PAMELA LEBLANC: FIT CITY

Austin company makes rocket-fast high-tech swimsuit

Former triathlete designed suit he says is faster than Speedo's LZR

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, January 12, 2009

Last summer, swimmers shot like torpedoes through the pool at Beijing's Water Cube, shattering 25 world records.

Nearly every swimmer with an Olympic gold medal around his or her neck was wearing a Speedo LZR Racer, a high-tech, long swimsuit fashioned of material that has less drag than human skin.

Coincidence? Hardly.

The new Speedo suit, and others like it, compress muscles, eliminate vibration and ever-so-slightly reduce the size of a swimmer's body to improve hydrodynamics.

Now another has entered the swimwear-making fray, manufacturing a suit it says is even faster than Speedo's. Unlike the LZR, though, the Rocket Skin made by Austin-based Rocket Science Sports has long sleeves, so it covers more of the body in that low-drag material.

FINA, the world governing body for competitive swimming, approved the sleek, super-stretchy Rocket Skin in September. It will hit swim shop shelves next month. After that, former Austinite and company founder Marcin Sochacki hopes you'll see it at the FINA World Championships in Rome in July and even at the London Olympics in 2012.

But the high-tech suits — those made by Speedo and other big names, along with a wave of new entries from companies like Rocket Science Sports and Blueseventy that previously focused on triathlon gear — are controversial.

Swimming purists say the high-dollar suits ruin the essence of the sport and give an unfair advantage to those who wear them. Some swimmers don two suits at once (a practice not permitted at the Olympics), creating pockets of air that help "float" them. And some argue that the suits themselves are a trifle buoyant.

Still, Sochacki and others say the "super" suits bring needed excitement and buzz to the sport. Swimmers are going faster than ever, drawing in fans. They also say it's natural for sports to incorporate changing technologies. Cyclists have adopted carbon fiber instead of aluminum bikes, for example, and tennis players use rackets with larger "sweet spots."

"If I tell you if you eat peanut butter before practice you will go faster, would you not do it?" Sochacki says. "And how many purists swim without goggles? When goggles were introduced, the number of world records broken went up."

Speedo has led the charge of change. It introduced the body-hugging Fastskin, made of material modeled after a shark's skin, in 2004. In 2008, Michael Phelps won his eight golds in the next generation, the LZR. Now many companies are fighting for market share.

"It's a race against time to see who can advance the technology faster," says Sochacki, 39, a former competitive swimmer and elite triathlete. He is heading to Switzerland in February to meet with FINA officials and other industry manufacturers to discuss the future of high-tech suits in competition swimming.

Sochacki, who was born in Poland and later moved to Austin, where he earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas, started designing triathlon equipment after his wife gave him a triathlon equipment bag as a gift. "I was like 'I can do better,' " he says.

He designed a bag with labeled pockets for the items needed in each stage of a triathlon — the swim, bike and run. The bags were a hit among friends, and he started Rocket Science Sports while still working as a product engineer in 2004. Since then, he has designed all kinds of gear for the Rocket Science Sports lineup, from aerodynamic water bottles to clothing to straps that hold timing chips. In 2006, he quit his job at Motorola to focus on the business. He moved to Shanghai a year ago to be closer to assembly plants in Asia.

The Rocket Skin was originally designed for use by triathletes in races that didn't allow wet suits. The suits are made of a blend of chloroprene, nylon and polyurethane that is hydrophobic — it can't be penetrated by water. The material has a more flexible backing than that used by Speedo. Because it's stretchy and moves with the body, it can cover more of the body, including the arms, and still not restrict the swimmer.

"It will improve your performance," Sochacki says.

Speedo's LZR is fashioned of panels of high-tech, hydrophobic material alongside panels of stretchy fabric, so the swimsuit as a whole is less flexible — and notoriously difficult to squeeze into.

Another difference? Price. Rocket Science sleeveless suits sell for about $300, compared with about $550 for a comparable Speedo LZR. Rocket Science's full-length suit with arms will sell for $399. (One square yard of Sochacki's material costs nearly $50.)

"I know there's a lot of controversy, and some people complain that it gives an unfair advantage," Sochacki says. "But if everyone can use similar technology, the playing field is even and no one has an advantage. \u2026 We're trying to make this technology available to everyone."

Sochacki says the Rocket Skin will be available in February at Lane Four swim shop in Austin and at swimoutlet.com.

Hector Inga, owner of Lane Four, says he expects to sell the swimsuit mainly to triathletes. "(Rocket Science's) suit is different," Inga says. "When you have the full body covered with material that is more water repellent than skin, you will have more of an advantage. Who knows — it might have a big impact. That remains to be seen."

National teams in the Netherlands and Hungary are testing Rocket Skins, and some Stanford University swimmers wore the suits during practice before a meet at Texas A&M University.

"The suit seems to be on par with others," says Stanford men's coach Ted Knapp. "The possible advantage would be the full arm coverage that is unique to any of the suits our guys have tried in the past."

At least one elite swimmer says he's already convinced it gives him the edge. Steuart Martens , 26, a former Purdue University swimmer who now competes in triathlons and long-distance open-water swims, is sponsored by Rocket Science Sports.

"When you're in the suit, it's like being fully shaved (a practice common before big meets)," says the Washington, D.C., swimmer. "You fly through the water."

As for the controversy, Martens doesn't think there's a problem.

"Everything's got to change," he says. "As long as people aren't using steroids, chemicals or drugs to get better, I don't have a problem with it. I have no quarrel with the suits, as long they don't have a rocket that shoots off them."

Maybe that's the next step.

pleblanc@statesman.com; 445-3994