Aside from watching superstar athletes like Simone Biles and LeBron James kill it during their respective competitions, part of the fun of watching the Olympics is seeing all their outfits and uniforms in action. Sure, it’s no Met Gala, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the technology and 🤌craftsmanship🤌 that goes into each team’s uniforms, ’kay? Case in point: GK Elite bought around 90 million Swarovski crystals for their gymnastics leotard designs in the past year, and it takes up to two years to make custom designs for the Olympics. For some sports like gymnastics, the athlete’s overall look contributes to scoring on top of their performance. So, yeah, don’t let anybody tell you life isn’t a fashion show because sometimes—even at the Olympics—it is.
That being said! Each sport and competition has different rules and regulations they follow, and ICYMI, swimmers aren’t allowed to wear full-body swimsuits. At least, they haven’t worn them since they were banned in 2010. Since every group chat needs an ~expert~, allow us to break down the full-body swimsuit ban at the Olympics for ya.
When did Olympic swimmers start wearing full-body swimsuits?
Technically, swimmers started rocking full-body suits when the “bodysuit revolution” popped off during the 1996 Olympics. Swimmers swapped traditional one-piece swimsuits for neck-to-knee suits, which we’ve mostly seen over the years. By the 2000 Sydney Olympics, more athletes started wearing suits that covered most of their arms and legs.
At this point, World Aquatics—which administers international competitions in water sports, BTW—hadn’t banned the suits. Per NBC, most of the gold medalists at the 2004 Olympics wore the Fastskin full-body suit from Speedo. By the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the famous swimwear brand eventually introduced the LZR Racer suit, which was made with all-new materials.
So why are full-body swimsuits banned at the Olympics?
The fact that the LZR Racer suit covered more body parts wasn’t really an issue—it was the material they were made of. According to USA Today, they were made of 50 percent polyurethane, a material that helped “increase swimmers’ buoyancy and speed” and gave them an unfair advantage. When the suits were put on the market in 2008, they reportedly led to 200 world records. During the 2008 Olympics, Michael Phelps set seven world records alone (!!!) while wearing the suit.
In 2009, World Aquatics (formerly known as FINA), banned the worldwide use of polyurethane and neoprene suits during swimming competitions—including the Olympics. The ban went into effect on January 1, 2010, which is why we don’t really see athletes wearing full-body suits anymore. The more you know!
