So, in the time I've been a member of this forum I have never seen a debate about this, though I feel it could have be rehashed a thousand times.
For practice and regular meets, what are your suit preferences?
For practice: I usually do a brief with a drag suit. If I'm out of shape or my quads are hurting, I'll use a jammer for the extra compression.
For regular meets: I usually do whatever the team suit is, which has varied over the years. I prefer the brief because of more flexibility.
In big competitions*:, I would use a leg skin and if I had the need to buy one today, I'd probably go with a tech jammer.
*Regionals, States, Nationals, etc
For practice I use primarily speedo endurance products. Regular meets I go for the speedo xtra-life or aqua blade.
I used to get a lot of crap for wearing a brief, but now I feel like they're making a comeback. I like to think I converted some people on my high school team. Actually, the only person who really gives me crap anymore are my friends who don't swim and my girlfriend (who does swim). She says the ugliest part of a guy is the upper outside thigh the brief doesn't cover.
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Former Member
I graduated HS in 2009. When I went to public high school, 98% of people wore jammers 100% of the time. There was 1 team in my division that competed in speedos. When I switched to private school, I would say 75% of teams competed in briefs. Now, college aged kids that I see are practicing 50/50 jammer/speedo, and competing nearly 100% in speedo.
I just feel like square legs are more of a fashion thing and less functional than a Speedo or Jammer. Speedo > flexibility. Jammer > smooth surface area = faster (very debatable, but lets just say this is true hypothetically). Square leg... offers neither. I've never worn one so I can't really make any claims about them. I do know that this weekend when I went to buy a new suit at a sports shop, there were hardly any Jammers, some briefs, and a lot of square legs. That makes me feel like no body is buying the square legs compared to the other suits. That said, I did see a couple old guys wearing them today but I've never seen them used in competition.
One time my friend and I made a bet with our girlfriends. We lost and had to wear speedos to the beach. I've never gotten so many scowling looks in my life. Though I did receive some nice stare up/downs + eye contact by some attractive girls... and some guys (:bolt:). Briefs are not socially acceptable to lay people in America. Once you realize that everyone else is wearing some skin tight garment that can give a representation of one's package size, you will realize speedos aren't that bad and in my opinion, offer a better swimming experience. They're also so much cheaper and last longer. They also scare the Jammer competition. They are a symbol of self confidence. hahah
I graduated HS in 2009. When I went to public high school, 98% of people wore jammers 100% of the time. There was 1 team in my division that competed in speedos. When I switched to private school, I would say 75% of teams competed in briefs. Now, college aged kids that I see are practicing 50/50 jammer/speedo, and competing nearly 100% in speedo.
I just feel like square legs are more of a fashion thing and less functional than a Speedo or Jammer. Speedo > flexibility. Jammer > smooth surface area = faster (very debatable, but lets just say this is true hypothetically). Square leg... offers neither. I've never worn one so I can't really make any claims about them. I do know that this weekend when I went to buy a new suit at a sports shop, there were hardly any Jammers, some briefs, and a lot of square legs. That makes me feel like no body is buying the square legs compared to the other suits. That said, I did see a couple old guys wearing them today but I've never seen them used in competition.
One time my friend and I made a bet with our girlfriends. We lost and had to wear speedos to the beach. I've never gotten so many scowling looks in my life. Though I did receive some nice stare up/downs + eye contact by some attractive girls... and some guys (:bolt:). Briefs are not socially acceptable to lay people in America. Once you realize that everyone else is wearing some skin tight garment that can give a representation of one's package size, you will realize speedos aren't that bad and in my opinion, offer a better swimming experience. They're also so much cheaper and last longer. They also scare the Jammer competition. They are a symbol of self confidence. hahah
