What Does Your Swim Team Wear?

[California Dolphin]

It's been over 8 years since I went swimming so I don't know what the current "state of the art" is in men's suits.

However, I've been checking sites for high school and college swimming and I see most of them wearing briefs (speedos) .

Based on my research, the number of speedo style suits seem to be on the increase and the number of jammers seems to be down. I wonder if that's the reality.

[dm106]

I agree but it still seems to be far from mainstream reality. Even in Australia a lot of younger guys no longer wear them. Bummer.

[swimbud]

Originally Posted by California Dolphin

Based on my research, the number of speedo style suits seem to be on the increase and the number of jammers seems to be down. I wonder if that's the reality.

Ever since the FINA ban on technical suits, classic speedo-wearing among competitive swim teams has gotten more common. I agree.

[Torchwatch]

The British team at the world championships were competing in technical jammers but the behind the scenes filming showed them training and relaxing in speedos.
This means that the nine year old that joins a swimming club could be wearing the same speedos that a world champion trains in and at an affordable price.
https://cdn.wattbike.com/uploads/uk/...eaty1b2deb.jpg

[midlifeswimmer]

The male college swim team members I've seen practice in briefs, and reserve the technical suits for competitions. High schoolers and younger, I've seen a mix of briefs and jammers, but I've not seen a college athlete practice in anything but a brief.

They don't seem to have much body hair.

[Coach]

We had our annual "try-on" event to order new suits for the swim team members. Since I started coaching the team, we've only ordered briefs. Students are required to have one team suit for competitions. Practice suits are optional.

[Minimalist75]

Originally Posted by Coach

We had our annual "try-on" event to order new suits for the swim team members. Since I started coaching the team, we've only ordered briefs. Students are required to have one team suit for competitions. Practice suits are optional.

I assume you mean that the type of suit is optional.
At one time wearing a suit at practice was optional in all male settings, but I didn't think that option still existed.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Minimalist75

I assume you mean that the type of suit is optional.
At one time wearing a suit at practice was optional in all male settings, but I didn't think that option still existed.

We are swimsuit optional at practice. The first year I coached it was rare, but the option has grown in popularity. Only 15% of the students ordered practice suits this year. Some will wear suits they already own, but the number is always getting smaller. We only allow briefs for practice as well.

[speedobilly]

I work at a major swimming pool which hosts numerous national events in the UK. Most "squadies" wear briefs for training, and warm ups / cool downs. Most wear jammers for the actual competition events. The range of brands, styles and colours I see regularly is quite remarkable - especially the really colourful designs.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

I bet those jammers you see at competitions are actually technical suits. They look like jammers, but are much more efficient in the water. They are made from special material and the stitching makes sure the cling tight to the body. They also cost a bunch more money.

I am a coach at a small rural team. We actually let our guys practice in whatever they want. It gets more guys to participate. We require team briefs for the meets. I have found that after the first week, the guys wearing shorts have all switched to the brief cuts. We use past years suits for practice briefs, or they wear their own. Our high school age A group gets to wear tech suits at meets.

Our practices are coed, except for Wednesday and Saturday when we go gender specific.