it came on the scene, when Speedo first introduced the racerback suit in the late s, it was banned on many beaches because it showed so much shoulder. Though Speedo was in full force with its swimsuit production in the s, it was interrupted by World War II. Today, however, Speedo is largely known for providing suits for athletes and has been worn by more gold-medal winning Olympic swimmers than any other brand.
They introduced their iconic swim briefs with a little help of the Australian Olympic swim team. The men were wearing Speedos. A beach inspector called the police, and the men were promptly arrested for indecent exposure. But the ensuing publicity did wonders for Speedo. The company had been around for decades, but now it was set to become as synonymous with tight-fitting swim trunks as Kleenex is with tissues. Speedo started with socks. Once that demand began to dwindle, McRae shifted his attention to beachwear to support a growing interest in sand and surf activity.
He renamed the company McRae Knitting Mills and took a bold step: Rather than produce the wool bathing suits common in the era, he opted to use cotton and silk. He also dismissed sleeves at that point a swimwear staple and instead opted for a then-controversial look that showed more skin. The resulting suit, the Racerback, fit more like a tanktop; it was a hit, particularly with competitive swimmers, when it debuted in Because it had less drag than wool, Speedo swimwear quickly caught on among athletes.
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