What NOT to Wear During Swim Workouts
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When I first got into swimming there was a lot to learn: getting side breathing down, avoiding backward propulsion while kicking, not drowning, and, the focus of this post, what NOT to wear.
I had just graduated from my adult learn to swim class and joined a Masters group. One morning, before leaving home, I was packing my gym bag for the day’s workout. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find either pair of my usual swim trunks. I dug through the pile of shorts in my closet and finally found a suit I hadn’t worn for quite a few years. I tossed it into my bag and ran out the door.
Later that day at the gym, I showered off and went to put on the old swimsuit. I immediately realized that I had failed to take one important point into consideration. That was the suit I wore when I was about 20 pounds heavier and it was loose back then. The last time I had worn it quickly flashed through my mind. I had taken it out to the lake and gone inter-tubing behind a boat. Pathetically, as I was being pulled, I fell off into the water, and as I did, the swim trunks got pulled down to my ankles. Fortunately, nobody on the boat noticed—or at least didn’t acknowledged that they did. So now, these same shorts that had the annoying tendency to fall down when I had a larger waist refused to stay up at all. I was not deterred. With a pocket knife, a little string, and a little ingenuity, I was able to tie them up, though in a somewhat conspicuous fashion. With these baggy shorts, I quickly went out to the pool and slid into the water, hoping nobody would see me.
That night I ordered a real swimsuit for training.
You can learn a couple lessons from this experience: first, don’t let anything get in the way of your training and second, be sure and know what you should and shouldn’t wear. So, without further ado, here is what to never wear during a swim workout:
- Anything you would wear to the beach. For men, there may be too much of it and for women too little.
- Something too big or too small.
- An old suit you find in your closet.
- Cutoff jeans—just don’t.
- Toad’s bathing suit. People—and any animals hanging about—will laugh at you.
By this point, you may be wondering what you should wear—and yes, you should wear something if you plan on being allowed to continue your training at the pool. There are several options out there. I like to wear a triathlon suit (just the shorts). Not only am I fully used to the suit for when I race, but it’s also a great way to meet other triathletes at the pool who are dressed the same as you.
SwimOutlet.com has some great articles about other types of suits available:
For Women:
For Men:
Now, every time I see some guy on the pool deck wearing some baggy shorts and hoping into the pool for a few laps, I smile to myself and remember how that used to be me.
Oh, and if you do get in a situation where you have nothing but baggy swim trunks available, just say it’s your drag suit.
