threat level: speedo

it's about damn time... anyone who has ever been a swimmer or watched competitive swimming knows the sad decline (and growth) of the male swimsuit over the past several years. (suits thru the ages here) as one olympic swimmer said in a recent NYT article, swimming is the "the most popular boring sport in the world" so when the eye candy is removed, what fun is watching? (sorry ladies, but female swimmers could wear a potato sack for all i care) any eye candy enthusiast will tell you that the right dimensions of suits should only cover from the david to the dangle. showing here...

suits grew from this to the current craze below, full-body suits, that make you super fast and cover way too much.

after last weekend's upset at the world championships - German swimmer Paul Biedermann beat Michael Phelps in "his" event, the 200 freestyle, and set a new world record in the 400 free, suspicion and debate over the new suits has erupted. american swimmers are committed to speedo, and their LZR suit. considered "sleek, but not buoyant"

after the 2008 olympics, people accused the american team of cheating for using these suits. not surprisingly, now that other countries are using polyurethane suits (apparently even faster as they provide buoyancy) the americans are calling them cheaters. FINA, the international organization who runs swimming, will create a panel who will define what materials will be allowed in suits. they intend to ban these suits by 2010, requiring that suits only cover from waist to knee. at least it's a step in the right direction; over-covering our swimmers lets the terrorists win.

those who actually care about swimming say that these suits are ruining the sport; as records fall left and right at the championships, they say it is the suits that are getting faster, not the swimmers. supposebly (damn, i love it when people use that "word") phelps will not swim until the ban takes effect.

**note: don't get me wrong, i don't mean to encourage your fat hairy husband to wear a speedo or thong at the beach, this plea only applies to professional swimmers.