[jyl]

Thanks for the form help, everyone. I'm starting to feel more at home in the water, and getting to the far end alive is less of a surprise than before! Actually I can do about 150 yd (6 laps of the pool I'm using) with a pretty relaxed, sort of smooth, not super slow crawl. After that I start blowing and get thrashy. This is up from, oh, maybe 10 yd at first, so I'm pleased :-)

Hey, my old swim trunks are no good any more, the waistband has lost all the elastic, it is way too big, and without the drawstring the whole thing would fall off. Plus when I get in the water, the whole thing inflates like I'm wearing a flotation aid.

So I need a swimsuit.

My, in the 20 years or so since I last bought a swimsuit, things have gotten complicated.

There's long and loose surfer-type "board shorts", snug thigh-length "jammers", the infamous show-and-tell skintight skimpy "briefs", and "square cut" suits that are snug but have about as much coverage as, say, runners' shorts.

There are basic black and solid colors, wild geometric and florals, and logo-wear.

And there's different materials, lycra and polyester and nylon and who knows what else.

So, what is a suit or style of suit that will be practical and long lasting for pool swimming, isn't an offense against the fashion gods, and won't automatically revoke my man card?

This is purely for lap swimming. Not going to be used for lounging, sunbathing, beachcombing, river rafting, whatever.