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.
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Former Member
Couple of thoughts:
1. If strictly comfort, have you tried different styles/brands of suits? Speedo changed the material in my favorite jammer, so I ended up shifting to Adidas briefs. Still have a jammer for any competition though. Of course, I'm old enough to be your father so I couldn't care less about designs.
2. Friend of mine wears a short wetsuit in open water competitions. USMS has given him a medical waiver (Chron's). If there is some compelling reason other than comfort, you might try that.
Yeah, I have tried different designs/brands/styles of men's suits too. Nothing quite seems to float my goat. Not to say that I won't wear them anymore, but I definitely just prefer a one piece.
Not really another reason... But, again I suppose a reason for the rule change might be that it could perhaps avoid a hiccup with those who might have a more compelling reason themselves such as a medical issue/gender identity issues, etc.
Couple of thoughts:
1. If strictly comfort, have you tried different styles/brands of suits? Speedo changed the material in my favorite jammer, so I ended up shifting to Adidas briefs. Still have a jammer for any competition though. Of course, I'm old enough to be your father so I couldn't care less about designs.
2. Friend of mine wears a short wetsuit in open water competitions. USMS has given him a medical waiver (Chron's). If there is some compelling reason other than comfort, you might try that.
Yeah, I have tried different designs/brands/styles of men's suits too. Nothing quite seems to float my goat. Not to say that I won't wear them anymore, but I definitely just prefer a one piece.
Not really another reason... But, again I suppose a reason for the rule change might be that it could perhaps avoid a hiccup with those who might have a more compelling reason themselves such as a medical issue/gender identity issues, etc.
