NSC to buy latest bodysuits for gold pursuit in Laos

By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian swimmers will be donning the latest revolutionary swimwear in their bid to make a splash at the Laos SEA Games in December.

The National Sports Council (NSC) have made arrangements to get 10 pieces of the latest Arena X-Glide bodysuit for the swimmers who have the potential to challenge for gold medals in Laos.

Big boost: Malaysian swimmers will be donning the X-Glide, which was used by German Paul Biedermann during the world championships in July. — AP

At US$500 a piece, it will not come cheap.

The Arena X-Glide swimsuit is made of pure polyurethane which allows swimmers to glide through water faster.

The design of the suit covers basically the whole torso and the legs, thereby exposing less skin to the water.

This significantly reduces the drag a swimmer experiences when moving through the water.

The performance-enhancing high technology bodysuits have led to a spate of world records being broken at the Beijing Olympics last year and the World Championships in Rome in July.

It eventually led to the world aquatics body, FINA, banning the use of such record-breaking bodysuits from Jan 1 next year.

But the cost factor aside, whether it will help or hinder the movement of the swimmer wearing it is another thing.

National swimming coach Paul Birmingham said the bodysuits would work if they fitted the body size.

“It is harder for the Asian body size to get the right fitting,” he said.

“I understand that not everyone is going to have one as it depends on whether the swimmer is able to fit into it.

“It breaks easily because of the material used and it’s uncomfortable, very much like wearing a batsuit.

“Even getting into it can be a chore as it takes up to 40 minutes to suit up ... but it’s a different matter if the fitting suits them.”

A 20-member strong swimming squad will gather in Vientiane for the SEA Games this time but our gold medal hopes will revolve around Daniel Bego, Khoo Cai Lin and the US-based Siow Yi Ting.

The trio were the gold medallists from Korat two years ago and hopes are on them to come out tops again in their pet events.

In Korat, Daniel won the men’s 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly while Cai Lin made a big splash by romping to the women’s 400m and 800m freestyle gold medals.

Yi Ting only managed to secure the 200m individual medley gold as Malaysia garnered two other gold medals through Lew Yih Wey (women’s 200m backstroke) and Chui Lai Kwan (women’s 50m freestyle).