Engineered
Competitive
SWIMSUITS
(Part - 3)
4. Diana Swimwear 2008
The Submarine Shining Arrow is the 4th generation of
the Submarine range and the result of 100 per cent
Italian project: Research and product development,
materials and production are all made in Italy. It is
first swimming bodysuit with no seams and
manufactured with thermo fusion technology and with
cold plasma treated fabric.
4.1: Fabric
New fabric SPF (Stretch Polimix Fabric) has been
realised in full compliance of new Fina rules, the fabric
is made by a polyurethane elastic yarn. The advantages
are obvious in terms of water slides and compression.
For the first time in the world Diana has created a
competition swimsuit using a hydrophobic fabric while
the interior has a water repellent treatment. Vega
Submarines have been created assembling only two
pieces of fabric, which is strong reduction of dynamic
friction and consequently a better water slide.
4.2: Muscle compression
Fixed in strategic positions the Glass-Tex fabric
enhance the muscular compression that decrease
the athlete lactic acid production for better
performances. In order to increase compression there
is a double layer of fabric in the part under chest.
4.3: Better balance
Primary importance has been given to the balance of
the swimmer, at its centre of mass position and its
freedom of movement using the Thermo fusion
technology that allows the assemblage of the suit
eliminating the use of seams. This gives the perfect
fit at crotch area thanks to inguinal seams.
The Diana Submarine competition suit series, takes
advantage from the research and the technology of
submarines, in the phase of silent propulsion, thanks
to the co-efficient of penetration in water and to the
special slipperiness of their hulls.
4.4: Thermo-fusion technical specifications
The new Submarine series is manufactured with the
new Plasma Super Slick fabric with more than three
years of studies and tests. This Plasma Super Slick
fabric is treated with a reactive procedure with Cold
42 APPAREL VIEWS / DECEMBER 2010
Plasma through radio frequency that permits the
alteration of the superficial feature of the fabric,
rendering it more waterproof and smooth.
The process consists in the ionization of gaseous
products, in a vacuum and to ambient temperature,
by radio frequency electric discharges. The original
chemical bonds of the fabric, placed in the process
room, are broken and a particular procedure makes
possible the change of the fabrics functional
properties, rendering it waterproof.
This Plasma Super Slick fabric, with a flat and linear
structure, also having a minimal thickness and
inimitable lightness compared to fabrics used by other
brands, is extremely compressed leaving an effective
force to the tension of the fabric.
By means of this pressure, adapted and differentiated
for every part of the body, a contoured levelling of the
bodily shapes is obtained, allowing the maximization
of the athletic effort.
Other substantial innovation of the new Submarine,
regards the assemblage of the fabric. The new
Submarines are manufactured with the exclusive
technology “Thermofusion,” that it consists in the
use of particular machinery, that concur, with one
complicated procedure, the fusion of two fabrics (with
the use of high temperature 180°C) eliminating
therefore the use of seams in the suits assembly.
In this way it comes completely eliminated the friction
generated by the seams, reducing enormously the
small vortices that prevent the normal sliding of the
water flows that lap the athlete’s body during the
swim.
With this new technology, comes the reduced
resistance to the advance of the suit surface and
increases the effectiveness of the performance.
Another technical feature on the new Submarine is
the employment of the “Silver Adhesive Film,” a
special film with a self-regulating tension, obtained
from the silver fibre, which prevents the action of
water penetration in the upper part of the suit,
diminishing therefore considerably the pressure
feeling on the shoulders during the stroke.
 Fig 16: Silver Adhesive Film

Fig 15: Doubled layer fabric in Diana swimsuit

5. Powerskin Xtreme by arenas

Powerskin Xtreme delivers higher speeds than any
other swimsuit available in the world when it was
launched. Its revolutionary fabric creates unsurpassed
gliding effect through the water, thanks to riblets of
Incredibly soft
the surface that trap microscopic water molecules,
creating a "water on water" effect.

