So, Nike Doesn't Rule the (Swimming) World

A coup is when the establishment is overthrown. And while Nike isn't the establishment in the water, it is the "man" when it comes to athletic gear around the world.

So when Nike says that its sponsored swimming athletes can wear Speedo's nifty little LZR fastskin suit, then I'm going to call it a coup.

If you don't remember what the LZR suit is, this little blog post from The Science of Sport for when the suit was first crashed the swimming party sums it up.

Now a lot of hoopla was made for when the suit started breaking world records at a breakneck pace. Specifically, countries who are not sponsored by Speedo and swimmers no sponsored by the world's largest swim wear manufacturer were not going to be at a disadvantage even before the athlete stepped into the pool.

After the results seen at the European championships, countries started to switch from the Swoosh to the Boomerang.

My guess, Nike is allowing its athletes to wear the suits because they don't wanna lose sponsorships. And even though these swimmers will being wearing their Nike caps, everyone will still remember what they're wearing in the water.

And that's probably the biggest statement of all. Speedo has outdone Nike. And it doesn't matter what the logo is on the podium, because Speedo had something to do with an athletes success in this year's Olympic Games.