It is interesting. Back in my day of swimming, the accepted theory was that in meets you wore the smallest and tightest suits, which led to the famed paper suits. The theory was that material created resistance so the less of it you wore, your body's own skin was far more slippery and thus faster. Our suits were barely legal, and hardly covered the more endowed guys. In practice we wore suits with wider sides and put drag suits over them. Today, with the new and advanced materials, the longer suits are far more slick than our own skin, which has literally reversed the thinking. Now, swimmers wear their briefs in practice and lower meets, but when speed is on the line, out come the technical suits. As much as I loved my "skimpy" swimsuits that barely covered me, if I were on a college team now I would be doing the same thing as the swimers today. In sports, it is all about advantage.
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