The story of the Speedo swimwear

Few people know that ‘Speedo’, the iconic sportswear brand, is linked to the Scottish West coast village of Applecross.

The connection is a young man called Alexander MacRae, who was raised in Achintraid in Kishorn – part of the old Applecross parish – and emigrated to Australia in 1910. There, after humble beginnings as a milk man, he founded MacRae Hosiery Manufacturers near Bondi Beach, originally manufacturing underwear under the slogan 'Fortitude' from the MacRae’s crest.

Branching out into socks for the Australian army during WW1 allowed the company to develop and in 1927, the MacRae knitting mills moved into swimwear and launched the 'racer-back', a revolutionary design with a high narrow back panel for silk and cotton swimsuits. A competition to name the new design was held among the staff, and with the winning caption 'speed on in your speedos', the Speedo brand was born.

The company was renamed ‘Speedo knitting mills’ and its swimwear design which allowed greater motion of the shoulder in water was quickly adopted by competitive swimmers. Today, Speedo still produce innovative designs such the ‘fastkin’ swimsuit used by Olympic athletes alongside a wide range of sportwear.

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