Manufacturers advertise that bodysuits enhance the performance of competitive swimmers.
That claim has yet to be verified in a public forum. Support for bodysuits has largely come from swimmers and coaches paid by manufacturers. In practice, it seems that bodysuits do not live up to manufacturers' theoretical claims of benefit. However, there can be no doubt that some swimmers do benefit from wearing bodysuits, at least those that extend from neck to knee. It is proposed that the benefit is caused by a mechanical effect that was not contemplated by the manufacturers or their scientific theorists.