LZR Racer draws some competitive fire
The suit's design has been so good that it's drawn the ire of the competition, and even a lawsuit. But that's just fine by Sharp.
"I think it's pretty gratifying to work with a company that put so many resources behind development of an effective product and works so closely with athletes and coaches around the world. It's nice that the product then performs as well in competition as it did during all our hours of testing over the last few years," he said. "It's only natural that there's going to be some of that kind of concern that somebody has an unfair advantage, which is why Speedo ensures the suit is available to all who want it, in line with FINA guidelines. So I think Speedo would probably be happy because they're (its rivals are) doing the marketing for them.
"But I don't think it's the only suit you're going to see in the Olympics that has this design because the other companies are scrambling to get something out there and available that will compete favorably with this suit for their athletes that they sponsor," he added. "It's a tough challenge, however, as the team has spent over three years and worked with bodies like NASA and the AIS to get it to where it is today. That's literally 1000's of hours of R&D."
Just like the rest of the world, Sharp plans to watch the Beijing Olympic telecasts closely to see how the suit performs at the highest level of competition.
And after it's over, he's already started on his next project -- London 2012.
Iowa State University of Science and Technology
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.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "UBM China (Shanghai)")
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
