Flume attracts world interestIn his element...testing Speedo gear at the University of Otago's human performance centre flume yesterday. By Joanna NorrisA small body of water at the University of Otago is attracting international attention and swimming stars in slinky suits.Some of the world's top young swimmers have spent this week testing Speedo swimming costumes, goggles and hats at the university's swimming flume - a small pool of water in which strong currents can be created."We wanted to train using the flume because it's very accurate. It's the most up-to-date flume there is," Speedo competition product research and development manager Fiona Fairhurst, from Nottingham, England, said yesterday.Three swimmers from the Speedo stable, Americans Ed Moses, Michael Phelps and Gabrielle Rose, have been testing Speedo gear in the pool.University sports scientist David Pease said the pool was designed using the latest technologies, which is what attracted the overseas interest."We learnt from other flumes and so it's a lot more useful to test products," he said.International interest was good for the university's profile, but also provided useful cash, countering the $2 million cost of the pool, which has been operational since 1998.Mr Pease said the university was due to submit a tender to provide similar technology to a Chinese province which had expressed interest in the flume.The university was preparing the tender with Invercargill company E-Type Engineering."If we get it, it's big kudos for us," he said.The pool is used by about 300 people a year. It can be used for testing swimmers in different conditions, bio-mechanical analysis of swimming and other water sports and water exercise for certain medical conditions, as well as product development.The flume, which is 1.5m deep, 2.5m wide and 10m long, has a water temperature of 29degC.