Hydro-repellent
Incredibly fast

Top speed

Unbeatable
freedom of
Perfect muscle Improved
movement around
pressure sliding
the knee zone
Fig 19: Powerskin R-Evolution

Ultra-light
Fig 17: Powerskin by arenas
5.1: Arena X-Glide
Arena X-Glide is a swimsuit made of pure
polyurethane that causes a swimmer to slide through
water faster when swimming. 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 as he or
she moves through the water.
Fig 18: Powerskin X-Treme
5.2: Powerskin R-Evolution
It is the lightest and the smoothest racing swimsuit.
This is made possible by the incredible lightness of
the Exclusive Arena Stealth Fabric. 99/sqm delivering
a 50 per cent stronger muscle compression and
enhancing better body balancing and stability during
the swimming action.
• 99/SQM =the lightest fabric ever used in a top
competition suit
• Thermo-fused joins strategically placed
It delivers up to 20 per cent less drag than the
powerskin x-treme, due to the elimination of all seams
orthogonal to water flow. The revolutionary
construction with zero seams on the front enables
the swimmers to keep peak speed for a 24 per cent
longer time, delivering potential advantage of 54
hundredths of a second in a 50m free style
competition.

Powerskin Xtreme® exclusive “Balancing System,” • Ultra flat and waterproof zipper
obtained by using a second silver fabric, allows a perfect • One piece of fabric
muscle compression, while the special ergonomic
panels create unbeatable freedom of movement on • Zero Seams on the front
the knee zone. Three fabrics perfectly working together • 100 per cent stitch less Fig 19: Special coating on Arena R-Evolution +
to fulfil the top swimmers’ main needs.

APPAREL VIEWS / DECEMBER 2010 43

 Following are some swimwear fabrics which are used in competitive swimwear
Table 2: Swimsuit Fabrics
Name of the Fabric Composition Purpose
Streamline– High tech 87 per cent Polyester, 13 per cent Lycra Designed for speed
racing fabric Reduce drag by its water repellent resin stripes
Fabric is sleek and smooth
Speedline – chlorine 45 per cent Polyester/55 per cent PBT* Designed for endurance
resistant fabric Two way stretch but less than Lycra
Excellent chlorine resistance
Smooth, shiny and slides through the water
Not good for racing
Pacer – chlorine resistant fabric 53 per cent Polyester/47 per cent PBT* Designed for endurance
Two way stretch but less than Lycra
Excellent chlorine resistance
Smooth, shiny and slides through the water
Not good for racing
Lycra & Lycra based fabrics Lycra Shiny appearance and smooth to touch
Excellent stretch
Good for recreational swimmers

* Texturized polyester with natural stretch similar to spandex

Table 3: Summery of Competitive Swimsuit

Brand Swimsuit Fabric content Type of seams

Speedo LZR Polyamide micro fibres and elastane Ultrasonic welded, bonded seams
TYR Tracer A7 Neoprene, titanium alloy and polyester Flat seams
Adidas Jet concept bodysuit Lycra and silicone riblets Flat lock seams
Diana Submarine Plasma super stick fabric and silver fibres Thermo fusion technology
Nike Liftsuit Elastomer silicone, Nylon, Spandex Aligned with fluid flow
Arenas X-Glide Bio-rubber coating No stitching and no bonding in front

Conclusion
Engineered Swimsuit is believed to play an important role in swimmer’s performance. It is every swimmers dream to be the best, the sleekest, and the fastest.
Swimming is the sport of endurance, discipline and technique; swimmers rely on all of these resources and qualities to reach the goal of utmost importance – Speed!
In a nutshell, the objective of competitive swimming is to fight for the fastest possible personnel time. In order to achieve this all important goal swimmers must hone
their technique and find the ways of making themselves as fast as possible. In competitive swimming it is usually a very short winning time margins that often requires
the help of advanced technology to determine the time difference between the winner and loser. And ways that swimmers and coaches alike have found to be useful
in reducing time is wearing fast suits
(By Vasant R. Kothari, Assistant Professor, Department of Fashion Technology,
NIFT, Bangalore, Neha Goyal & Megha Sheoran, MFTech, NIFT, Bangalore)

44 APPAREL VIEWS / DECEMBER 2010