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Charlie Barnett
English 1010
Dr. Sean George
9/29/15
Swimming and Styles
As a swimmer my coaches always told me that I needed to work harder
to swim faster. That has always been the required element for most things in
life. The more you put into something the more you get out of it. I was
introduced to many techniques and methods of exercise to improve my
times. Sometimes I had hours on end just practicing my strokes and turns.
Eventually, I began to use specific suits, googles, caps, and other materials
to help me swim faster, which was an important factor. I will be analyzing
the new Arena Freestyle Breather, the LOUD suit by Speedo, and the new
DURAFASTELITE suit by TYR. I find that these advertisements are very
appealing to the eye. They claim that it will help your performance as a
swimmer and make you stronger and faster. However, I think that these
products serve no greater purpose than the average suit that one uses, or
the style of breathing one already has. In fact, it may even damage useful

skills that one can develop as a swimmer.

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The first ad has a very unique way of showing how their product makes
one swim LOUD. This suit comes from the company Speedo, and they are
trying to sell their best Speedo suit. The ad is very appealing to look at. The
suits have vibrant colors, and even have built in drag suits. However, its
just another version of the same style of suit. Its trying to show the reader
that Speedo offers the best products to be able to train harder and swim
faster. This ad, as well as the other two, is very clever. The main image is of
Nathan Adrian, two-time Olympian, swimming in the water with his new suit.
He seems to be very calm and at ease as he is doing his workout of the day.
The whole background is water. It makes you feel like you are in the water
with Nathan! However, you cannot tell if he is in a pool or in open water,
which adds to the affect of the image. The main message of these suits,
LOUD, has the image centered in the word. Showing that Nathan Adrian is
training out loud as the text says at the bottom. The Speedo logo is shown
at the bottom right hand corner of the page with the website. There are also
several different photos of the style of the suits that Speedo offers.
Speedo uses a very clever design to capture the attention of the
reader. First, we see Nathan Adrian, who is a great swimmer, wearing the
Speedo suit. He is inside the word, LOUD, which is supported by the
phrase, train out loud. This shows the reader that the best swimmers in
the worlds are using this well designed suit. However, this isnt a great
reason to buy the suit. Some suits are designed specifically for racing, yet
others are for practice. Is the suit helping you win races? Based on history it

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is not. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, Jason Lezak was the anchor leg
for the 4 by 100 relay race. As he entered the water he was half a body
length behind in second place. How did he win the race? The video shows
that he had a stroke count less than half the strokes of the French swimmer
in the lane next to him. Nothing was mentioned of the suit Lezak chose to
wear that day, rather the technique he had. This text is using an Olympic
athlete to sell an average suit. The suit isnt the reason a swimmer wins his
races. However, since Nathan Adrian trains with it it will obviously help
every other swimmer train harder and drop time. As Bill Bryson says in his
essay The Hard Sell: Advertising in America, Truth has seldom been a
particularly visible feature of American Advertising. Just like the suits for
males, TYR has their advertisements for womens suits.
This second ad, like the first one, shows a clever image of a woman
training in a very specific suit. The company TYR has made many great suits
for swimming. The text says, 300+ hours of use. I have used many suits
that are not from TYR for well over 300 hours. What makes this suit so
special? Like the last advertisement we have analyzed, this ad shows us how
this specific suit will endure the necessary length required for proper
training. The main image of this advertisement is Megan Romano who was
the Gold medalist in the world championships. She is in the position of the
start of a backstroke race, showing the reader the suit in action. The
backdrop is shadowed, and we can see that there are bleachers which are
empty. The water and the swimmer are very colorful and they draw the

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attention of the reader. The strange part of the image is that she is doing
this start in the middle of the pool. The reader can see the starting blocks
underneath Megan Romano. She is also swimming in a building that
sponsors the company TYR as we can see their logo in the upper right hand
corner written on the wall. This shows the reader that Megan Romano is
saying, This is my house and my company. I swim here and they support
me. The text is located on the bottom left hand corner of the ad.
I love this ad! Its showing me the quality of the suit as the swimmer is
performing the act of a technical dive. It claims to be more durable, flexible,
and comfortable. To prove this, they have a world champion using their
product. This, once again, shows us that the best swimmers in the worlds
are using this product, therefore we will benefit from it. Once again, the suit
will not help you improve
your dive or technique.
Many people believe that if
they have the right suit
then they will swim as fast
as the Olympic swimmers.
Just like the last ad, this ad
shows off their suit by
using one of the best
swimmers in the world. It
may or may not be better

