Effect of a Fast-skin 'body' suit on drag during front crawl swimming.
The effect on drag of a Speedo Fast-skin suit compared to a conventional suit was studied in 13 subjects (6 males, 7 females) swimming at different velocities between 1.0 and 2.0 m.s-1. The active drag force was directly measured during front crawl swimming using a system of underwater push-off pads instrumented with a force transducer (MAD system). For a range of swimming speeds (1.1, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 m.s-1), drag values were estimated. On a group level, a statistically non-significant drag reduction effect of 2% was observed for the Fast-skin suit (p = 0.31). Therefore, the 7.5% reduction in drag claimed by the swimwear manufacturer was not corroborated.
Toussaint
Huub M
HM
Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Science, Faculty of Human Movement Science, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands.
Truijens
Martin
M
Elzinga
Meint-Jan
MJ
van de Ven
Ad
A
de Best
Henk
H
Snabel
Bart
B
de Groot
Gert
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003020:Clothing; D005260:Female; D017276:Friction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D019876:Sports Equipment; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology*