Swim Shop Experience

[jackk78]

The seals on my googles were wearing out, so I stopped by a swim shop on the way home from work last night. They've got a good selection for both competitive and recreational swimming. In the cooler months, they slim down their recreation supply and focus more on the competitive side of things.

When I got there, the only other people in the store were a mom with two twin boys. They were looking at the jammers section. I went over to the rack of googles. A female employee came out from the back carrying a box. She set it down on the counter and went over to the family. I was close enough to overhear their conversation.

"Can I help you find anything?" she asked.

"They need practice suits for swim team, but I'm a little overwhelmed," answered the mom. "I never realized there were so many choices."

"For swim team, they're going to want to wear a competition suit," replied the employee.

"Is this not the right thing?" the mom asked indicating toward the rack of jammers.

"Some competitive swimmers wear jammers, but we generally don't recommend it. They create too much drag in the water."

"Isn't this what they wear in the Olympics?" asked the mom.

"Those suits are made out of a special fabric. Most of the schools don't allow them any more. They're really expensive and wear out quickly. For competition, we recommend the brief style for boys. They're right over here." She lead them to the rack containing all of the brief cut suits. "The longer life fabrics like this," she said holding up a suit, "are good for practice. They last a long time before they wear out. I'll give you some time to look and check back in a bit. If you need to try anything on, the dressing rooms are right over there."

The mom thanked her. On her way back to the counter, the employee asked if I needed help, but I told her I was okay. She picked up the box on the counter and started to unload it.

The boys stood there looking nervous as the mom looked at the brief suits. Eventually, she gave one to each of them and told them to try the suits on. They went into the dressing rooms. After a minute, the mom told them to come out so she could see how they fit. The boys both came out wearing the brief suits, clearly not comfortable with the amount of skin they exposed. The employee went back to help them.

"How's everything going?" she asked.

"Good, I think," replied the mom. "Do these look alright?"

The employee examined the fit. "They're a bit loose in the back. You don't want to see any slack in the fabric. It will be looser in the water. They can probably both go one size down." The employee went to the rack, came back with the smaller suits, and gave them to the mom.

"Try these on," she said handing them to the boys who went back into the dressing room.

After a minute, they came back out wearing the smaller suits. "That looks perfect," said the employee. "Was there anything else I can help you with today?" she asked.

"I think that's it," said the mom.

"Great. You can bring those up whenever you're ready."

I'd found a pair of goggles, so I brought them up to the counter. The employee checked me out. As I was leaving, the boys came out dressed again and handed their mom the swim briefs. She walked up to the counter to check out.

[California Dolphin]

Glad to hear that jammers are slowly, but surely going the way of the dinosaurs.

As briefs become more common, men will also become less hesitant and more comfortable wearing them in public.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

I had a similar experience several years ago. A nearby town had a small shop that sold competitive swimwear. It was near the high school and town pool and served most of the local swim teams. Of course this was before the internet had taken hold. The shop was run by an older lady who started it when her kids were on swim teams. I used to stop in whenever I was in town. One afternoon, about 3:30 I stopped in to see what was new.

Other than me, there was a young man, he looked like he was still in school. I was looking at the swim briefs, as was he.

"You on swim team?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"That's great. Swimming is such a cool sport," I replied.

"Yeah, I like it alot." he replied.

I then silently picked out a couple of new suits. I did not need to try them on, since I knew my size. "Good luck with swimming," I said as I started to turn and walk away.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" the young man asked. I turned back.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I am thinking of trying one of these. I have always worn jammers, but I really like how these look on the college swimmers."

"Yeah, briefs are awesome." I replied. "But very different from jammers, so much more freedom in the water. And yes, most serious swimmers wear them."

"What size should I get?" he asked.

"Well, you want them to be tight on. Lots of swimmers get them one size less than their waist." He had on Levi jeans and the leather label said he was wearing size 30. "I would start with 30, based on your jeans, and then try a 28, too. The 30 will feel snug, but the suit will stretch out after a while. If the 28 feels really tight, it is probably perfect."

"Thanks," he replied, grabbing a suit in each size and went toward the fitting room. I went to pay.

"Ryan, you got some nice suits," Dot, the owner, said.

"Yes, I really don't need them, but I like the colors." I replied.

"A swimmer always needs more swimsuits," Dot replied as she bagged my purchase. We were chatting about business and she was telling me how she wasn't sure how long the shop was going to stay around. "More and more teams are buying on line." As we chatted, the young man stuck his head out the fitting room curtain.

"Hey, mister, can I ask you some more?"

"Sure," I said walking over.

He sheepishly stepped out of the fitting room in one of the suits. "Does this look right?" he asked. He looked great in the suit. "It is size 30." He turned around so I could see all sides. The suit looked snug, but not tight.

"I'd try the 28. See how much more snug it is. If you want, I'll wait."

"That'd be great," he replied. A minute later he came out in the smaller size. It was pretty snug.

"This feels much tighter," he said. "Sure isn't much to them," he added.

We decided the 28 was right. "I'll be the only guy on my team wearing a suit like this," he confided.

"You look great, once you start the other guys will follow."

He thanked me for the help and we shook hands. Dot later told me he actually came back and bought two more suits, and he brought two other guys from the team. Her shop closed a few years after that.

[Captain.Jammer]

Excellent encounters, both of you.

And with these accounts, you have have given me a better answer to a question I posed on another thread-- I was asking how tight do you wear your suits, when I should have asked, how tight should suits be. Since I have never been a swimmer, and have never bought racer cut suits for that purpose (yes I do wear jammers), I never would have guessed to go a size smaller than your waist. Interesting. But those Speedo Axcel Spliced Jammers I posted a pic of the other day are like 2 sizes too small to my actual current waist measurement. (I don't like the way they 'dig into' my body being so tight, but it appears they should do that to some degree? At least one size smaller's worth.) I got them so I would have them (discontinued style) for when I lose the weight I plan to lose. I am hoping to get to a waist of 36 and I believe those are a 38. So one size bigger, not smaller. Oh well, now I know for future purchases.

What I am also amazed at is how you both could remember conversations so well! I am impressed, But then I have a horrible memory.

Thanks for sharing the experiences. Anyone else with something similar to share?

[Torchwatch]

Of course if you are buying Asian swim briefs you need to upsize as they are cut rather small.

[Captain.Jammer]

Originally Posted by Torchwatch

Of course if you are buying Asian swim briefs you need to upsize as they are cut rather small.

They can be VERY affordable, and some do look awesome... but I have never tried to get any because of my size.