Why Do Women Wear Skimpier Swimsuits in the Diving?
I was watching the Commonwealth games Diving today and it struck me how skimpy the swimsuits are in relation to the ones worn by the swimmers. Instead of going down to the knee, these swimsuits cover none of the leg at all.
Is there a reason for this and could the female divers wear the longer lengthed swimsuits if they wanted to?
The suits worn by elite swimmer are designed to serve a very specific function. As the goal of competitive swimming is to swim as fast as possible, the suits worn by elite swimmers allow the water to pass over the material with the minimum possible amount of resistance. In fact, water slides past these suits with less resistance that it moves over human skin. So, it makes sense for these suits to cover as much of the body as possible. Furthermore, these suits are also designed to compress muscles to limit extraneous twitching and contraction. This allows the swimmers to swim farther with less fatigue.
Diving, on the other hand, is a completely different sport. The divers are twisting and flipping and bending them selves into all kinds of crazy positions. They need their suits to allow them to do these things. As a competitive swimmer, I have worn plenty of speed suits in my day, and I can tell you that they significantly limit flexibility.
So… Divers wear small suits because:
They allow more flexibility
They don’t need the muscle compression that speed suits offer
They don’t care how fast they move through the water.
try http://www.fina.org I couldn’t fin an exact answer to your question than a link to approved swimsuits…in other words what types they are allowed to wear but not why don’t cover certain areas…Hope this helps
I think if they wanted to they could. Swimmers wear the longer bathing suits to reduce drag while divers do not need to worry about creating drag.