How to Buy Men's Swimsuits

For competitive swimming as well as aquatic fitness activities, such as lap swimming and water aerobics, a good swimsuit will increase your efficiency in the water, keep you feeling comfortable during your activity, and stand up better to the deteriorating effects of chlorinated water than most fashion swimsuits.

  • Determine Your Size
    • Measuring Tips
    • Step-by-Step Measuring Guide
    • Find Your Size
  • Determine How You'll Use Your Suit
    • Racing/Competitve Swimming
    • Aquatic Fitness
  • When to Replace Your Swimsuit

Determine Your Size

To determine your swimsuit size, you'll need to measure yourself using a tape measure.

Measuring Tips

  • Take your measurements while wearing only your underwear
  • Stand in front of a mirror
  • While measuring, make sure that the tape measure is straight, not twisted
  • To get an accurate measurement, the tape measure should be snug, but not pinching or tight

Step-by-Step Measuring Guide

  • Find your natural waistline by bending to one side. While standing straight, measure around your waistline
  • Men should measure just above the hipbone (or about an inch below your natural waistline) to determine the appropriate swimsuit size


Find Your Size

  • If you are between sizes, choose the smaller size in a racing/competition suit and the larger size in an aquatic fitness suit
  • Most men's suits are sized based on waist measurement. Men should choose the size that corresponds with their waist measurements.

Determining Your Suit Size

Men's Swimsuits

Size

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

Waist

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

Determine How You'll Use Your Suit

To select the right suit, first determine the activity for which you'll be wearing the suit most often:

  • Racing/Competitive swimming which includes both practicing and racing at either the school or club level
  • Aquatic Fitness which includes activities such as lap swimming and water aerobics

Racing/Competitive Swimming

  • For both training and competition, competitive swimmers need high-performance suits that maximize speed in the water and improve glide times by reducing drag and increasing water flow.
  • Many swimmers buy separate suits for training and competition. For both training and competition, compression, resulting in a tight fit, is the key.

Sizing

  • For training, buy your normal size, but realize that the fit will be snugger than that of a regular fashion swimsuit
  • For competition, consider buying a suit at least one size smaller than your training suit

Construction

  • Support
    • Swimsuits for both training and competition support through compression
  • Lining
    • Suits for top-level competition are not lined, since reducing drag is a priority. However, many men's suits for training are front-lined.
    • A suit with lining will generally last longer, and hold its shape and color better than an unlined suit

Styling

  • Men's competition and training suits have moderately cut leg openings, drawcords in the interior of the waistband, and side seams of about 3-inches
  • For men wanting more coverage, training suits with lower leg openings and side seams up to seven-inches are available, but they are not the norm for training or competition

Fabrication

  • Although there are many hybrid fabrics for racing/competitive swimming available, most swimsuits for this sport are done in blends of nylon/spandex. (Lycra is a specific brand of spandex made by DuPont and is found in many swimsuits.)
  • Improvements in fiber engineering have resulted in swimsuit materials that are more resistant to chlorine than ever. Suits for racing/competitive swimming typically use these more durable versions of nylon and spandex.

Aquatic Fitness

  • For lap swimming and water aerobics, you will need a suit that provides comfort and freedom of movement, plus coverage and support
  • Men will find training suits designed for the competitive swimmer to be most appropriate for lap swimming for fitness
  • Fit should be snug but not tight. A good fitting suit will stay in place during vigorous movement, but not pinch, bind or ride up in the seat.

When to Replace Your Swimsuit

  • Despite the advances in fiber technology, chlorine will eventually deteriorate swimsuit fabrics. When your suit begins to bag or feels looser than when it was new, it is time to replace your suit.

How to Select a Little Girl's Swimsuit

By eHow Fashion, Style & Personal Care Editor

It may seem like it wouldn't take much thought to select a swimsuit for a little girl. However, there are several factors that come into play for little girls and their swimsuits. They need to be comfortable, maintenance-free and provide adequate coverage. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Check for comfort and fit. When selecting a swimsuit for your little girl, it's important to try the suit on her. Let her move in it in the dressing room. If it's restrictive in the dressing room, it's not going to be comfortable on the beach. In the same sense, if the straps are continually dropping off of her shoulders, the suit is not going to be comfortable, either.

