Fabric and brands

[Swimmboy]

Truwest suits are also US-made - they make nice nylon suits that hold their shape, but the colors fade after several months. A California co. called Monsterpolo (www.monsterpolo.com) makes suits for water polo from a thicker, heavier fabric that supposedly is long-lasting and survives the tough battles of that game, and they come in some really cool designs.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

If you swim in a chlorinated pool, you can pretty much assume any lycra material suit is going to fade and wear out. Some are a little better than others, but if you swim daily, plan on 3 months of good wearing and then you are on borrowed time. Two things can help, rinse your suit reallly well after every swim, don't just shower in it, take it off and rinse it out. Do not wring it dry, let it dry on its own. Never put a lycra suit in a clothes dryer, and avoid washing it in detergent, unless you use swim suit cleaner. Also, make sure you don't throw the wet suit in a closed up bag where it can not dry out. Last point, sun lotions are awful for lycra... avoid getting excess on the suit.

You can get poly suits, they last longer, but they fit differently. Same applies to plain old Nylon, but they are not that common anymore.

I have found most designer suits just cannot hold up like the swimmer oriented brands (Speedo, Tyr, Nike, etc). Great for teh beach and sunning, and looking hot... but not for swimming workouts.

[JamesSwim]

Thanks for the reply on suit care. I agree that lycra suits eventually wear out so getting new ones is part of the routine and costs very little per swim.

Thanks for the pointer to water polo suit maker. It makes sense that they make thicker suits. It just never occurred to me to try them out.

[Byron]

Many suit makers named but as a WP specialist Turbo is also worth an enquiry
for heavier fabric.

[dorcas3]

I have one-fits great but very very snug-almost crowds junk-I don't understand the sizing-the guys that I see on teams are bigger (waist) than me and I barely can fit into XL!