As featured on SwimSwam

Swimmers are some of the hardest working athletes on the planet. We work our butts off every day, often twice a day, to drop time, sometimes merely tenths or hundredths of a second. This sport is getting faster every day, and hundredths of a second matter. What will make the difference?

We all know that tech suits are not magic. They don’t possess super powers that turn average swimmers into superstars. At the end of the day, athletes put in the work to achieve their own greatness. But when your best goes up against your competitor’s best, a great tech suit can be the competitive edge you need to hit the wall first.

A3 Performance spent nearly three years developing VICI, a tech suit that makes the difference. With VICI, the primary focus has always been creating a technical racing suit that is fast, that is innovative, and that gives athletes that coveted competitive edge.

Now hold on! Before you click off the page and write this article off as a paid advertisement, hear us out. We have spent years building a tech suit that makes an impact. We are incredibly excited about VICI and the feedback we have received from our teams, and we want to share the good news with you! You can see for yourself why VICI is the most technologically-advanced racing suit in the world…

One of the most important elements of a tech suit is that it is fast. Like we said before, it’s the athlete in the suit that makes it happen, but swimsuits can be fast, and they can help make it happen. In the development stages, VICI’s fabric was tested against the latest tech suits from swimming’s top brands, and VICI came out on top! 

What does it mean when we say that VICI’s fabric tested faster? When the fabrics are stretched over a vessel, and equal force is applied to that vessel, VICI goes farther faster than any other tech suit fabric. You can see the testing protocol here.

Finding the right fabric is so important for tech suit development. There are so many performance fabrics already in existence, so it’s very easy to find a decent fabric that can be functional in a technical racing suit. However, many of these fabrics are created for different purposes or different sports. When A3 Performance started developing VICI, a pre-made fabric simply wasn’t good enough. A3 collaborated with a fabric specialist to take one of the fastest fabrics and make it even better by incorporating BODIMAX Technology. VICI’s fabric was created specifically for competitive swimming and no other racing suit in the world has this technology.

BODIMAX Technology is proven to support muscle recovery by improving oxygen flow and decreasing lactic acid buildup in the muscles. The BODIMAX Technology in VICI's fabric improves athlete circulation which further prolongs the onset of lactic acid buildup and facilitates a speedier recovery for athletes. This technology can have a significant impact on athletes as they prepare to race. In fact, according to a scientific study done by Dr. Genadijus Sokolovas and Global Sport Technology, Inc., swimmers who trained with the BODIMAX Sleeves improved 1.5 seconds more over 200 yards. Imagine the sort of impact that technology has when it covers a majority of the body! 

The fabric itself is already fast, but A3 Performance makes it even faster with their Fastwater Surface Treatment. Fastwater is a patented polymer (which is a fancy word for scientific compound) that induces water flow and reduces resistance across the surface of the suit.

Equally as impactful as the surface is what’s underneath the surface, VICI’s Core Compression System. The Core Compression System is structured to compress the three main areas of resistance: chest, core, and hips/legs. The internal structure compresses the core muscles while also allowing for more natural movement and reducing resistance.

In addition to these features already listed, A3 Performance has made multiple other advancements in order to make every swimmer’s VICI racing experience an awesome one. The Pro Flex Straps relieve tension on the shoulders and provide a secure, comfortable fit. The Female Powerback was improved to provide greater compression across the core and lats and to fit more ladies better. The Male Jammer has a higher waistline in the back of the suit to fully compress those big muscles in the back. Last, but certainly not least, A3 uses a one-way stretch fabric down the back of the suit to create a compressive fit that allows for stretch and a maximum range of motion on starts, turns, and every stroke in between.

  

#a3VICI #ITTC