Step2

Determine the fabric-type and read the care instructions. If a suit is going to require hand washing or special treatment, then it's not going to be a very practical suit for the summer. White or light-colored suits get dirty easier when going to the beach. Darker colored suits endure stains better. However, darker suits tend to fade out more in the sun. A suit devoid of lots of accessories or trim will wash better, too.

Step3

Ensure proper coverage of the suit. If the suit is continually slipping or falling in the chest or bottom areas, it's not going to provide adequate coverage. Additionally, if your child is extra sensitive to the sun, a one-piece suit will be better than a two-piece suit. Some suits come with "extras" such as a cover-up or a sarong. These suits are always good because they provide extra coverage.

Step4

Check the lining. Every little girl's swimsuit should include a lining in the crotch area. Little girls are just as susceptible to yeast infections as adults and need a good lining in the bottoms of their swimsuits, too.


Wednesday 16 May 2012

The Effects of Technical Suits on Swimming Performance Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/347469-the effects of technica suits on swimming performance

May 26, 2011 | By Barrett Barlowe 
The Effects of Technical Suits on Swimming Performance
The more streamlined your shape, the faster and easier you slip through the water when you swim. Technical suits compress your body in all the important places to make you hydrodynamic. Specialized suits do not impede your movements or ability to take deep breaths.

History and Evolution

Swimming costumes started out designed for modesty rather than speed in the water. Pioneering swimmer Annette Kellerman shocked the public when she donned thigh-revealing swimsuits in the early 1900s, but those suits enhanced the safety and comfort of women swimmers who previously struggled in the water, weighed down by heavy garments. Swimsuits shrank in the decades leading up to the 21st century as experts tried to reduce drag. Advances in the study of the biomechanics of swimming as well as fluid dynamics revealed that compressing and shaping the body rather than uncovering it held promise for faster speeds during races.

Permeable versus Non-Permeable suits

Swimming suit fabrics evolved from wool, to rubberized cottons, to Lycra and Spandex-type materials. They got tighter, more form fitting and flatter against body curves. All the materials were water permeable and woven. In a technical first, Speedo teamed up with NASA engineers after the 2004 Olympics and created a swimsuit that greatly reduced drag. Speedo added polyurethane panels that repelled water. The water slicking action eliminated the friction caused when water meets and interacts with fibers. The high-tech suits featured "ultrasonically welded" rather than stitched seams, which further enhanced the streamline effect.

Compression

Specialized racing suits transformed imperfect physiques into ideal shapes for swimming. Lumps, bumps and curves reset according to the compression panels contained in the high-tech suits. Some swimmers wore two suits, and the layer of air trapped in between helped make them stay higher in the water. Swimmers not ordinarily in the running for medals surged ahead, literally buoyed by the supportive suits. The technical suits gave swimmers with average abdominal strength the sleek lines of a honed athlete without spending months building balance and core strength.

Controversy

The Speedo "LZR Racer" suit burst onto the international swimming scene during the 2008 Olympics with its polyurethane panels that made swimmers slick in the water. Michael Phelps wore the suit on his way to a record eight gold medals. Advances in suit technology blurred the line between swimsuits and flotation devices. Manufacturers such as Jaked came out with more extreme versions of the LZR Racer suit, adding more polyurethane coverage and compressing the core abdominals much like a girdle.

Bans

In addition to technical concerns about the high-tech suits, the high price tag of technical suits grated on officials and spectators, who considered the suit an unfair advantage to wealthy competitors. USA Swimming banned the suits for young competitors aged 12 and under following the 2008 Olympics, and later, the international governing board of swimming, FINA, banned "non-fabric" suits that covered the entire body for all international competitions. Confusion remains, though, about exactly which suits qualify for what competition and whether officials should nullify the "technical suit medal" record times.
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