I was thinking the same thing about them being Paper Lycra suits, it would explain why they were only in black and navy.
I did own a pair of Paper Lycra Speedos at that time and they didn't last long, I think I should have downsized for a better fit but bought them in my usual Speedo size.
Paper Lycra was as hydrodynamic as possible before the water repelling technical fabrics were developed, but still had more drag than naked shaved skin. The suit was therefore as brief as possible.
The limit of briefness of a racing swim brief is 3/4" (18mm), the waist elastic is 1/2" (12mm), while the leg elastic is 1/4" (6mm). Since overlapping the 2 pieces of elastic would cause an unsightly and uncomfortable bulge they have to be sewn in side by side making a sum of 3/4" (18mm). Using narrower elastic would produce a swimsuit that would fall off when diving and be unable to take a waist cord to hold it up .
You can make a suit briefer by making it lower but then tunnelling exposing the top of the ass crack) occurs, letting in water and creating drag. Arena developed the lower cut swim brief and the Japanese took it to extremes.
The Brazilians developed a means of making a skimpier swim brief by cutting away the sides of the rear. Women's one piece racing swimsuits in the late 1980's and early 1990's began to look rather thong like but this style never caught on among men. Rule enforcement effectively banned these suits when younger girls started wearing them.
I have swum in a swim thong in the sea and found it to be comfortable and drag free (compared to racing speedos), however I would not consider wearing one in a public pool unless "everyone else" was wearing them and I knew I wouldn't get thrown out and banned.
|