For dramatic impact it was hard to beat: former sweethearts-turned-sourhearts Laure Manaudou (FRA) and Luca Marin (ITA) at opposite ends of a stageful of stars launching the Arena Powerskin R-Evolution in a puff of smoke here in Eindhoven. The distance between them was filled with a wall of champions: Lazslo Cseh, Otylia Jedrzejczak, Yuri Prilukov. Filippo Magnini and Pawel Korzeniowski flanked the team at either side, perhaps ready to catch anyone tempted to escape the spotlights of a situation that must surely have been challenging for the Frenchwoman and her former Italian beau, acrimonious as their very public divorce was last summer.

The claims for the suit were taller than the swimmer, as is the trend in the battle of the bathers. Time will tell if its a question of smoke off the water or smoke and mirrors. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. The tally so far, Speedo LZR Racer, four world records, R-Evolution about to be put to the test as the championships get underway this morning. Arena's latest aquatic armour is black and features a futuristic matrix design on the chest and upper abdomen. The kind of thing Spiderman likes to wear at the weekend. Like the Speedo LZR Racer, it is is set aside from suits gone by as being among the first generation of suits that have no stitching at the seams. Rather, they are bonded, like welded panels on the Space Shuttle if you're in the NASA-assisted Speedo stable, and 'like Ferrrari or Ducati' if you're a member of the Italian-owned outfit, said Cristiano Portas, CEO of Arena.

If the 'lightest, smoothest, fastest' suit ever seen, lives up to Arena's billing, we might see Eamon Sullivan's 50m world record tumble: an impact of '54 hundredths of a second' on 50m freestyle is the difference that the R-Evolution makes, says the Italian suit maker. Of the two big sprinters sporting the R-Evolution at launch - both heading for a showdown with Sullivan, Stefan Nystrand (SWE) et al this summer - one will race in Eindhoven: Magnini. The other was Roland Schoeman, dashing through the Netherlands on his way from Arizona home to the South African Olympic trials in early April.

Schoeman, a sponsor's dream-come-true, was a fine ambassador for his suit and those who support him. There was no question, he said, that suit technology was having an impact and had played a part in Sullivan's record of 21.56, just as the R-Evolution would help him. How to quantify that was more difficult but the argument in the water was getting close to a point where the result would come down to who had the most money to put into technology that aids performance, said the sprinter.

It is not hard to see why he loves his new suit. It's sleek by design, just as you would expect of an Italian product. Put the R-Evolution on the blocks next to the LZR in Beijing, alongside new TYR apparel and the new adidas number, to be launched next month, and you have a cutting-edge image for the sport. And image - and the placebo effect of the swimmers feeling good and confident as they race - is the strongest claim for all the suits. The rest may be easy to quantify on a model in a lab but is impossible to quantify when eight good men and/or women line-up for battle. As Ben Titley, British coach, put it: 'It will come down to the swimmer in the suit not the suit on the swimmer.'

Schoeman echoed that sentiment. The South African former world champion and reigning relay Olympic champion recalled with fondness the days when Alexander Popov raced in arena briefs and his skin to some of the speediest times ever seen. He liked the idea of a Heritage Meet, where all competitors wore what Don Schollander had to wear (for example) - nylon briefs, no goggles - in conditions of old - walls not wash-over sides, no wave-breakers, and so forth. What a show that would be.

The showdown in Beijing is also something he's looking forward to. Schoeman believes that the latest wave of fast times comes down a number of factors, suits included, but psychology was the key: 'When Popov did 21.60 we all said 'wow' but its more a mental block than anything else. When a time like that is done people spend time talking about how impossible it is instead of focussing on how possible it is. There are lots of reasons why 21.60 is possible.' He did not think a 20.9 impossible to believe. When he had clocked 21.69 for the world title in 2005, he had 'stumbled upon' that performance. If the wold records of Sullivan in the 50m and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 100m should fall before Beijing - and they could come under threat here in Eindhoven - Schoeman said he would 'not sit at home crying'. He knew he was capable of going faster than he ever has, and criticism of how he races the 100m (sizzling first 85m before the price is paid) would change the moment he achieved what he had worked for: take it out in 22.4 and bring it home too ... if you want a low 47 you have to get out that fast, and 22.5 is not 'hard' for me. It's about how to improve those last 15m, the part where Pieter beat me.'

Asked how he rated the Dutchman's chances of winning an historic third 100m in Beijing, Schoeman smiled and said diplomatically: 'Pieter's a great athlete and I have immense respect for what he's achieved but as much as I'd like to see him do it, I would like to be the man there to pat him on the back and say 'this was my time'. And that time, he knows, may well have to be faster than ever. The likes of Nystrand and Sullivan had shown that you 'don't need to put in vast distances in the pool in training...'. So had Popov and Gennadi Touretski got it wrong? 'No,' said Schoeman, with a nod to the long hours of easy speed that the Sprint Tsar had put in. 'That worked well for him'. It was important to find the right balance to suit the particular athlete, he said. He had tried what had worked for Gary Hall Jr and Anthony Ervin, with dreadful results. It was about finding the magic that worked for you in particular. 'If I could find that magic and bottle it, I'd be a billionaire.'

Schoeman saw no room for diplomacy on other issues. A strong advocate for human rights, he deplored what was unfolding in Tibet and believed that the IOC should not hide behind a veil of 'sport and politics don't mix'. The fact is, he noted, that politicians make their way to sport because it makes them more powerful political players. Talk of boycott ought to be condemned, however, said Schoeman. The time for intervention should have been in 2001, when China won the right to stage the Olympic Games. Action now would only hurt the athletes and coaches and others who have worked hard for the ultimate sporting moment, just as it had back in 1980 and 1984. As Tracy Caulkins once noted, Soviet soldiers were still in Afghanistan nine years after she sat home and watched what should have been her Olympic debut go without her in Moscow. What a waste.

The morning finals were what they were and he would be doing all he could to make sure that he was ready when he had to race, though he repeated his view that NBC should never been allowed by the IOC to rob the sport of its tradition and turn things on their head for the sake of a domestic TV audience and advertising profits. (And before I get another round of mails from a small party of American readers who like to note the value of the dollar in all things, save your keystrokes: there were other bidders for the broadcast rights, and all of them offered substantial amounts of money without calling for a shift in the shape of the sport).

The trials in South Africa will feature all four of the awesome foursome from the 4x100m freestyle in Athens. Schoeman made no secret of the fact that he would like to stand up in Beijing with that same team about him. It may happen: Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend had both out in sharp times of late, while Ryk Neethling was over his shoulder injury and coming good when it counted.