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.
When I started swimming a couple of years ago I was travelling a lot for work and mostly training in hotel pools. Jammers + T-shirt + flipflops is a much more socially acceptable look when cutting through the hotel lobby to get to the pool than the same ensemble with briefs...
Personally I find jammers super comfortable and have no issue retaining the pull buoy with them.
I feel like the perception now amongst the younger generation is if you wear a brief, then you'll really into swimming (otherwise you wouldn't wear one), therefore you're really good at swimming. More experienced swimmers wear briefs, less experienced wear jammers.
Now obviously there is no correlation between that suit you wear and your skill level, but I've been there not so long ago and I assistant coach my high school team when I am home for winter break.
There might be something to this. I've had folks say to me (when I was on the pool deck) "you must be really fast." Maybe to them I look the part or something, but sadly my times don't support that. :(
As for the original question, I'm not a fan of jammers.
I'm guessing I'm from the same era as Midas. (Might've been interesting to see how people's ages correlated to their choice of suits?) When I got back into swimming a few years ago, in my late thirties, I was so relieved jammers had been invented. I had no desire to go back to the briefs we wore in high school in the mid-80's. Never liked 'em.
Maybe this is because my association with briefs was not all Mark Spitz and Rowdy Gaines but also all the big-bellied middle-aged men I grew up seeing in them too. Just looked SO wrong. And now there are also images of Borat that have gotten mixed in there too.:afraid: Yikes!
Glad to say my belly hasn't gotten too much bigger yet, now that I'm getting in to the middle-age zone; but unless these deeply ingrained associations somehow get exorcized from my mind, I'll probably be sticking with me jammies just the same.
Former Member
I feel like the perception now amongst the younger generation is if you wear a brief, then you'll really into swimming (otherwise you wouldn't wear one), therefore you'r really good at swimming. More experienced swimmers wear briefs, less experienced wear jammers.
Now obviously there is no correlation between that suit you wear and your skill level, but I've been there not so long ago and I assistant coach my high school team when I am home for winter break.
Former Member
A quote from another post on this thread:
“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 originally commented on this a couple of days ago, but I guess it was deleted by the moderators because of the volatile nature of what I said. So I left out the volatile portion and hopefully this one will stay on. If an experienced swimmer won’t join or quit a team because he is required to wear a purportedly socially unacceptable suit (AKA –the classic speedo brief) instead of a jammer, he must not be really that interested in swimming to begin with. BTW, count me in the group that hates jammers and tech suits and hope for the return of the classic style suit.
Former Member
When swimming in the US, I usually wore square leg unless I'm doing a lot of *** stroke. Now that i am in Germany, it briefs all the time. They are by far the most comfortable and least restrictive.
I hate the way jammers clamp down on my quads. I've even cut the bottom half of my cycling shorts off to get rid of the elastic band.
Former Member
"Tell me, how can you determine how interested someone is in swimming based on their suit choice?"
As stated in the previous post, if a person is so preoccupied with their suit choice that it is the deciding factor whether or not to go out for swimming, it's quite logical to assume they are more interested in their suit than swimming.
On the same note, I’ve always thought the idea that adding more coverage to be faster was just an alterior motive to usher in what some consider a “morally conservative” look in men’s athletic wear.
Jammers are just a streamlined version of boardie shorts which came in style after the traditional suits drew so much criticism. BTW, I don’t see how jammers makes one feel less self conscious. Although they completely cover the upper legs, they also intensify that “lumpy” appearance.
for some reason, when I wear some jammers, they don't stay up. Now, when I wear the brief-jammer hybrid, no problems. I stick with the TYR Race Jammers because I don't get that "plumbers crack" feeling.
Maybe this is because my association with briefs was not all Mark Spitz and Rowdy Gaines but also all the big-bellied middle-aged men I grew up seeing in them too. Just looked SO wrong. And now there are also images of Borat that have gotten mixed in there too.:afraid: Yikes!
Totally my issue. More specifically, middle-aged, big-bellied "Eurpeans" were the speedo stereotype for me growing up. I generally feel very comfortable in the jammers, though I don't love racing breaststroke in them. (The problem with racing in briefs is that my upper leg hair probably slows me down more than the jammers and I'm not shaving for every race.) Briefs make me feel very "naked" but that's probably because I'm just used to the jammers. I have no more issues with pull buoys whether I'm wearing the jammers or not (in fact, my skin is probably slightly slicker than the suit).
It's fascinating to see everyone's different perspectives on this! While most guys on my masters team wear jammers these days, we have a few who still kick it old school.
My only problem with briefs these days is the ridiculous tan line I have a couple of inches above my knees. I'm generally very tan from the line down, and my thighs are pretty white. I suppose I could start doing yard work and such in a brief to moderate this, but ... gross.