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than other suits, but the fact that Megan Romano is using this suit means
that it is the better choice. These first two advertisements have shown us
that suits are important in some way. No we will take a look at the
importance of breathing in swimming.
As this add shows, breathing is an essential part to swimming. Arena
is a company that also makes swimming materials. In this case we are
looking at the Freestyle Breather.

I feel that what Arena is trying to sell is

something that the average swimmer could use,
but it is a tool that could damage the habits of a
competitive swimmer. This ad is obviously trying
to sell to us that their product will help us breathe
more efficiently. The main image is of a man using
the Freestyle Breather. The man has a smile on
his face and his nose and mouth are completely
dry. The backdrop is only water. The swim cap
that the individual is wearing is also from the
brand Arena. The major phrase is written above
the head of the swimmer saying, Breathe freely, Enjoy Swimming, which
show that swimming is a fun thing now due to the Freestyle Breather. The
product is red, which directs the attention of the reader directly to the

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product. The logo and other phrases are located beneath the entire image,
forcing the reader to see the major phrase first, then the happy swimmer,
and finally how to use the product at the bottom. The image, once again, is
very clever. It shows the man smiling almost as if he were saying, Finally I
can breathe. It only shows his head running through the water
demonstrating the capability of the product being advertised. The reader
sees how this man is happy with his ability to breathe, therefore they also
want the freedom of breathing. This is a great thought, but I feel that it can
also hurt a swimmer. The flaw is that the swimmer would have to be on his
back in order for this to work. If your face is in the water, there is no way to
breath in the first place. Unlike the other two advertisements, I feel that this
advertisement is targeting the average lap swimmer. In a race these would
not be allowed, therefore a swimmer would not be in a natural breathing
routine at race time. Many people could enjoy swimming, as the phrase
states, with the Freestyle Breather. It is trying to sell us something that is
assumed to make you happy and fix your problems. As William Lutz
describes in his essay With These Words I Can Sell You Anything, Your only
defense against advertising (besides taking up permanent residence on the
moon) is to develop and use strong critical reading, listening, and looking
ability. We have to interpret what is really being sold, and if it will be of
benefit.
These advertisements are overall trying to spread a common good.
However, I do not think that the fact Nathan Adrian and Megan Romano use

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these suits means that it will make you a faster swimmer. The technique
that one uses is more important than the suit that they choose to wear on
race day. In all three of these ads there is a demonstration of a new choice
of suits/materials for all swimmers. I ask myself, Why do these three ads
say that their product will help us in some way to train harder? I think it
could help certain swimmers gain more confidence in themselves as they see
an Olympic athlete using the product being advertised. The intention is to
offer different materials to help any given individual improve their swimming
abilities. I find that these advertisements are very appealing to the eye.
They claim that it will help your performance as a swimmer and make you
stronger and faster. However, I think that these products serve no greater
purpose than the average suit that one uses, or the style of breathing one
already has. All swimmers really do have to work harder each day to see
good results. One of the reasons I improved as a swimmer was due to the
technique classes I received when I was younger, not only the selection of
suit choice. In my opinion, all suits are made to help swimmers in the water.
On any given day with any type of materials, you could be like Jason Lezak
and win the relay race for the United States of America in the Olympic
games.

Works Cited

Bryson, Bill. The Hard Sell: Advertising in America. Reading Pop Culture: A Portable
Anthology. Jeff Ousborne. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 133. Print.
DURAFASTELITE. Advertisement. Splash Magazine October 2014: VOL 22,
4. Print.

Freestyle Breather. Advertisement. Splash Magazine October 2014: VOL

22, 4. Print.

Loud. Advertisement. Splash Magazine October 2014: VOL 22, 4. Print.

Lutz, William. With These Words I Can Sell You Anything. Reading Pop Culture: A Portable
Anthology. Jeff Ousborne. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 69. Print.