Speedo forces competitors to go with the flow

The space-age suit drastically reduces friction and is credited with triggering a slew of new world records since it was released in February this year. Yuki Tanaka, spokeswoman for Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, says he had to break rank with his sponsor Mizuno to stay ahead: "Kosuke wanted to wear the best suit possible for the Olympic Games and Mizuno understood his desire to wear the [Speedo LZR Racer] and allowed him to do that. He still has a contract with Mizuno." Kitajima’s decision was vindicated with Monday's gold medal in the 100m breaststroke, shaving 22 hundredths of a second in the process.

In Kitajima's case, Mizuno may have lost the battle, but they win the war, retaining sponsorship of an Olympic champion, rather than running the risk of him losing his title by insisting he toe the company line. "[For Mizuno] it is more important that he wins a gold medal," says Tanaka.

Kitajima's defection prompted Japanese swimming authorities to ditch their contract with Mizuno so their competitors could wear Speedo; Italian swimmers can break ranks with their federation's deal with Arena if they pay a fine.

Nike has also taken the unprecedented step of allowing their sponsored charges to wear the Speedo suit and will instead concentrate on branding opportunities on the swimmers' caps and footwear outside the pool.

"Swimmers will wear the suits that they feel most comfortable with in the Olympics. It's hard to say whether it is Speedo LZR Racer or not," Zhang Yadong, head coach of the Chinese national swimming team told Xinhua. "It is not that we are switching suits. We just agreed to allow swimmers to choose their own suits," Zhang said.