Modesty in swimming

So for context, I'm a young masters swimmer (M22) who chooses to wear one piece swimsuits for reasons explained here. I recently had a discussion with my coach about how in wearing one piece swimsuits, different parts of my body get uncovered (hips, legs, butt, etc.) than what would normally be shown in briefs or jammers, etc. Because different parts are uncovered, my body feels much more streamlined and, kinesthetically, swimming feels very different in the water.

This naturally brings up the discussion about what is "appropriate" for swimming. I'm sure there are different views, however the swimming culture that I grew up in does not care about modesty at all and in some way, actively flaunts off their bodies. Every female college swimmer I know pulls up the back of their swimsuits up into their butts to sit like a thong. After asking a very close friend of mine, she explained that it is simply for comfort reasons. If swimsuits ride up anyway, then it's just easier to pull it up yourself in an attempt to get the suit to sit more comfortably to where it will eventually ride up. Even in our selections for swim attire now, both men's and women's suits have the option for fuller coverage or cheeky, higher cuts or "euro cut" or just about whatever else you could want.

I'm hoping to hear people's thoughts on if modesty should be considered in the sport of swimming and to what degree.

Parents
  • Nobody wants to see my hairy rear end in the pool.

    Seriously, though, I'm probably not the right person to answer this because my college only had a men's team.  The "buttcrack effect" was definitely a thing in high school on both sides.

    These days, I buy A3 Performance suits because I find they cover much better comfortably, because honestly I am not that comfortable in really low cut suits.

  • Haha, fair enough. Different strokes for different folks, pun very much intended.

    Was the "buttcrack effect" from the suits riding low on the men and riding high on the women?

  • More or less, yes.

    Don't see that much in Masters swimmers... matter of fact don't see many Speedos or tight cut women's suits in Masters at all, much less ill-fitting ones.  I think between the two Masters groups I've been a part of, only me and one other guy wear plain Speedos, and maybe two others wear slightly bigger drag suits.

  • Fair. It's definitely a trend of the younger generations in swimming. We grew up in Speedos and one pieces and at least half of our teammates have all seen us nude anyway... at this point it's not like we have anything to hide.

  • I don't know that's it's really a generational thing - jammers weren't even a thing until the 2000s.  I think it's more perception - little kids don't really care, pre-teens and young teens might feel self-conscious.  By late high school to college you go back to not really caring.  Then I think getting old (read: more out-of-shape), a lot of guys seem to feel more comfortable with more coverage in the legs.  Maybe I'll feel that way some day but I'm still 32 and briefs just fit better.

  • I quit wearing briefs when I turned 53. 

  • I can't find a jammer that will provide adequate support, anymore.  Speedo changed their Endurance, and the material now stretches more.  So I ended up switching to briefs a year or so ago, much better.  I'm 47.

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