Becoming an Enthusiast 05: Jammers and Friends

[ReservedEnthusiast]

Part 1 of the 5th chapter of my story is here! Be sure to catch up by reading Becoming an Enthusiast 01-04 if you haven't already. Reminder: all events are true to life and not embellish or exaggerated in any way.

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Part 1: The Jammers

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Well, I’d done it. I’d worn a speedo in public…sort of…and I could keep my urges under control. But, I of course want to be able to get in and out of the pool without undressing and re-dressing, so after a summer- and autumn-long hiatus from swimming (thanks to travel and then an incredibly stressful fall at school, but that’s another story which I don’t need to share), I started to look for an affordable jammer to wear instead. It was just about halfway through sophomore year at uni and I was living in an apartment on campus with 3 other guys, so I had a room to myself to wear swimwear if I want and relax completely alone.

I decided to stick with Speedo because, again, Speedo and TYR were the only brands I know and I’m not a huge fan of TYR’s designs. After all, Speedo was tried and true so I knew I could trust it without having to consult other guys or friends for advice. I decided to go with the X Plaid Spliced Jammer in blue because (1) I LOVE blue and (2) the design down the side of the jammer looked super cool. It arrived and I began going to the pool again after a long break. I also invested in some mirrored Speedo goggles (I can sometimes suffer from crippling brand loyalty, if you haven't noticed) to wear because the clear (Speedo again) goggles I’d bought before were too bright to look through on a sunny day.

Here’s the suit from the front:



This time, I wore my suit straight from the locker room to the water. It was just tight enough to give me a similar sensation as the briefs, that precious combination of display, athleticism, and support. Though, with jammers you feel the comforting extra coverage. Consequently, a couple of weeks saw any reservations I had melt away. Pretty soon, I was confident enough to not just go straight to a lane but to go find a chaise lounge as well! I was still very conscious of how overweight I was, but I figured the dark-colored jammer offered enough cover and containment to walk on the pool deck even without a rash guard. I also found myself spending more time tanning by the pool after I swim because I am desperately white, like printer-paper white, underneath my clothes. (Don’t worry, I use sunscreen and I don’t spend too much time out there!)

That first jammer lasted from January until August. Yes, that’s a shockingly long time for a suit to last with regular use, but that’s because I wasn’t regularly using it until May or June. It was at the point where I could start seeing through the suit if I looked inside of it before putting it on. So, I decided to buy a new one before any accidental reveals à la Nathan Adrian happened. I'm sure you've seen the photos before, but here they are in case you haven't and are too lazy to go hunting them down:





Apparently, it happens to him on a regular basis. Anyway...

For my second jammer I had to settle for a Speedo Solid Jammer in navy because it was the only one in my size and my price range at the time. Unsurprisingly, I ended up returning it to Speedo almost instantly and buying the Rapid Splice Xtra Life Lycra Jammer in black/blue on Amazon instead; I couldn’t bear the oppressive simplicity of the styling of the solid jammer.

This is the suit:



This time, I asked my roommate for his opinion on how they fit, him being a former polo player as well. And good news: these jammers were the same size as my previous ones, but they were too loose! I’d lost weight! Woohoo! I’ve never been more happy to exchange an item of clothing.

I owe a lot to my jammers. You know, we criticize jammers for their modesty and difficulty to get on, myself included, but it helped me transition to having the confidence to wear a skintight swimsuit where others could see me. Them allowing me to reduce the blinding whiteness of my upper body also made me feel less self-conscious about taking my shirt off when I went to the beach with my housemates. They also helped me finally feel comfortable in my own skin…well, with the anonymity of the pool deck, anyway. Although, as I was about to find out, I wasn’t as alone at the pool as I’d hoped. Soon, friends started appearing left and right.

To be continued…

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Check back soon for part 2! As always, your comments, questions and general reactions are welcome via reply to this thread or private message.

[ReservedEnthusiast]

Here's part 2 of chapter 05. It's time to meet a few friends! Sorry it wasn't up earlier. I was rather busy today and didn't have the time to finish this part. I've already lost 45 minutes perfecting it just since clicking "Reply to Thread"!

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Becoming an Enthusiast 05 Part 02: The Friends

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Occasionally I did run into someone I know on the pool deck, but I was sure to always have my towel in hand to shield my manhood from their line of sight. I sometimes also had the comfort of already being in the water.

