Performance-Enhancing Swimwear

Competitive sports are big business. There is a lot of research that goes in to improving performance and creating equipment that aids the success of the athlete. Just look at how much technology and consideration can go into a seemingly simple golf ball:

It was no surprise to me when I read this week’s article about Speedo creating swimsuits to enhance performance. I am also not surprised that the full-body LZR suit famously used in the 2008 Summer Olympics is no longer allowed. Most people agree that steroid use in sports is not an acceptable practice, but swim suits aren’t the same thing as drugs. Does an intelligently-designed swimsuit really count as cheating?

This argument reminds me of something I learned about in high school that raises a similar question. I vaguely remember a lesson in Sports Medicine about illegal performance enhancing. We covered a number of topics, such as different types of steroids, but one method got me thinking. We learned about blood doping, which is a process used to increase the number of red blood cells in the blood steam. Since red blood cells carry oxygen, having a higher number of them increases the athletes aerobic capabilities by increasing the volume of oxygen in the blood. While this can be done using drugs, such as Erythropoietin and hypoxia-inducible factor stabilizer, it can also be done with blood transfusions. Blood transfusions for blood doping involve collecting red blood cells from the athlete several weeks ahead of a competition. The red blood cells are separated from the plasma as it is being collected, and since the plasma is not needed for the process, it is immediately put back in the athlete’s body. The collected red blood cells are frozen to preserve them, and are then injected into the athlete up to a week before their competition.

Because no chemicals are involved, and the “substance” being used is the athlete’s own blood, is it really considered cheating? When it is viewed in that manner, the answer is debatable. However, when we look at the results of blood doping, the answer is clear. Anything that gives someone an unfair advantage over their competitors corrupts the integrity of the competition, regardless of what method. So by that definition, the LZR suit, as well as the more recent Fastskin 3 system, would be considered an unfair performance enhancer. Unless everyone in the competition is wearing the same performance-enhancing swimwear, it should not be allowed to influence the outcome.




Works Cited
"Blood Doping." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
"Blood Doping." World Anti-Doping Agency. N.p., 01 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
Bryner, Jeanna. "What Is Blood Doping?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 03 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
Bryner, Jennifer. "What Is Blood Doping?" What Is Blood Doping? Live Science, 03 Jan. 2013. Web.
McMillen, Matt. "Blood Doping: Types, Risks, and Tests." WebMD. WebMD, 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.