From Silk to Skins: A Short History of Swimwear Speed

Competitive swimwear moved from heavy wool to silk in the 1930s, to nylon in the 1950s, and to lycra in the 1970s, with each step cutting drag. In 2008 the polyurethane LZR Racer suit appeared, and swimmers wearing it took most of the medals and records at the Beijing Games.

The 2009 world championships in Rome saw dozens of world records fall in full body polyurethane suits. World Aquatics, then FINA, banned non textile suits from January 2010.

Records set in the suit era still dot the books, and textile era marks are often compared separately..