A piece of chocolate cake. Its perfection beckons you, but you hesitate since you’ve played this game before. You savor the first few rich bites, and then you realize it’s fading fast. Bite by bite, the more you try to make it last the faster it’s gone.
This is a vivid metaphor of aswimmer’s relationship with Lycra swimsuits [gasp]…I know.
Lycra swimsuits are great. The elastic/spandex material instantly becomes a second skin, and water seems to flow right past you. It’s smooth to the touch, stretchy, and fast in the pool, but unfortunately it’s also fast into the trash.
With repeated exposure to chlorine and other elements, Lycra’s elastic base loses its strength and begins to sag, and constant sunlight, drying, and saturating, the less durable material is reduced to an ill-fitting drag suit.
This usually happens in a month or two, and for some people, it’s definitely worth it. The alternative, polyester, has a history of being thick, bulky, and constricting, and it’s much less breathable design left something to be desired.
Now you can have your cake and eat it too (and enjoy it much longer).
Polyester swimsuits have made huge leaps in design and fit, which are accredited to new weave patterns, and flexibility. Polyester is much more hydrophobic than the spandex found in lycra, which means it won’t absorb as much water, will dry faster, and will keep its shape longer.
In addition, polyester suits have added some elastic blends to their fabric as well as have increased the number of airways through the common polyester weave pattern, both of which increase comfort and durability.
Polyester suits have been tested to last up to fourtimes longer than Lycra suits, and with new improvements in fit and feel, theygive you the same comfort as well.
I think Lycra suits maystill be the race-day swimsuit to own, but if you’re looking for a speedy, comfortable, and long-lasting suit, polyester is now the way to go. Pick up a polyester suit, put down your fork, and go swim off that cake.
You can seeMen’s & Women’s high quality Dura2 Polyester Swimsuits on our GH Sports’ website.
~Kevin Jervis, GH Sports Team
