Evolution of suits over the years

[Brent]

Interesting thread. I swam competitively in the 90's, The common view back then was the smaller and tighter the speedo the better. For competition we had special racing suits. We wore them 1 size smaller than normal. This was to maximize the compression. It was more contoured and smaller on the sides than the regular speedo, very tight, and difficult to put on and take off. It didn't reach up all the way to cover my butt, and was unlined except for a thin layer of the same material up front. Visible penis (and balls) lines were the rule. We had to shave everywhere on our bodies, and i do mean everywhere. My obsession with swimming faster over-rode any modesty or embarrassment I felt. We switched to Speedo Aquablades around 1997, tight, striped, still worn a size too small, and semi-transparent. Supposedly it channeled water around the suit. I believe that the technology behind it led to idea that fabric could be less resistant than skin and therefore the larger suits evolved.

[Torchwatch]

At any time where performance takes priority over modesty then sportswear becomes briefer and/or tighter. When modesty takes over due to child protection, homophobic or religious issues sportswear becomes longer, baggier and looks more frumpy.
Performance demands that a swimmer in a tight brief suit shaves.
When materials that perform better than naked shaved skin are permitted than sportwear design can go anywhere, and resulted in bodysuits for swimmers.
Big baggy shorts accepted by prudes and frumps are great for sports fans, they can look sporty wearing the same gear as their heroes whilst tanking up on 10 pints of beer in a bar.

[Byron]

Very true - I enjoyed the last line (the old adage of no pain no gain still applies in sport).

I particularly enjoyed hearing also from Brent as a competitive swimmer - we need more pieces like that.
(I hope Louis is taking note as he has been complaining about off-topic posts)

[Byron]

PS to Brent: Did I correctly recognise Oasis as the shoot location?
(your post 6th Jan. and mine 7th)

[Lap Counter]

Originally Posted by Brent

I swam competitively in the 90's, The common view back then was the smaller and tighter the speedo the better.

My obsession with swimming faster over-rode any modesty or embarrassment I felt.

During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Speedo plastered the city with bus stop posters of a U.S. team swimmer (I think it was Gary Hall Jr). He was wearing the smallest, tightest suit I'd ever seen. Suit top just barely high enough to cover penis base. Zero hair. Talk about over riding modesty and embarrassment! Wearing that suit would take balls, (but there would be no place to put them). Sticking your pic all over the city would take big brass ones.

It made the suit worn in the famous Mark Spitz poster look huge.

Brent - did those '90s suits stretch to accommodate you, or did the downsized compression just crush your balls? Did you learn any special tricks of how to place your goodies for comfort or look? Wondering, because the Speedo poster showed no hint of any detail. Might have been suit compression, or they might have air-brushed the detail out to make it acceptable for public viewing on a bus poster.

[dorcas3]

I always trained in a drag type suit and then competed in a size or two smaller-this was commom practice on most levels of swimming. It seems to me that the whole speedo issue has appeared in the last 10 or 15 years. In other words progress went backwords. Even the boxer types of trunks were much more form fitting and in fact I had some that you zipped your way into- I even had a racer which had string side panels-only comment "that looks great-where did you get them" Same thing with basketball shorts-they were! and no one gave it a thought-guys used to sit down for coach instructions and show some jock so what everyone including the girls knew us guys were wearing them and so they had haltes for their boobs! Later on jogging bra prototypes were based on two jocks sewed together right here in Burlington, Vermont!.

[Byron]

A reminder:
http://morristsai.com/assets_c/2008/...mb-300x392.jpg

[dorcas3]

Speedo later came out with a much briefer version of the Spitz suit-I had one and remember that it was entirely lined-great colors until they began to fade.

[Byron]

............and yet they know nothing when I say "your posters all around Atlanta in 1966"

[Byron]

1996 for the Olympic Games