Try me Speedo Aquablade

"As a result of Aquablade's revolutionary striped fabric, the swimmer cuts through the water as if on rails."

A fish I have never been, so anything that could claim to increase my "glide time" by up to 200 per cent and my overall swimming speed by 8 per cent more than any other suit on the market had to be a good thing. It was time for me and the world's most technically advanced swimsuit to get together.

The Aquablade has been developed by Speedo International - the fabric sourced in Japan, fitted in Nottingham and tested in Germany - and will be worn at next month's Atlanta Olympic Games by the British team, along with 44 other national teams.

So to test it to the full, I decided to try it out against Martin Harris, a member of the British Atlanta '96 team, who trains at my local baths every morning.

Admittedly, he would be at a technical disadvantage. First, his stroke is backstroke (100 and 200 metres), and mine is breaststroke. Second, I had never yet seen him in the go-faster stripes. And, finally, he wears the skimpiest little bathing suit you have ever seen, thus relying heavily on human skin which, according to Speedo, is no match for the Aquablade.

But the first test was getting into the "hydrasuit". The Aquablade comes in five styles: the Olympic Back, Aquablade leg suit and hydrasuit for women; and the hydroshort and brief for men.

This is the second generation of fast suits. The first, also developed by Speedo and called the S2000, introduced the hydrasuit, which has a halter neck and a zip-up back. This claimed to lower the drag co-efficiency by covering more of the body and reducing air pockets, which in turn reduces resistance.

The Aquablade hydrasuit is similar but does up with a zip on the left- hand shoulder, which makes it more snug on the back and increases speed.

It is made of 80 per cent polyester and 20 per cent Elastene, and feels completely different from other Speedos - more rubbery. This is the "revolutionary striped fabric" that speeds water flow.

Apparently, Olympic swimmers go in for downsizing. This is nothing to do with giving up one income and moving to the country; it refers instead to wearing a smaller size than usual, which flattens the body and improves streamlining. Speedo decided that this would be a good idea for me and sent through a size 30 hydrasuit.

I am not particularly tall (1.68m), and weigh in at about 52kg, but I normally wear size 34 Speedos. This one looked like it might fit a doll. Still, I managed to squeeze myself into it, but doing it up was another matter. I am left-handed. The Aquablade has a complicated system of three hooks and eyes, with a zip to cover them. I could just manage the hooks and eyes, but the zip over the left shoulder defeated me. In the end I had to ask someone for help.

These technical hitches over, the Aquablade feels fabulous, hugging your body and making you believe that you will blade through the water. And once in the pool, it feels as though the water is sliding off the suit, literally like water off a duck's back. More impressively, as I was getting into the pool, one of the lifeguards remarked: "That's the new Speedo with the stripe that makes you go 10 per cent faster, isn't it?" I swear.

I had run a few previous tests on an ordinary Speedo suit and on a hydrasuit (though not the S2000), both of which gave me an average time of 1min 45sec up and down the 33-metre pool. So it was now time to put this one to my own personal test, before the Harris-Holliday trials.

I did some test lengths. It felt as if the revolutionary neckline might garrote me, but once I was used to it I did indeed feel like I was cutting through the water. In my trials, I did 1min 39sec, quicker by six seconds - about 6 per cent - which means I could knock nearly three minutes off a mile.

And Martin Harris? No competition.

The Speedo Aquablade Hydrasuit costs pounds 59.99 from leading sports shops.

KATHRYN HOLLIDAY