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Speed outfit attacked by swim chief
BY ANTHONY MITCHELL
A SWIMMING suit developed at a cost of millions of pounds and said to shave three per cent off race times has plunged its manufacturers into a row with Olympic officials, it emerged last night.
The makers of the revolutionary head-to-foot Fastskin outfit - which they claim is just like shark skin - predict world records will tumble.
Speedo, which spent four years designing the suit, worked with fish experts from the Natural History Museum on the fabric. Tiny ridges on the deadly predator's skin effectively allow it to push water across the surface with minimal resistance.
The ridges - called Dermal denticle - have been reproduced in the swimsuit, which will be made at the company's headquarters in Nottingham.
"This will give swimmers a head start," said Speedo president Joe Fields. "The size and shape of a shark means it should be dead in the water, but it is in fact one of the fastest things in the sea. That is down to the way its skin has evolved over the past 400 million years - we have mimicked that in just four years."
But Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates warned that swimmers could be stripped of their titles if they wear the new suits. Mr Coates believes gold medallists could face legal action by other swimmers using traditional swimwear.
However, Speedo says the suits are approved by the sport's governing body, the Federation International de Natation Amateur. Despite this, Mr Coates has twice written to FINA urging them to reconsider. Mr Fields stressed: "The suit is not a cheat."
THE GOB SAYS...
Interesting huh? I wonder what certain military applications are already developed, probably far surpassing this design?
