If you’re looking to name a swimsuit company and you love cars, you’d better speak French because “Crankshaft” swim shorts could have a variety of meanings, whereas the French word for crankshaft, “Vilebrequin”, is far more sophisticated. The founders of this company have a penchant for automobiles, hence the name.  These shorts are made from spinnaker canvas, meaning they are durable, quick drying, and resistant to sun fading.  A variety of colors and patterns, in fact they are famous for multiple colors used on each print.   Each pair comes with a waterproof case for money etc in the pocket, and a spinnaker cloth bag for the shorts. Rugged enough to last. (Thanks to Dill) $235 BUY

Speedo’s LZR is causing quite brouhaha in the swimming world. In the last six weeks, it has been worn in 16 record breaking swims. In fact, Speedo is now advertising – “World Records Being Broken Daily” with the suit. In designing the suit, Speedo borrowed wind tunnels from NASA to analyze surface friction of over 60 types of fabric, and performed 3D bodyscans of over 400 elite athletes to get the fit right. It even has ultrasonically welded bonded seams. Michael Phelps described the feeling of wearing it as, “like a rocket…unreal.” We’ve never described any clothing that way. For the price there should be an outboard engine on the back of it. £320.00. PRE-ORDER