The latest technology in swimsuits may have contributed to world-record times for sprinters, but Australian Jessicah Schipper has complained to manufacturer Speedo that the same suit loaded up with water and sank her bid to lower the 200 metre butterfly mark at the Australian Olympic swimming trials.
"It felt like I was swimming in a drag suit," Schipper said after winning Tuesday night's final in Sydney.
"I was pulling myself through, but I was actually getting really dizzy and had to keep my head down, so then I ended up not breathing as much as I should have."
Schipper set the world record of 2 minutes 5.40 seconds in Victoria, B.C., on Aug. 17, 2006. She was on track to lower it Tuesday, with better split times at he first three turns, before her energy ran out on the final lap. She blamed the slowdown on her LZR Racer filling with water.
The same full-body costume has been touted by the manufacturer for helping swimmers churn to 13 world records in the past six weeks. Canadian swimmers have not all been able to get them, and Swimming Canada has said the new high-tech Speedos are not to be used at the Canadian Olympic trials next week.
Speedo officials said in reports they are "disappointed" by Schipper's criticism and will work with the 21-year-old swimmer to ensure her suits are fitted exactly before the Beijing Olympics in August. The suits stretch from neck to ankle, similar to previous generations of high-tech suits, and are made of lightweight, water-repellant fabric which leaving the shoulder blades and arms free.
``We are conducting a thorough investigation but are confident this is not endemic to the suit," Rob Davies, general manager of Speedo Australia, said in a statement.
The spate of records has prompted swimming's governing body, FINA, to schedule an investigation into the $550 (U.S.) Speedo suits, which were partially designed by NASA, during next month's short-course world championships in Manchester, England.
Frenchman Alain Bernard, who also uses the Speedo suit, broke three freestyle world records last weekend during the European Championships.
