Effects of the Biomechanical Design of the Full Body Swimsuit on its Tensile Behavior in the Shoulder Area

Full body swimwear is one of the women's swimming suits. It has been designed based on full coverage as well as hijab. Swimwear has a great influence on the swimming speed and quality. Hence, it is important to study the design of swimwear according to the swimming biomechanical principles. The current study investigated the effect of the sleeve design of the full body swimwear on the tensile behavior in the swimmer’s shoulder area. Accordingly, two different full body swim suits with drop (or set-in) and raglan style sleeves in the size of 38 were designed and produced using a polyester/lycra knitted fabric. To investigate the tension variations induced by the hand movements during swimming, a metal yarn containing 80% stainless steel fibers was sewn in armpit and near the armhole seam. The sleeve extension and consequently, the swimmer's shoulder tension were measured by the metal yarn. The metal yarn functioned as a sensor in an electronic circuit, detecting the extension. The voltage difference between the two ends of the metal yarn was measured during the hand movement and converted to resistance. The results showed that the tension variation induced by the swimmer’s hand movements was lower for the raglan sleeve (0.26±0.031 ohm and 0.09±0.025 ohm), as compared to the drop one (0.35±0.034 ohm and 0.21±0.015 ohm), in both tested positions. Reducing the tension variation at the shoulder area of the full body swimsuit could increase the swimmer speed and freedom of action. This is the reason why the raglan sleeve could be used for most sport suits, including the full body swimsuit.