A bodyskin is a style of competitive swimwear worn by both female and male athletes. Suits of this type provide full body coverage from the ankles to the neck and wrists, though some sleeveless designs also exist. Speedo also produces a bodysuit especially for the backstroke. Other variations of this are the Legskin and the Kneeskin.

The primary distinguishing feature is the material from which the bodyskin suit is made, technologically advanced lycra-based fabrics designed to hug the body tightly and provide increased speed and decreased drag resistance in the water.

As with most technologically advanced fabric swimwear, bodyskin suits are only commonly used at highly competitive levels of the swimming sport and are known to sell for prices in excess of €300. Most competitive swimwear manufacturers including the Speedo Fastskin line, Tyr, and Adidas have versions of a bodyskin suit.

Optimal Style

The optimal style for competitive swimmers is one that covers most of the body, like a full body suit with nothing but the head, hands, and feet left in the open. Often custom fit suits are more comfortable than "off-the-rack" suits. These swimsuits increase a swimmer's buoyancy and thus enhance swimming performance.

Panels extending from the underarm to the lower back and covering the gluteus maximus help channel water to reduce active drag, streamline movement and cut turbulence. The amount of water carried on the swimmer's back is reduced. Muscle compression components reduce muscle vibration and the seaming improves muscle coordination.

The bodyskin resembles the design of a diveskin, commonly used by snorkelers and scuba divers for warm weather climates. The primary distinguishing feature is the material from which the bodyskin suit is made, technologically advanced lycra-based fabrics designed to hug the body tightly and provide increased speed and decreased drag resistance in the water.

Ribbed panels channel water over a swimmer's back, reducing drag and increasing performance by up to 3%. JetConcept approaches the problem of drag by literally transforming the hydraulic characteristics of the human anatomy. With JetConcept, the swimmers body behaves a lot like an aircraft in flight. Ribbed panels, modelled after the grooves found on the wings and fuselage of airplanes channel water fluidly over the swimmers back, reducing both drag and turbulence.

Suits with ridges of stitching increase resistance and should be avoided. While the patterns look good and are supposed "to channel the water flow", because swimmers change postures so often in the phase of one stroke, they predominantly serve as added asperities that increase drag resistance by separating fluid flow.