German gymnastics team, tired of 'sexualisation,' wears unitards at Tokyo Olympics

@jdeds The full body suits were banned because of like…fluid dynamics (I’m definitely not a physics expert but I’ll try to summarize as best I can). It did not have anything do to with sexualization or showing skin. The regulatory body voted to ban the suits since full body swimsuits give swimmers an “unfair advantage” by increasing their buoyancy so they have less drag. The full body suits would cover the entire leg. The suits that are still allowed cover the upper half of the leg and expose the arms.

But the new swimsuits took these measures a whole lot further. They were made from an extremely thin layer of foamlike material that enclosed tiny pockets of gas that made the swimmer wearing the suit to be far more buoyant. As a result, swimmers floated higher in the water and were subject to less drag. The suits in effect pushed water away from the swimmer’s body and were therefore dubbed hydrophobic.

The drag on the human body moving in water is around 780 times larger than the drag when moving in air, so there is considerable advantage to getting as much of the body above the water level as possible. These suits also made the body shape very smooth and hydrodynamic. Instead of the joint between a man’s body and the waist cord of his swimsuit adding extra drag, there was now a seamless, wrinkle-free, low-resistance outer shell skimming through the water. Tiny fibers on the surface of the suit could move to keep the shape streamlined and its texture smooth as the body shape changed through the stroke. Overall there was the possibility of an 8 percent reduction of drag on a swimmer. There are downsides, however. Putting on one of these thin-film polyurethane suits takes about half an hour, so you wouldn’t want to use one in every early-morning training session! And they don’t last long: you will need a new one after every few races, and they are not cheap, costing about $500 each in America.

The result of all of this was the erasure of outstanding world records by performances that were intrinsically inferior. Twenty new world records were set at the World Swimming Championships in Rome during July 2009 alone. Not all swimmers were wearing these suits at championships, though, and races were becoming manifestly unfair. Those who wore them were entering a technological arms race as different sponsoring companies tried to produce superior suits for their swimmers. Moreover, the sponsorship deals that top swimmers had entered into prevented them from switching to the best suit if it was made by a rival company.
 
@jdeds I don’t think these are really similar situations. People still wear swimsuits that cover the same amount of skin as the 08 ones but just normal material
 
@lovedaisies
My only thought is that some of the women do a few things on the beam that seem to involve a leg grip and this might be difficult to grip/easy to slip, or vice versa - could potentially be considered an advantage.

Ooh that's a interesting point, I didn't think about that!
 
@katie4469 The men switch between shorts and pants on different apparatuses because of this. On vault and floor they need to be able to grab their legs (if you pay attention before they get on the floor, they often chalk up the back of their legs). But the loose shorts they wear could catch a finger on pommel horse or parallel bars, so they’re in the pants for those.

Of course the solution here is to let the gymnasts wear shorts in competition, but it’s not allowed for some reason.
 
@katie4469 Honestly, speaking as someone who wears leotards and unitards on a regular basis (not a gymnast, but I practice aerials and leotards are just easier than tank tops), both full-length and short-length unitards suffer from the same fit issues. It’s just so hard to get a good fit on one of those that’s flattering and comfortable. In fact, the best unitards I’ve seen just look like a leotard and leggings because of all the extra seaming to make them fit perfectly. So far the unitards I’ve seen in competition (like Germany’s) seem to stay away from extra seaming, but you’ll really need it if you want to fit a variety of body types. I mean, so it’s possible that many more of the senior gymnasts have tried out unitards, but really aren’t happy with how they look or feel in them. Personally I prefer shorts over my leotards (even for performing), and I know many of the gymnasts practice that way, so there’s no good reason why they couldn’t wear that for competition.

Plus, I wore unitards a lot in high school for color guard, and we usually had on a base-layer full-length unitard on under the actual uniform that was so compressive it could be hard to move around in them. Think full-body spanx, and you could imagine how that would make it difficult to do gymnastics in them.

Really the big thing is how many young gymnasts drop out of the sport precisely because they’re not comfortable competing in a leotard. Normalizing a choice for a more conservative competition uniform at the lower levels is going to be far more important, but getting the elite gymnasts to start wearing those on the big stage will let that choice work its way down the levels.

I just have a lot of opinions on leotards and unitards.
 
@colindominic After watching skateboarding, it seems their outfits can be unique to what they are most comfortable skating in.

I think personal preference should be allowed and encouraged.
 
@zhivago In theory until you try to adjust to a buck and can't get your legs forward in time because they're sticky hahaha. It's not so bad, There's a couple different reasons why they're a bit too grippy for me only because of the discipline I ride, but other disciplines definitely benefit from a more sticky seat.
 
@tollens The only ones I've used are the Kerrits tights, and they're grippy. I don't treat them very well, so they'll de-stickify from washing and drying. I'm only do dressage though, and don't mind if they're a little extra.

As a side bar, I live in Arizona, the extra layer from a suede or leather is just Too Hot, and I refuse to even consider them.
 
@socalexile lol I'm from Canada and even there in the summer is too hot for traditional breech grips. Tbh I usually just ride in plain yoga pants but I do jumpers so I like to be able to get up and about when I need to.

A lot of people really like the silicone though and the pants have some really fun designs. I can see how washing would make them more slippy, that's actually probably a happy medium hey?
 
@acer621 Love it, they've been doing it for a while! Since worlds and domestic competitions in Germany. Before them, Jana El-Keky from Quatar has competed in Doha Worlds 2018 in a longer-legged leo. And for many years, Azerbaijan's Marina Nekrasova has chosed unitards like the German women wear to compete in international competitions.
 
@acer621 Glad to see this!

After this and the convo around beach volleyball I’ve been looking more closely at the men’s and women’s different clothes, and there really are few sports where men and women could not wear the same thing - usually something like shorts and a tshirt
 
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