Well, the suits work. Whether it's enough to get the Canadian men's 400-metre medley relay team into the Olympics is a question that will remain open until June.

The national foursome of Joe Bartoch, Joel Greenshields, Jake Tapp and Mathieu Bois pulled on the new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits on Sunday at the CN Swimming Trials in Montreal and promptly knocked almost three seconds off the previous national mark.

From left: Joel Greenshields, Joe Bartoch, Mathieu Bois and Jake Tapp show off their new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits following the men's 400-metre medley at the CN Swimming Trials on Sunday in Montreal.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

These super suits, which fit full length, have been responsible for swim records falling all over the world since they were officially introduced in February.

Individual athletes were not allowed to use them at the Montreal Olympic qualifier because there weren't enough suits available for everyone.

But the national relay teams were another matter.

"You feel like a race car, it's just unbelievable," said Bartoch, a butterfly specialist, after Sunday's effort. "It doesn't compare to anything else."

Canada's time of three minutes, 37.94 seconds should, the swimmers hope, be fast enough to get into the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when compared to the marks set by other country's foursomes, but the final list won't be compiled for two months.

Meanwhile, Canada has qualified 27 swimmers for the Olympics and 20 more for the Paralympic squad after a successful week in the pool.