Aromatics are used today in most of our sports
equipment. From polyurethane
footballs to nylon
parachutes, from light running shoes to polyester
swimwear, aromatics provide the materials with that little competitive
edge you're looking for when you're exercising.
The first recorded football game was played using a pig bladder, inflated
with human lung power, and knotted at the end like a balloon. Today’s
footballs are mainly made out of a leather substitute, e.g. polyeruthane,
a lighter material which absorbs less moisture in wet conditions, and
can be made with a cover in a combination of attractive colours.
Golf, as we know it, was first played with a leather-covered ball stuffed
with goose or chicken feathers. The modern ball is made of a mixture of
natural and synthetic
materials: a hard rubber
core is wrapped with fine rubber strands and covered with either balata
or gutta-percha casing, obtained from natural latex.
Polyurethanes are now often used as alternatives for the casing.
The first swimsuits consisted of quaint cotton bloomers and black stockings.
Today’s swim suits are the result of mind-boggling advances in fibre
technology, many of which need aromatics in their production processes,
such as non-absorbent microfibres of polyester.
Tennis was first played with bare hands and later with wood rackets. Now,
with new materials, rackets can be made stronger yet lighter. The most
popular material is reinforced epoxy
resin; glass-reinforced polyester is also used. Strings, which used
to be beef gut, are now strong synthetic fibres such as nylon. Tennis
balls are of synthetic rubber covered with felt and sealed by means of
welded seams. Nets are made of weather-resistant synthetic material such
as nylon or polyester.
As for those who prefer plain, healthy running to the more sophisticated
sports... Even our common sports shoes rely heavily on the input of aromatics
– especially the state-of-the art shoes we have today, which now
weigh half what they did in the 1960s. For the uppers of sports shoes,
polyurethane and nylon are often used, which make for this wonderful,
light, endorphine-releasing feeling!