Engineered Competitive
SWIMSUITS (Part - 3)
4. Diana Swimwear 2008 The Submarine Shining Arrow is the 4th generation of the Submarine range and the result of 100 per cent Italian project: Research and product development, materials and production are all made in Italy. It is first swimming bodysuit with no seams and manufactured with thermo fusion technology and with cold plasma treated fabric.
4.1: Fabric New fabric SPF (Stretch Polimix Fabric) has been realised in full compliance of new Fina rules, the fabric is made by a polyurethane elastic yarn. The advantages are obvious in terms of water slides and compression. For the first time in the world Diana has created a competition swimsuit using a hydrophobic fabric while the interior has a water repellent treatment. Vega Submarines have been created assembling only two pieces of fabric, which is strong reduction of dynamic friction and consequently a better water slide. 4.2: Muscle compression Fixed in strategic positions the Glass-Tex fabric enhance the muscular compression that decrease the athlete lactic acid production for better performances. In order to increase compression there is a double layer of fabric in the part under chest. 4.3: Better balance Primary importance has been given to the balance of the swimmer, at its centre of mass position and its freedom of movement using the Thermo fusion technology that allows the assemblage of the suit eliminating the use of seams. This gives the perfect fit at crotch area thanks to inguinal seams. The Diana Submarine competition suit series, takes advantage from the research and the technology of submarines, in the phase of silent propulsion, thanks to the co-efficient of penetration in water and to the special slipperiness of their hulls.
4.4: Thermo-fusion technical specifications The new Submarine series is manufactured with the new Plasma Super Slick fabric with more than three years of studies and tests. This Plasma Super Slick fabric is treated with a reactive procedure with Cold
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Plasma through radio frequency that permits the alteration of the superficial feature of the fabric, rendering it more waterproof and smooth. The process consists in the ionization of gaseous products, in a vacuum and to ambient temperature, by radio frequency electric discharges. The original chemical bonds of the fabric, placed in the process room, are broken and a particular procedure makes possible the change of the fabrics functional properties, rendering it waterproof. This Plasma Super Slick fabric, with a flat and linear structure, also having a minimal thickness and inimitable lightness compared to fabrics used by other brands, is extremely compressed leaving an effective force to the tension of the fabric. By means of this pressure, adapted and differentiated ated for every part of the body, a contoured levelling of the bodily shapes is obtained, allowing the maximization of the athletic effort. Other substantial innovation of the new Submarine, regards the assemblage of the fabric. The new Submarines are manufactured with the exclusive technology “Thermofusion,” that it consists in the use of particular machinery, that concur, with one complicated procedure, the fusion of two fab rics (with the use of high temperature 180°C) eliminating therefore the use of seams in the suits assembly. In this way it comes completely eliminated the friction generated by the seams, reducing enormously the small vortices that prevent the normal sliding of the water flows that lap the athlete’s body during the swim. With this new technology, comes the reduced resistance to the advance of the suit surface and increases the effectiveness of the performance. Another technical feature on the new Submarine is the employment of the “Silver Adhesive Film,” a special film with a self-regulating tension, obtained from the silver fibre, which prevents the action of water penetration in the upper part of the suit, diminishing therefore considerably the pressure feeling on the shoulders during the stroke.
Fig 16: Silver Adhesive Film
Fig 15: Doubled layer fabric in Diana swimsuit
5. Powerskin Xtreme by arenas Powerskin Xtreme delivers higher speeds than any other swimsuit available in the world when it was launched. Its revolutionary fabric creates unsurpassed gliding effect through the water, thanks to riblets of the surface that trap microscopic water molecules, creating a "water on water" effect.
