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.
While I haven't researched this at all, let alone 60 years, and nor do I intend to- I don't think it was a puritan attitude that lead to the creation of a Jammers. I think it was adolescent boys feeling insecure about themselves. As a result, the swimwear companies capitalized on the opportunity to charge for a more expensive and less revealing alternative, while potentially drawing in more swimmers whom would not have wanted to swim otherwise. Believe me, I know beginner swimmers interested in joining teams who have not because of the requirement to wear a form fitting suit. I know experienced swimmers who have not joined teams/quit because the team required a speedo over jammers.
I heard that jammers came out of bike shorts. Triathletes were wearing bike shorts to swim anyway, so the swimwear companies decided to add a drawstring and make the padding optional.
The first time someone showed up at a masters workout in a jammer, everyone asked him where his bike was.
While I haven't researched this at all, let alone 60 years, and nor do I intend to- I don't think it was a puritan attitude that lead to the creation of a Jammers. I think it was adolescent boys feeling insecure about themselves. As a result, the swimwear companies capitalized on the opportunity to charge for a more expensive and less revealing alternative, while potentially drawing in more swimmers whom would not have wanted to swim otherwise. Believe me, I know beginner swimmers interested in joining teams who have not because of the requirement to wear a form fitting suit. I know experienced swimmers who have not joined teams/quit because the team required a speedo over jammers.
I heard that jammers came out of bike shorts. Triathletes were wearing bike shorts to swim anyway, so the swimwear companies decided to add a drawstring and make the padding optional.
The first time someone showed up at a masters workout in a jammer, everyone asked him where his bike was.