One time, I met a good friend of mine as he was getting out of the pool and I was getting in. We met originally by going to the same bible study at church, so we were becoming pretty good friends by this point. Oh gosh he was good-looking. His face, to start with, was nicely structured and featured a wide, white, pleasant smile. His torso and lower body weren't especially defined, but he had a perfect swimmer’s shape - the broad shoulders and slightly rounded pecs; the slender yet muscular legs; and the almost flat, gently rolling abdominal muscles. His bottom wasn’t muscular enough to have dimples in the sides, but it still filled his speedo in all the right ways.
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Side note: a physical feature that I think makes a guy incredibly attractive is when the butt’s dimples are so pronounced that the suit slightly lifts away from the skin. It’s a subtle sign of true muscle definition, and I’m a big fan of subtlety!
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His skin was free of hair and had an even, natural golden tan, thanks to his Asian or South Asian ancestry. It wasn’t that kind of tan where you can tell they’ve been in the sun far too much. Use these two photos as reference for his appearance. Picture the smooth body and skin tone of the first guy combined with the face and muscle mass (not not definition) of the second:



Being a former high school swimmer and an ex-member of our college swim team, he still wears a speedo to swim. When I ran into him this time, he was wearing a Q Swimwear Spain classic brief (the model from before the company restyled it), and despite his Asian heritage, he was showing quite a nice bulge in the front. We only talked for a moment because he was in a rush. Unfortunately, we never got to swim together because we were both busy when the other was free. I’m sure I could have improved my form a lot with him! He was apparently a valuable asset to the team.

Another time, I ran into a friend from freshman year. I was already in the pool when he arrived, and I finished my last lap just as he noticed me and stood at the end of my lane. This friend was also a former swimmer (go figure), so he continued to swim for exercise in college. He was more conservative, though, so he wore royal blue knee-length jammers. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t attractive in them; quite the contrary. He still had a noticeable protrusion in the front of his suit, his quads and hamstrings were very lean but showing definition, and his bottom showed just enough strength to it to be respectable.

There are many reasons guys can be a fitness inspiration/object of envy for me. The guy next door in my dorm freshman year (see Becoming an Enthusiast 03) was motivation because he was like a muscular demigod walking the earth. This friend, on the other hand, was like a merman gracefully gliding through the water. His body was flat and smooth, his shoulders wide and sturdy, and his arms quick to propel him forward. We’d wanted to swim together regularly, but our class schedules didn’t line up. Case in point: on this day, I was about to leave as he was just arriving.

As we talked, him standing on the pool deck above me treading water in the pool, I revealed that I was struggling big time with my flip turns at the ends of the laps, therefore stopping my momentum at every length to turn around; and being out of shape, this meant I stopped a lot more than I should to catch my breath. I wanted to force myself to keep going. So, he jumped in my lane and gave me a demonstration. As he repeated the flip turn a few times, he had me hover underwater or a better view of how his body moves. I unfortunately had to leave but was very thankful for the short lesson. I gave him my lane and we parted ways.

I most commonly saw another friend from church, though. He wasn’t a swimmer - an ex-football player, actually - but he worked as a lifeguard at the rec center pool. That meant that I would often see him up on his pedestal watching over all the swimmers, and I therefore felt extra awkward about my poor skills and unbecoming body. I already mentioned that I usually choose a lane far away from the lifeguard to hide my work-in-progress form.

With this friend, not only did I want to hide my form but also the fact that I’m in a speedo/jammer. I figured that because he wasn’t a swimmer and we are both rather conservative, he might not have passively ignored seeing me in it. (In hindsight, I’m pretty sure this is nonsense. If I’m there to swim and workout, he should expect to see me in a jammer or speedo. But I was still shy about being seen in one by a close friend.) Whenever I did see him, though, I’d wave “bye” to him at the end as I enter the locker rooms across the pool from where he sits. That way, it would only be a quick glance and I’d be able to hold my towel at my side to shield his line of sight.

The Rapid Splice Jammer carried me through the next school year when I would begin swimming with a guy who would become my best friend. He would also get me closer to returning to wearing a speedo in the pool and out, but that’s for the next chapter.

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Chapter 06 will be up in the next couple days. I don't want to promise it being up tomorrow/today (Saturday) because I want to make sure the events are described as experientially as possible, along with chapter 07 to follow. You'll see why I am spending so much time honing and perfecting these next ones; we meet a friend who has had a massive impact on my life, both in speedos and out. Comments, questions, and general feedback is welcome as usual!