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Did the groundbreaking performance of American swimmers in the Summer Olympics — specifically Michael Phelps — affect the men's and women's programs at UW-Madison?

Yes, and dramatically so.

Team USA swimmers secured 31 medals in Beijing — 12 of which were gold, including a record eight by Phelps — but this isn't about how many, but how they were won.

The overwhelming majority of medal winners at the games, including Phelps, wore the radical LZR swimsuit pioneered by Speedo.

According to the Speedo Web site, LZR wearers set 23 of the 25 world records, won 94 percent of the gold medals and 89 percent of medals overall in China.

Now the suits — which cost $500 each and are designed to last only a handful of meets — are expected to debut at the NCAA level during the 2008-09 season.

Badgers men's and women's coach Eric Hansen is no fan of the suits but has had his athletes test them and sat down with UW Athletic Department officials to gauge the financial impact of adding the new technology.

"We have 60 kids," Hansen said. "Do the math."

To put that minimum $30,000 bump into perspective, the combined equipment tab for the men's and women's swimming teams in 2006-07 was $59,043.

John Jentz, the associate athletic director for finance, said discussions are ongoing about how to purchase the suits, who will be the supplier and what limits will be imposed but said "potentially" a major budget hit is looming.

The Badgers will focus on three meets next season — the Texas Invitational, the Big Ten Conference meet and the NCAA Championships — and Jentz said 30 swimmers typically compete for the Badgers.

While it's too soon to know how many team members will want to wear the new suits — Adidas, the contracted clothing and equipment supplier for UW-Madison, doesn't have a swimming line — "One way or another, we'll be wearing them," Jentz said.

Hansen not only expects the new suits to be used by other schools, he said the NCAA will adjust its qualifying times to reflect their use.

"This has been an epic change for our sport," he said. "The way it's done, the way it's financed, the way it's budgeted.

"It's sad from a purist standpoint because it was always who had the best training. Now it's not all about that. Now it's training and fit and there's more money involved.

"Everybody's not going to be able to do this."

The new suits fit tight to the body and, according to Hansen, serve as a hydrofoil of sorts for the competitor. Unlike traditional suits, when you drop one of the new ones in the pool, it floats.

"It's the difference between someone running the 100-meter dash with spikes on and someone running it barefoot," Hansen said.

Three months before Phelps broke the record for most gold medals in a single Olympics, Hansen expressed dismay that the LZR suits would play a significant role in that quest.

"The sad thing is, Phelps was set to take a run at all these world records without (the technology)," Hansen said in May. "Now it's going to be with this and it's just kind of tainted what he was ready to do, I think.

"He was fast enough to rewrite the record books on his own. To do it without all this new technology would certainly have been impressive."