To make the LZR, four innovations had to come together. The first is the fabric. The new suit is cut from a densely woven nylon-elastane material that compresses the wearer's body into a hydrodynamic shape but is extremely light. Moreover, there are no sewn seams. Instead, the suit is bonded by ultrasonic welding. Seams act as speed bumps in the water. Ultrasonic welding removes 6% of the drag that would otherwise occur, according to Jason Rance, the head of Aqualab, Speedo's research and development centre in Nottingham, Britain. Compared with Speedo's previous suit, which was used by numerous gold medallists in the 2004 Olympic games, the new material has half the weight yet triple the power to compress the body.
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11529388
