American Olympic medalists Amanda Beard, left, Natalie Coughlin, right, and Michael Phelps pose in the high-tech Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits worn at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

“Which was making the athletes’ hydrodynamics much superior [than] with previous suits," Caine says. "And you could see that in the times that were set and the number of world records that were falling.”

This ignited a debate over what Caine calls "technological doping," that materials - like those in the swimsuit - give the 'haves' an unfair advantage over the 'have-nots.' The governing body for swimming later banned the special suits from competition.

“Of course if you have technology dominating, or if you have a technology that’s limited to richer nations, then the ethos of fair competition comes into question,” Caine says.

Boosting performance

While the full body swimsuits made a big splash in Beijing, new equipment won’t be as visible in London. Most of the technological innovations boosting athletic performance are more evident during the training process.

“For monitoring and feedback between the coach and the athletes," Caine says. "We’ve seen a huge amount of advance in miniaturization of sensors, in wireless technologies, in the way athletes communicate with their performance teams, in the way we monitor an athlete’s recovery from a training program, in the way we look at their nutritional status and make changes to what they are eating and drinking and so on.”