Two weeks ago, I was home for a 4 day weekend from college and forgot to bring my suit. A couple of my suits were pretty shot as it was so I thought, why not get a replacement. More importantly, I didn't want to miss out on what in actuality would be 5-6 days of missed swimming.
All I wanted was an size 32 speedo endurance+ brief. How hard could that be?
I went to a privately owned sports shop where they had a couple options, but nothing I really wanted to buy. Most of their stock had been picked clean already and what remained in my size and desired material wasn't what I was looking for. I went to another privately owned shop where they only had goggles and swim caps.
I went to two different Dicks Sporting Goods and one Sports Authority (same owner). Naturally because it's winter, all the swim stuff was gone. Apparently they're not informed that the competitive swim season in the northeast is in the winter. They either had virtually nothing- or really small suits and really big suits. Nothing in my size and a very limited selection.
I went back home and by some miracle a found an old Aquablade jammer in a drawer. Not a particularly choice for regular workouts because of its poor durability, but I'm not competing anytime soon and it was a suit nonetheless so I used it.
I got back to Boston and decided I should probably buy a new suit because I'm down to two or three and I like to switch it up. I searched endlessly at sports shops trying to find a suit but no one sells them! (I prefer buying things in person, in stores). Finally I went to City Sports. A guy asked me if I needed help so I asked "do you have any Speedo Endurance suits". He said "what's that" and I explained. He took me to the swim section and showed what looked to be a fairly large selection of suits. Unfortunately they only had the Xtra-Life Lycra suits (which last about a month for me). He said "This is the material you want to buy if you're working out, it lasts 8-10x than regular suits" (or whatever the label says). I replied "Yes, but endurance suits last 20 times longer than Lycra suits". The guy huffed that I was wrong and Xtra-Life was "the best money can buy". To that I said "Right. Have you ever swam before" to which he said "No, but I've worked here for 4 years". I didn't end up buying anything but I had a lovely conversation with a 26 year old woman who was also looking for a durable practice suit. She too had searched far and wide with no luck.
I ended up buying a suit on Amazon and got free two-day shipping with my free student prime account. I never thought buying a suit would be so hard and I've never had such a problem doing so before, even late in/at the end of the season.
Former Member
My opinion is you need to go to a dedicated swim shop that caters to competitive swimmers. Luckily there's one about a mile from my house. There's got to be at least one in Boston, right? The other choice is online, but not real useful if you need something now.
There's city sports which probably had the greatest selection. I checked some marathon stores in the past but they didn't have anything. There is supposedly a place in North Reading, about 35 minutes outside of the city (not including traffic). I really didn't want to drive all the way out there, wasting all that time and gas.
The store in North reading is named Varsity. Evidently they have a pretty good selection. I usually have luck at the ***'s in dedham so I haven't driven up there. I have never had luck at the City Sports on Bromfield.
I will have to check out the store in N. Reading. Maybe I'll drive out there one weekend when I have nothing to do. I could use a new drag suit, my drawstring just broke yesterday after like 4 years of using it.
City Sports in Copley (Bolyston Street) had best best selection. In the past I've check the REI at the Landmark Center over by Fenway and they only had TYR suits, which I've never really liked. EMS on Bolyston had nothing. Marathon sports had nothing.
The store in North reading is named Varsity. Evidently they have a pretty good selection. I usually have luck at the ***'s in dedham so I haven't driven up there. I have never had luck at the City Sports on Bromfield.
On line will stop all the frustration !
It will and does. But in a pinch it doesn't work. I like begin able to see what I'm buying too. Then I can also peruse and see other things. I already spend enough time sitting in front my computer everyday.
I wake up, check the weather and news on my computer. Go to school and stare at a projection screen. Come home, do homework, on the computer. Take at home tests, on the computer. Write papers, on the computer. Make presentations, on the computer. Read books, on the computer. Check my grades, on the computer. Listen to music, on my computer. FaceBook, USMS, research, shopping, emails, banking, on the computer.
Good thing I don't have any online classes. Computers are great, I just get tired of staring at them.
I've found "brick and mortar" stores are a waste of time when it comes to swim gear at any time of year.
Yup. I haven't found decent swim gear in a brick and mortar since I left Florida.
