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.
I'm the only one that wears a square leg suit for practice on my (USA Swimming) team. My experience is they get popular with guys after college. On my team the younger kids wear jammers and the older kids wear briefs. The cutoff seems to be high school. Once they get to high school jammers aren't "cool" to use for practice anymore, I guess :)
Our masters practice comes right on the heels of the kids practice, so there's usually a bunch of mothers sitting around, watching their offspring like fish hawks.
I wore jammers for most of the past 15 years to avoid the likely talk by the maternal condemnation squad if confronted by a man of a certain age wearing a brief. "Look at that portly pedo!" I am certain they would cackle in unison.
But jammers are restricting, especially on flip turns, and the switch to polyester jammers only made this worse.
So I switched to square legs recently and must say I really like them. The mothers may still be thinking portly pedo, but in my mind, I am envisioning my inner Burt Lancaster:
From Here To Eternity - Kiss scene on the beach - YouTube
Who knows? Maybe the mothers are thinking the same thing--and the severity on their scowling faces only reflect an inner turmoil of forbidden desire?
That's interesting because I've never seen a college swimmer train in a jammer. But you're closer in age to that demographic than me, so I'll have to take your word for it!
I'm not sure if I explained this well in my zillion word post. College aged swimmers are 50/50. Aka lap swimmers. College swimmers, like swimming for a team, I pretty much only see in briefs.
Practice: double brief (Dolfin Uglies over TYR water polo nylon brief)
Meet: jammers (ABS - anything but Speedo)
My theory - comfort and a bit of drag for practice, discomfort and compression/buoyancy for meets.
College aged swimmers are 50/50. Aka lap swimmers. College swimmers, like swimming for a team, I pretty much only see in briefs.
OK, got ya. This makes more sense.
However, it also spawned a strange prude, puritan attitude (lead mostly by the anti-gay movement and NBA player Michael Jordan) that men should never, ever wear shorts that expose their upper legs in public places. Hence the "Male Burqua" or "Leg Veil" look came into fashion.
You are a weirdo.
It has absolutely nothing to do with any movement, either pro or con. I don't even really know what you mean by that anyway.
As a kid growing up playing basketball in the 70s and 80s I can tell you that baggier shorts are much more comfortable than grape smugglers.
Isn't it time you moved on from this subject?
I've been doing a lot of research on the topic of athletic wear and for almost 60 years, briefs, square cuts, and short trunks were the standard equipment for men for both athletic and recreational swimming.
Prime example -Mark Spitz's racer briefs used in the 1972 Olympics. Same goes for short running shorts for track and field, basket ball, and just plain casual wear -that is until the late 80s/early 90s.
Then in the 90s, the "suit technology" fad made its debut and down-to-the-knee coverage became the standard. However, it also spawned a strange prude, puritan attitude (lead mostly by the anti-gay movement and NBA player Michael Jordan) that men should never, ever wear shorts that expose their upper legs in public places. Hence the "Male Burqua" or "Leg Veil" look came into fashion.
However long shorts and long swim suits (jammers and boardies) are just a plain hassle and social issues aside, it's time to reconsider the advantages of the pre-90s era. :agree:
CD
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.
Very good point, Eli. Really who cares what kind of suit anyone else chooses to swim in? Even if someone wants to swim in board shorts I think they're nuts because of all the drag, but I say go for it. Getting people in the water is the important thing.
Dear Aquageek:
I'm just chiming in on the subject that someone else started. :blah:
However before I move on from this subject, I might make the observation that today's basketball shorts look more like a woman's skirt than an athletic uniform:
sports.yahoo.com/.../Have-a-look-at-the-new-Team-USA-basketball-unifo
In fact, I'm seriously wondering what they'll come up with next - a purse or handbag (and maybe sneakers with high heels) to match the rather "Transvestic" appearance??? :lmao:
CD
However before I move on from this subject, I might make the observation that today's basket ball shorts look more like a woman's skirt than an athletic uniform.
In fact, I'm seriously wondering what they'll come up with next - a purse or handbag (and maybe sneakers with high heels) to match this rather "Transvestic" appearance???
CD
I don't really want to go down this road...
So you're saying that basketball shorts look like woman's skirts and are "Transvestic" yet wearing a speedo (that is reminiscent of female bikinis and panties) is not? There are such things as man purses and man leggings you know?
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.
You are a weirdo.
Bill, Bill! You are better than this.
I think you got that backwards. Jordan went baggy first. Was watching a documentary on the Fab Five the other day, and they claimed they started the trend. But in the same documentary, they said they picked up the look because MJ was doing it. But at the same time, they said they started the trend. (I know - doesn't make sense.)
Jordan went with baggy shorts because he thought he had skinny legs.
I thought the whole trend towards baggie pants in general, from bball shorts to the fashion of blue jeans half way down the butt with underwear exposed, originated in prisons.
When you go to prison, they take away any belts, etc. to prevent suicide by hanging and assorted other mayhem.
Given the extremely high incarceration rate of young black males, those exiting prison in high numbers supposedly kept the belt-free look as a kind of statement and/or homage to comfort or both.
"Sagging" may have had only an indirect effect on bball trunks, but I can't believe the two are entirely unrelated.
Saggers, interestingly enough, are anti-Urkels, which may also have some small part to play in the whole business.
en.wikipedia.org/.../Sagging_(fashion)
