Grow Mineral Project By: Jack Curran

Grow Project Question What tech swim suits cause the least amount of drag and what types of drag does your body encounter while swimming.

What materials are in tech suits Tech suits are made of polyamide, elastin, and silver.

Drag while swimming The ideal swimsuit minimizes the amount of drag created by the water as the swimmer moves through it. Drag is made up of several components including form drag (The drag created by the shape of our body), and skin friction (the resistance of the water against the surface of the body). Smooth, streamlined, narrow shapes create less form drag than bulky, angular, thick shapes.

Ways to reduce drag Swimsuits that cover most of the body, reduce both form drag and skin friction. but they require two different kinds of material. The low-friction material is extremely lightweight, while it takes slightly thicker material to compress and smooth out the body's angles and curves. The suit also has to allow the swimmer to have maximum control of his or her limbs, so it can't restrict muscle movement.

The three types of material used in tech suits Lycra fabric Polyester Nylon fibers

Lycra fabric Lycra fabric (also known as Spandex) is a term commonly used to describe material made from a blend of Spandex fibers and other fibers. Spandex is an elastic polyurethane fiber, invented in 1959 by DuPont chemists. Generally Lycra suits do not have the longest lifespan. Frequent swimmers generally get up to six months of suit life, depending on Lycra quality. A newer variation of Lycra. known to the swimsuit industry as Extra Life Lycra, provides additional durability and suit life and is reported to be up to 10 times more durable

Polyester Polyester swimsuit material provides an excellent alternative to Lycra, lasting through years of steady use if cared for properly. Solid polyester suits are not as comfortable as Lycra swimwear; poly material is less soft and lacks Lycra’s expansive stretch. However, you will absolutely get your money’s worth from Polyester swimwear. Polyester appears under many different names in the competitive and fitness swimwear market: Speedo Endurance, TYR Durafast, and Dolfin Chloroban are all 100% polyester fabric. Chloroban has the additional benefits of being long lasting, comfortable, stretchy, and even has a 50+ Ultraviolet Protection Factor rating.

Nylon fibers Nylon fibers make up the majority of most non-polyester swimwear. Even though Nylon is lightweight, it remains one of the strongest manufactured fibers and offers a smooth fit. Nylon absorbs little water and dries very quickly. Some drawbacks to Nylon are its reduced ability to hold color and its lack of elasticity. If your considering a good drag suit for warm-up nylon is a good choice.

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