{{Unreferenced, date=August 2008
Aquapel is a technical racing
swimsuit
A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or List of water sports, water sports, such as swimming, Diving (sport), diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Di ...
designed by
Tyr Sport, Inc.
TYR Sport, Inc. is an American designer, developer and manufacturer of competitive swim and triathlon apparel and related specialized athletics gear. It shares ownership with Swimwear Anywhere.
Company history
TYR was founded in Huntington Beach, ...
It has a unique creation process that gives it a high-speed design, turbulence reduction and advanced compression biochemics. The suit fits snugly and uniformly across all parts of the body. The suit also sports strangely placed seams that together make-up what TYR calls hydrodynamic flow panels. These flow panels have been specially designed to reduce turbulence, and aid in the smooth control of water flow. In 2005, these suits ranged in price from roughly $55 for a racer to $220 for a
bodyskin
Competitive swimwear refers to the swimsuit, clothing, equipment, and accessories used in the aquatic sports of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, triathlon, and water polo.
Some swimsuits are designed specifically for swimming competi ...
.
Construction
Aquapel is constructed of a unique
Lycra
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US.
The g ...
blend. It is passed through a series of rollers, which flatten the material while still maintaining its original strength and recovery ability. Then it is heated, which sears the material, giving it its unique shiny finish. A hydrophobic solution is the applied to the finished material to reduce the chlorine and water absorption of the fabric. Combined, all of these applications help the suit reduce drag and micro-turbulence, while advancing the hydrodynamic principles of the suit.
Performance
The suits have been seen at the
2000 Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...