Aquashift (or Aqua Shift) is a high-end technical

swimsuit A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types and styles may be worn ...

made by American swimwear company TYR which was released in early 2004. It incorporates years of research that TYR performed with the Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE), at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

. The suit sports the "Tripwire", a feature unique to TYR and the Aquashift suit, that reportedly reduces drag by a very large percentage. The suits are made of a blend of 74%

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

and 26%

Lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity (physics), elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont. Name The name ''spandex'', which ...

. The line of suits offers a bodyskin (minus arms) for both men and women, a kneeskin for men and women, and a regular women's suit. The price range for these suits is roughly $120 for a pair of jammers to about $380 for a

bodyskin Competitive swimwear refers to the swimsuit, clothing, equipment, and accessories used in the aquatic sports of swimming, diving, artistic swimming, triathlon, and water polo. Some swimsuits are designed specifically for swimming competitions ...

Tripwires

The tripwires or "turbulators" are placed at several spots along the length of the suit including the chest, where a set of four tripwires runs across the whole chest, the buttocks (where a single tripwire is placed), the shoulders, and, if a swimmer has an Aquashift

swim cap A swimming cap, swim cap or bathing cap, is a tightly fitted, skin-tight garment, commonly made from silicone, latex or lycra, worn on the head by recreational and competitive swimmers. Swim caps are worn for various reasons: they can be worn to ...

, there is a trip wire on his or her head. Normally water hits the head and shoulders and immediately breaks, creating

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

. However, with the addition of the tripwire, the water is forced to keep its flow consistent along the entire surface of the swimmer. The water flow is disrupted strategically so that it will break and reassemble, thereby keeping the flow stable across the entire body. The tripwires are made to be exactly congruent in height around the entire body, in an attempt to make them as effective as possible at disrupting the water flow. A patent is currently pending on the tripwires used in this suit. The suit was the co-invention of University at Buffalo professors Dr. David Pendergast, Dr. Joe Mollendorf, and Head Swimming Coach Budd Termin. The subjects for the study consisted of the men's and women's swimming team members at the University at Buffalo.

Science behind the suit

The research for the TYR Aquashift was done by the

, where it was supervised by senior professors of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

and

biomechanical engineering Biomechanical engineering, also considered a subfield of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, combines principles of physics (with a focus on mechanics), biology, and engineering. Topics of interest in this field include (experiment ...

. TYR worked with CRESE to design a highly effective hydrodynamic suit.

Wave drag In aeronautics, wave drag is a component of the aerodynamic drag In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding flu ...

is one of the forms of drag created by swimmers, the others being pressure drag and friction drag. Wave drag is created by every movement a swimmer makes in the water. The more wave drag is created, the more energy a swimmer must put out to make progress through the water. Therefore, anything that reduces wave drag will theoretically make it easier for a swimmer to swim faster. The Aquashift suit is claimed to reduce wave drag by as much as 53%, according to the research done by TYR. Their research also claims that the suit reduces drag overall by as much as 10% and pressure drag by 18%.

Performances

The TYR Aquashift suit is worn by all of TYR's sponsored athletes, including Ukrainian

Yana Klochkova Yana Oleksandrivna Klochkova (; born 7 August 1982) is a Ukrainian swimmer, who has won five Olympic medals in her career, with four of them being gold. She is Merited Master of Sports (1998),Vlaskov, A. Yana Klochkova Encyclopedia of Modern U ...

, Americans Erik Vendt, Peter Verhoef, and Bryce Hunt, and Slovakian Martina Moravcova. The Aquashift was the suit in which American record holder Erik Vendt set the new American record in the 1500m freestyle in 2008.

References

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External links

TYR Aquashift TechnologyLaminar Flow and ShavingSwimming World Magazine, News Releases
Clothing brands of the United States University at Buffalo