Why do older men wear Speedos?

[uktrunks]

This is certainly true of the UK. If you go to a pool where there are a lot of guys swimming lengths, then any speedos on show are likely to be worn by older men in the 50s and 60s. Why is this?

Well, first of all we must dismiss the older guys with failing physical resources who just want to show off what they have left to show. You won't find these guys in swimming pools in the UK but you will find plenty of them around hotel pools and on beaches around the Mediterranean. Most of them are totally overweight, with beer guts flopping over the top of their trunks, and they look extremely unattractive. In truth, these are the guys who have given speedos a bad name. They are not athletes, they are usually foolish sun-worshippers who get lobster red and think that the point of a holiday is to let it all hang out, because that's the macho way to do it. They have their counterparts - usually their real-life partners in fact - in the obese women who flop and sag around in bikinis so small that the side-strings are buried in their flab. Interestingly, there is very little criticism of the womenfolk - or at least it's not tolerated. Women jump to the defence of their sisters, ridiculing men in speedos and invariably using child-bearing as an excuse for themselves ending up like a herd of hippopotamus.

Anyway ... this leaves us with the much more interesting group, the older guys who swim lengths at pools. In my experience, most of these guys are in pretty good shape and they look good in their speedos. They are serious swimmers, and they often do other sports as well. As you may have guessed, I count myself as one of these. Most of us started swimming in royal or navy blue speedos when we were at school, and soon found out they can't be bettered.

Now what you have to remember about the UK is that we could almost be said to be a nation of non-swimmers - particularly our men. A recent survey showed that fewer than half our children come out of school being able to swim - and you can be pretty sure that relatively few of the half that can swim are proper swimmers, with a good technique and the ability to swim 100 metres or more. Therefore, very few UK men carry on swimming regularly in their 20s and 30s, and when they go on holiday, you can often see them splashing around a bit with the kids in the pool, that's the best they can do. If you look around a pool in Mallorca or some place where lots of British families go in August, out of 50 youngish men, you will find fewer than ten who can dive and swim properly. You will also notice that most of the remainder are getting fat and seedy, because they aren't doing any exercise at all.

All this creates the perfect conditions for younger men to wear big baggy shorts - usually, the bigger and baggier the better. After all, isn't this what advertising companies insist is fashionable? What you also have to remember about the UK (and the US, so far as I can see) is that we are basically prudish. A big penis, a healthy pair of testicles, and a muscular rock-hard bum - all in skin-tight speedos - is NOT what we Brits want to see. By some bizarre perversion, which is too horrible for any normal person to contemplate, it's OK for a boy to dress like that - but not a full-grown man. Women refuse to admit that they are in any way attracted to well-equipped men - even though numerous studies have shown they are, for obvious biological reasons - while men are simply terrified of being labelled 'gay'. So men who wear speedos are lumped together with bodybuilders as 'queer', narcissistic and unnatural. The truth is that most of us just enjoy exercising, swimming with the freedom that speedos give you, enjoying the sensual experience of gliding through the water like a fish - and, OK, we are proud of our bodies too. So far as I'm concerned - I'm just on 50 - when I was younger I used to get embarrassed wearing speedos because nobody else did, but now I know the boot's on the other foot (to use a British expression!). I have a smooth muscular body, which I love to exercise, and so I - like the other guys in their 50s and 60s who regularly swim lengths at the pool - can enjoy wearing speedos when many others of our generation simply can't.

Of course it's all very different in Mediterranean countries such as Italy or the south of France. A much higher proportion of men are good swimmers and they don't have the same hang-ups about showing a fit, well-developed physique in public. So many guys follow the 'speedos habit' throughout their lives - and are a great deal healthier for it.

[Dooley67]

Welcome to the board uktrunks. If you look back over some of the threads, you'll see that this topic has been discussed a lot, but it's always good to get some thoughts from a new member.

I don't fully agree with what you're saying about the similarities between the UK and the U.S. as far as being prudish because it really is generalizing too much as far as the US is concerned. I don't know about the UK. There are many men in the US who wear speedos to swim laps and are comfortable doing so, but there are also those who swim laps in board shorts or Jammers because that's what they're comfortable doing. And I suspect that may be the case in other countries as well.

There is also a culture of speedos in European countries like France, Spain and Italy and that has continued. In the US, fashion has dictated what men wear; there has been some movement back to shorter swimwear in 2014, not exclusively briefs, but square cuts and shorter swim shorts can be seen on beaches and in print ads. But many young guys still wear boardshorts and can look as good in them as guys in briefs.

I also think that it isn't fair to dismiss overweight men and women in terms of men wearing briefs and women wearing bikinis. They may not be attractive looking to others, but if they choose to wear brief swimsuits, that's their prerogative and they shouldn't be judged for their choices. But rather, they are likely confident enough to not limit their choice of beachwear because of their physical appearance. What is more significant about this group of people, I think, is that they are at risk for all sorts of illnesses because of their inactivity and being overweight.

I'm one of those guys in my late 60's who wears 2" briefs to swim laps, and, although not muscular, I'm pretty lean and thin and look good in a brief suit. But my wearing a small brief is more because it makes me feel good and it is serviceable to swim laps, moreso than anything else I've tried. And, like many lap swimmers, I don't believe that I or any of the other guys in their 60's who swim at the Y with me who wear briefs are perceived as gay.

So, welcome again to the board. You'll find that there is agreement and disagreement about lots of topics, but the tone is always respectful.

Dooley67

[drawstringz]

I too am one of those older guys I guess, but not in my 60's yet. I agree with many of the other posters that it is just personal preference. I've worn a speedo as far back as I can remember. Beach and pool. It's what I like.

In the pool, it's always a speedo or brief-type suit. I swim better in something snug and as long as I have the body for it, I'll continue to wear one - not that I'm swimsuit model material or anything but I like to think I still look pretty okay in my suits. Out in public like the beach, it just depends on who I am with.

I am a bit more relaxed when there is another swimmer or two in the pool wearing a speedo. There are a couple other guys from my pool who wear one and they are also in their 40's and 50's. Nobody seems to care the slightest.

A little aside, I was done (I do about a mile a day) in the pool at our local university and having a shower. There were two students taking a shower to go in. One in board shorts and his buddy in a small red two-toned suit with the name printed across his junk. His buddy asked him if he was really going in there with that on (it really wasn't bad). As they walked by I said, Listen if I looked as good as him, I'd certainly wear that. The suit was pretty much made for this guy, he looked that great in it. He said Thanks! Seen him there many times since and he's still wearing the same style suit.

So it's just not the 'older' guys who choose and enjoy wearing them.