There’s been a lot of chatter re: the new Speedo LZR suit and how much of an advantage those who wear it hold.

It’s putting athletes who possess contracts with other swimwear companies (e.g. Nike, TYR, Arena) in a unenviable position heading into the Beijing Games and the selection meets.

Do they risk fines and other penalities and wear the LZR suit? Or do they remain loyal and possibly (I said possibly) miss out on a faster time that could be achieved in the Speedo suit. That is pure speculation based on what I’ve been reading/hearing on the internet.

U.S. National Team head coach, Mark Schubert, has gone on record with the Associated Press that “he will tell every swimmer on his team to wear Speedo at the U.S. trials.”

He will tell them to wear Speedo? Does that mean he will demand/order they wear the suit or strongly suggest it? Can USA Swimming really force a swimmer to wear Speedo; especially if it directly conflicts with their swimwear contract?

Upon doing a little more research, his words were clarified:

“I would strongly advise them to wear the suit at trials, or they may end up at home watching on NBC. Do you go for the money or for the gold? These athletes have been dreaming about winning an Olympic medal since they were eight or 10 years old and nobody can afford to give up two per cent.”

The AP article called out the US Nike contingent of Brendan Hansen, Aaron Peirsol, Jason Lezak and Kaitlin Sandeno.

All the other major players in the swimsuit sweepstakes are developing their own version of the LZR, but it seems the higher-ups of the governing bodies don’t think it will compare with the technology of the Speedo suit.

We already noticed that Erik Vendt, Larsen Jensen, and Mark Gangloff left TYR and are now wearing Speedo suits. It’ll be interesting to see who else defects and from which company.

Things are fixin’ to get mighty interesting coming down the stretch!

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