After double Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima set a 200m breaststroke world record in an LZR, the Japanese swimming federation relaxed rules requiring national team members to stick to products from domestic manufacturers at the Games.

Kitajima has said he will wear the Speedo in Beijing.

Nike has given some of its swimmers, including Peirsol and breaststroker Brendan Hansen, permission to wear a Speedo at the US trials.

Even that is a mixed blessing, said Hansen, who has declined to say which suit he would wear before the fact.

"Unfortunately, I've tried on every single suit, which I don't think is so good going into a meet," he said. "I'm going to go with what I feel comfortable in."

Other manufacturers have raced to come up with competitive technology.

Earlier this month swimming's world governing body FINA approved Arena's new Powerskin R-Revolution+.

But there may be no competing with the buzz surrounding the LZR in swimmers' minds.

"I know how important it is, the mental aspect of this sport, when you get up to the blocks how important it is to be confident in what you're wearing," Hansen said. "If you feel at any point that you are inferior to somebody else that you're racing against, you've already lost before you start."

That could prove deadly for some swimmers, he said.

"If they're forced to wear a suit that they feel they're not fastest in, then it will affect their performance," he said.

Stu Isaac, vice president of team sales and marketing for Speedo, said the company was making the suit available to any swimmer at the US trials who wanted to wear it. They brought a supply of 2,500 to Omaha.

The company plans to do the same in Beijing, providing the suits - which will eventually sell for up to $550 dollars depending on the style - for free.

"We feel it's a good investment," Isaac said.

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