Comments please...

[Swimmboy]

At the World Championships, most males will be wearing jammers for their races because they are, or are believed to be, faster. The fabric is slicker than human skin, so the more of your skin that is covered, the slicker you are. And the compression of the thighs helps prevent your thigh muscles from getting so tired (this was told to me by a U.S. college swimmer). Even brief-loving Ryan Lochte says he will wear jammers for races. Briefs are gone from major competitions - that's just the way it is. However, if you attend almost any US college meet in your area, most guys will be wearing briefs - for the most part, they only wear jammers during end-of-season conference or national (NCAA) championship meets.

[Byron]

This seems to go with discussion: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh...txa9o1_500.jpg
Left: hot and very brief (and may be AUS) - how welcome
Right: (now banned) legsuit very low-slung and of GBR team.

[Byron]

I see that nobody has come up with an ID but I can now say (courtesy of Louis's observation) that these guys are team USA divers and synchro partners Nick McCrorey and David Boudea.
(DB of course having come out with a splendid Olympic Gold last year in the
individual 10m platform final)

[shaulis]

I must confess my eyes didn't leave the suits to look at their faces. I feel stupid for not realizing who was in the photo.

[Byron]

LOL - know exactly what you mean !
(a gossip website called homorazzi can
sometimes have interesting little snippets)

[shaulis]

I generally steer clear of the tabloid sites. All they cover now are the kardashiens (I could care less about them) and the latest drama bieber has committed ( I could care even less about him)

[Byron]

Had to do some checking of the unknown (to me) there.

The Kardashians is apparently a regular reality tv show where the daily lives of these family members are updated for viewers.

The Beiber guy sure seems to be frequently in trouble but I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity as the saying goes - and Forbes designates him as the third most powerful musical celebrity.
Sounds like a most irritating little brat and had all the little girls crying on his recent tour where he turned up two hours late for his gig - by which time the mummies and daddies had been obliged to take kiddies home to bed.
His travelling monkey has been confiscated in Germany I believe.

[PSDave]

its called commerce and marketing. The Chinese paid huge bucks -- more than Speedo, TYR or Arena were willing to pay--to have their suits on the Americans. Since US sports are largely funded by private donations, unlike many countries, the teams went for the bucks and not patriotism.

[Byron]

Sad but true . Another example : GB swimmers take a £4m cut in funding now - punishment for not coming up with impressive medals in 2012.

What does this do to the morale of the sportsmen? - can they feel to be anything more than a product on a supermarket shelf ?

[shaulis]

US athletes in all sports know starting from a young age that winning and money go hand in hand. I think the morale of athletes in the US is moot because they know winning equals money. Whether this line of rationale is right or wrong is another question.