Incredibly soft
Hydro-repellent Incredibly fast
Top speed Unbeatable freedom of movement around the knee zone
Perfect muscle pressure
Improved sliding
Fig 19: Powerskin R-Evolution
Ultra-light
Fig 17: Powerskin by arenas
5.1: Arena X-Glide Arena X-Glide is a swimsuit made of pure polyurethane that causes a swimmer to slide through water faster when swimming. The design of the suit covers basically the whole torso and the legs, thereby exposing less skin to the water. This significantly reduces the drag a swimmer experiences as he or she moves through the water. Powerskin Xtreme® exclusive “Balancing System,” obtained by using a second silver fabric, allows a perfect muscle compression, while the special ergonomic panels create unbeatable freedom of movement on the knee zone. Three fabrics perfectly working together to fulfil the top swimmers’ main needs.
Fig 18: Powerskin X-Treme
5.2: Powerskin R-Evolution It is the lightest and the smoothest racing swimsuit. This is made possible by the incredible lightness of the Exclusive Arena Stealth Fabric. 99/sqm 99/s qm delivering a 50 per cent stronger muscle compression and enhancing better body balancing and stability during the swimming action.
It delivers up to 20 per cent less drag than the powerskin x-treme, due to the elimination eliminatio n of all seams orthogonal to water flow. The revolutionary construction with zero seams on the front enables the swimmers to keep peak speed for a 24 per cent longer time, delivering potential advantage of 54 hundredths of a second in a 50m free style competition.
• 99/SQM =the lightest fabric ever used in a top competition suit • Thermo-fused joins ns strategically placed • Ultra flat and waterproof zipper zipper • One piece piece of fabric fabric • Zero Seams on the front • 100 per cent cent stitch less
Fig Fi g 19: 19: Sp Spec ecia iall coa coati ting ng on Ar Aren enaa RR-Ev Evol olut utio ion n
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Following are some swimwear fabrics which are used in competitive swimwear Table 2: Swimsuit Fabrics
Name of the Fabric
Composition
Purpose
Streamline– High tech racing fabric
87 per cent Polyester, 13 per cent Lycra
Designed for speed Reduce drag by its water repellent resin stripes Fabric is sleek and smooth
Speedline – chlorine resistant fabric
45 per cent Polyester/55 per cent PBT*
Designed for endurance Two way stretch but less than Lycra Excellent chlorine resistance Smooth, shiny and slides through the water Not good for racing
Pacer – chlorine resistant fabric
53 per cent Polyester/47 per cent PBT*
Designed for endurance Two way stretch but less than Lycra Excellent chlorine resistance Smooth, shiny and slides through the water Not good for racing
Lycra & Lycra based fabrics
Lycra
Shiny appearance and smooth to touch Excellent stretch Good for recreational swimmers
* Texturized polyester with natural stretch similar to spandex Table 3: Summery of Competitive Swimsuit
Brand
Swimsuit
Fabric content
Type of seams
Speedo
LZR
Polyamide micro fibres and elastane
Ultrasonic welded, bonded seams
TYR
Tracer A7
Neoprene, titanium alloy and polyester
Flat seams
A d id a s
Jet concept bodysuit
Lycra and silicone riblets
Flat lock seams
Diana
Submarine
Plasma super stick fabric and silver fibres
Thermo fusion technology
Nike
Liftsuit
Elastomer silicone, Nylon, Spandex
Aligned with fluid flow
Arenas
X-Glide
Bio-rubber coating
No stitching and no bonding in front
Conclusion Engineered Swimsuit is believed to play an important role in swimmer’s performance. It is every swimmers dream to be the best, the sleekest, and the fastest. Swimming is the sport of endurance, discipline and technique; swimmers rely on all of these resources and qualities to reach the goal of utmost importance – Speed! In a nutshell, the objective of competitive swimming is to fight for the fastest possible personnel time. In order to achieve this all important goal swimmers must hone their technique and find the ways of making themselves as fast as possible. In competitive swimming it is usually a very short winning time margins that often requires the help of advanced technology to determine the time difference between the winner and loser. And ways that swimmers and coaches alike have found to be useful in reducing time is wearing fast suits (By Vasant R. Kothari, Assistant Professor, Department of Fashion Technology, NIFT, Bangalore, Neha Goyal & Megha Sheoran, MFTech, NIFT, Bangalore)
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