Editing Wetsuit (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Smoothskin beavertail wetsuit.jpg|thumb|Woman wearing "smoothskin" wetsuit with "beavertail" and twistlock fasteners]]
{{See also|Diving suit}}
In 1952, [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] and subsequent [[UC San Diego]] [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography|SIO]] [[physicist]] [[Hugh Bradner]], who is considered to be the original inventor<ref name=sfc/> and "father of the modern wetsuit,"<ref name=sfc/> had the insight that a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as sufficient insulation was present in the fabric of the suit. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and gas bubbles in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. In the popular mind, the layer of water between skin and suit has been credited with providing the insulation, but Bradner clearly understood that the suit did not need to be wet because it was not the water that provided the insulation but rather the gas in the suit fabric.<ref name=sfc /><ref name=times /> He initially sent his ideas to Lauriston C. "Larry" Marshall who was involved in a U.S. Navy/National Research Council Panel on Underwater Swimmers.<ref name=Rainey /> However, it was [[Willard Bascom]], an engineer at the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] in [[La Jolla, California]], who suggested foamed neoprene as a feasible material to Bradner.<ref name=times/>

Bradner and Bascom were not overly interested in profiting from their design and were unable to successfully market a version to the public.<ref name=times/> They attempted to patent their neoprene wetsuit design, but their application was rejected because the design was viewed as too similar to a [[flight suit]].<ref name=times/> The [[United States Navy]] also turned down Bradner's and Bascom's offer to supply its swimmers and frogmen with the new wetsuits due to concerns that the gas in the neoprene component of the suits might make it easier for naval divers to be detected by underwater [[sonar]].<ref name=times/> The first written documentation of Bradner's invention was in a letter to Marshall, dated June 21, 1951.<ref name=Rainey/>

[[Jack O'Neill (businessman)|Jack O'Neill]] started using closed-cell neoprene foam which he claimed was shown to him by his bodysurfing friend, Harry Hind, who knew of it as an insulating material in his laboratory work.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=2017-06-05 |title=Jack O'Neill, Surfer Who Made the Wetsuit Famous, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/business/jack-oneill-dead-popularized-the-wet-suit.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Carlson |first=Michael |date=2017-06-07 |title=Jack O'Neill obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/07/jack-oneill-obituary |access-date=2024-04-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> After experimenting with the material and finding it superior to other insulating foams, O'Neill founded the successful wetsuit manufacturing company called [[O'Neill (brand)|''O'Neill'']] in a San Francisco garage in 1952, later relocating to Santa Cruz, California<ref name=santacruzwetsuits /> in 1959 with the motto "It's Always Summer on the Inside".<ref name="surfline" /><ref name="O'Neill" /> Bob and [[Bill Meistrell]], from [[Manhattan Beach, California]], also started experimenting with neoprene around 1953. They started a company which would later be named [[Body Glove]].
[[File:Georges Beuchat, invention de la combinaison isothermique.jpg|thumb|French diving gear manufacturer [[Georges Beuchat]] wearing the "isothermic" sponge-rubber wetsuit he invented in 1953]]
Neoprene was not the only material used in early wetsuits, particularly in Europe and Australia. The Pêche-Sport "isothermic" suit<ref name="patent1" /><ref name="patent2" /><ref name="patent3" /> invented by [[Georges Beuchat]] in 1953 and the UK-made [[Siebe Gorman]] Swimsuit<ref name="lillywhites" /> were both made out of sponge rubber. The [[Heinke (diving equipment makers)|Heinke]] Dolphin Suit<ref name="heinke" /> of the same period, also made in England, came in a green male and a white female version, both manufactured from natural rubber lined with stockinet. As early as July 1951, [[spearfishing|underwater hunters]] in Australia were experimenting with a natural rubber wetsuit "of a 'wrap on' variety, which does not set out to be 100% waterproof (but it is claimed that) the leakage of water through it is so slow that body warmth under it is maintained for hours."<ref name="Spearfishing news 1951" /> By May 1953, the [[Bondi Beach, New South Wales|Bondi]] underwater equipment manufacturer Undersee Products was already distributing this [[sleeveless shirt|singlet-like]] design commercially to Australian sporting goods stores, where it was described thus: "Made from heavy sheet rubber, the Sealskin suit is most effective when worn over a football jersey. When jersey becomes wet, rubber holds it firmly against body and thus warmth is generated. Water circulation automatically stops and body warmth builds up in moisture-laden jersey. The Seaskin suit provides both underwater insulation and above-water wind protection".<ref name="Spearfishing news 1953" />