Lilly King of United States wearing her US TYR swimsuit before the women's 100m breatstroke semifinal on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty
Lilly King of United States wearing her US TYR swimsuit before the women's 100m breatstroke semifinal on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty
A detail on the US women's Olympic swim team's uniform has raised eyebrows for all the wrong reasons.
The questionable feature was criticised in a viral TikTok video uploaded following day three of the Tokyo Olympics.
The US woman who runs the channel middleskoolteach roasted TYR – the company behindthe uniform – for "doing the athletes dirty".
She argued the dark shading around the bottom half of the uniform had the effect of the women wearing "an unremovable fanny pack".
Allison Schmitt of Team United States prepares to compete in the Women's 200m Freestyle semifinal wearing her TYR swimsuit. Photo / Getty
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She captioned the video claiming she would "not rest until these women get the justice they deserve".
Many others agreed the design of the suits was "bizarre", with some saying it had distracted them from the swimming event they were competing in.
"I agree. I was so distracted by the weird pattern that I missed most of what was going on," one person wrote in a comment.
"I like the design but the placement is all kinds of wrong," another added.
Katie Ledecky, of Team United States, reacts before the women's 200m freestyle semifinal on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty
"That is just horrible design work. It should have never made it past the concept phase," a third wrote.
Others pointed out the darker coloured area was functional as it worked to protect the modesty of the swimmers, and argued most swimming tech suits had a similar feature.
"If that's the best privacy panel they could come up with, they should stop designing. Do better TYR," one person wrote.
Lilly King of United States reacts before the semifinals women's 100m breaststroke on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Photo / Getty
"Like yeah it's a privacy panel, but could they not have made the whole thing that colour?" another said.
The uniforms haven't affected the athletes' performances in the pool, with 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby claiming gold in day four's 100m breaststroke final.
