I'm a college age swimmer (M22) who has been swimming since middle school. Recently after having gotten back into swimming after a three year hiatus by joining masters, I also started wearing one piece swimsuits originally meant for women. I find them to be a lot more comfortable on my body, they're more streamlined for swimming, have a lot more fun and artistic designs, and they don't feel as restricting as suits with drawstrings do. I pretty consistently wear them for practice now; why wouldn't you want to wear something that feels comfortable to you? And as a bonus, other swimmers seem to be okay with it... at the very least no one has said anything about it. My coaches are all very supportive of the practice as well and generally just encourage people to wear whatever feels comfortable.
I would love to get a feel for others thoughts about the matter, but more importantly, I would love the get the USMS meet rules changed so I can compete in what I feel comfortable wearing. Now, it goes to show that I still identify as a straight male, but also I suppose that this could be new grounds for helping those with gender disphoria/transgender or what have you as well, but that's currently not what I'm focusing on.
they're more streamlined for swimming
This is one of the reasons the rules are the way they are after the free-for-all in suit technology of '08-'09 - more tech suit coverage is more surface area for drag reduction and compression. It is a competitive advantage, whether the stated reason is performance or in your case comfort.
The USMS rule, as far as I know, is that competition suits have to be FINA approved. If you had a medical reason, you might have a reasonable case for a waiver especially since technically women's suits are FINA-approved for material/construction if not for gender-specific fit, but I think legislative/rules bodies would see it as opening a can of worms if just for comfort. I mean, I'd be more comfortable racing in a legsuit than a jammer because most racing jammers that fit my waist are too tight in the gasket on my thighs, but again, that defeats the purpose of the regulations.
If the rules were changed it would almost be how it was 11 years ago.
Oh my God that was 11 years ago... I still think of it as the recent past.
they're more streamlined for swimming
This is one of the reasons the rules are the way they are after the free-for-all in suit technology of '08-'09 - more tech suit coverage is more surface area for drag reduction and compression. It is a competitive advantage, whether the stated reason is performance or in your case comfort.
The USMS rule, as far as I know, is that competition suits have to be FINA approved. If you had a medical reason, you might have a reasonable case for a waiver especially since technically women's suits are FINA-approved for material/construction if not for gender-specific fit, but I think legislative/rules bodies would see it as opening a can of worms if just for comfort. I mean, I'd be more comfortable racing in a legsuit than a jammer because most racing jammers that fit my waist are too tight in the gasket on my thighs, but again, that defeats the purpose of the regulations.
If the rules were changed it would almost be how it was 11 years ago.
Oh my God that was 11 years ago... I still think of it as the recent past.
