For swimmers looking to gain an edge on their competition, the notion that simply donning a high-tech swimsuit -- the surface of which was inspired by shark skin -- could lead to a first-place finish is powerful. It’s also one that’s almost completely misplaced, said George Lauder, the Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Ichthyology. Experiments conducted in Lauder’s lab and described in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology reveal that, while sharks’ sandpaperlike skin does allow the animals to swim faster and more efficiently, the surface of swimsuits such as the Speedo Fastskin II has no effect when it comes to reducing drag as swimmers move through the water. “In fact, it’s nothing like shark skin at all,” Lauder said of such swimsuit material. “What we have shown conclusively is that the surface properties themselves, which the manufacturer has in the past claimed to be biomimetic, don’t do anything for propulsion.”