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The test was performed by a single subject in an indoor 25-yard pool while wearing a Nike brand swim brief, Aqua Sphere Caiman goggles and no swim cap.
The test went like this:
Swim a 700 warm up
Put on the first suit
Swim 100 easy
Swim 2×100 at race pace with 15 seconds between 100s. Record time, stroke count and heart rate for each 100.
Repeat for the second and third suits.
Perform the same procedure wearing a swim brief.
Take the third suit and perform the same procedure.
Do it again with the second and then the first suit. Swim again in briefs.
Some of the sources of error:
Only one swimmer
Only one trial
Swimmer effort level
Swimmer technique
Heart rate fluctuation
Swimmer fatigue
The test was conducted in fresh water but the race will be in salt water, which influences how the water interacts with the swimmer. This may change the suit’s influence on the swimmer.
Rather than performing all 4 100’s while wearing the swim brief between the swimskin trials, we decided to swim in the briefs at the end of each block of swimskin tests. This most likely put the briefs at a disadvantage when compared to the swimskins. If we only include the data from the 2 100’s swum between the swimskin trials, the difference in pace per 100 yards decreases from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds.
