The optimal style for competitive swimmers is one that covers most of the body,
like a full body suit with nothing but the head, hands, and feet left in the open.
Often custom fit suits are more comfortable than "off-the-rack" suits.
These swimsuits increase a swimmer's buoyancy and thus enhance swimming performance.
Panels extending from the underarm to the lower back and covering the gluteus maximus help channel water to reduce active drag,
streamline movement and cut turbulence.
The amount of water carried on the swimmer's back is reduced.
Muscle compression components reduce muscle vibration and the seaming improves muscle coordination.
The bodyskin resembles the design of a diveskin, commonly used by snorkelers and scuba divers for warm weather climates.
The primary distinguishing feature is the material from which the bodyskin suit is made,
technologically advanced lycra-based fabrics designed to hug the body tightly
and provide increased speed and decreased drag resistance in the water.
Ribbed panels channel water over a swimmer's back, reducing drag and increasing performance by up to 3%.
JetConcept approaches the problem of drag by literally transforming the hydraulic characteristics of the human anatomy.
With JetConcept, the swimmers body behaves a lot like an aircraft in flight.
Ribbed panels, modelled after the grooves found on the wings and fuselage of airplanes channel water fluidly over the swimmers back, reducing both drag and turbulence.
Suits with ridges of stitching increase resistance and should be avoided.
While the patterns look good and are supposed "to channel the water flow",
because swimmers change postures so often in the phase of one stroke,
they predominantly serve as added asperities that increase drag resistance
by separating fluid flow unnecessarily.
