I went to my first masters class (in Vancouver) on the North American continent last night and ALL of the guys were wearing jammers. I normally swim in my DSS tri shorts or speedos (as all the triathletes/serious swimmers do in the UK) but find long jammers look wierd to me. Is it just a regional thing or is it perceived modesty? For the record I think if you are overweight or carrying a gut it look just as bad in jammers as in speedos (evidence can be seen at Penticton when I am getting out of my wetsuit after the morning swims 
I suspect that it is the lemming thing. Most people copy what they see others doing, probably with little consideration for the reasons why it may or may not be best for them.
Isn’t this why most male triathletes shave their legs?
It seems to be about 3/4 of the men still wear speedos in the various masters programs I’ve participated in. I still wear my speedo - it’s nylon and very very durable unlike jammers. Of course, New Mexico is probably about 10 years behind the curve. Seems like most of the older guys wear the jammers - which is probalby a good thing
For me, jammers save the wear and tear on my tri shorts. That’s about it, as well as not really wanting to be seen anymore in the banana hammock…
Aren’t jammers just banana hammocks with legs? I guess you wear a cotton t shirt to ride in instead of a figure fitting cycle jersey then, Mike.
It looks to me as if the guys have all chosen to go swimming in their bike shorts. I guess it’s all perception or maybe the leeming effect as an earlier poster suggested.
I either swim at a health club with a lot of non-swimmers or at a masters group that is mixed with kids swim team and their parents sitting nearby. In both cases, the comfort level is definitley higher in a jammer. I don’t mind the speedo when I am around swimmers only but in mixed company, the jammer just feels right.
Around here it’s kinda a 50/50 split. Most younger swimmers and many triathletes where the jammers. Most older swimmers and many triathletes wear speedo’s.
For the Swimmers I think the likely hood of the lemming affect is stronger than for triathletes. For swimmers you wear the same thing as everyone else on the team, in fact it’s “Team gear”, everyone wears the same suit.
For triathletes, especially those of us who are new and non swimmers I think it’s more of a “modesty” issue. Call me wierd but I’m just not comfortable in speedo’s. For me it’s not a “Fat gut” thing as you have the same gut either way. Just seems to be some sort of security in having legs on. Like the difference between wearing shorts or wlking around in your underware, I guess. Certainly not a lemming effect for me because I don’t shave my legs…hell I don’t shave my face.
~Matt
I consider myself a serious swimmer (started swimming as an age-grouper at age 6) and wore speedos forever. Started recently wearing jammers and like them better. Maybe because they cover the tan lines from my cycling shorts.
**Aren’t jammers just banana hammocks with legs? I guess you wear a cotton t shirt to ride in instead of a figure fitting cycle jersey then, Mike. **
LOL…I guess they are sorta as you describe, but there’s just something about having the “legs” that makes it feel a bit different…just a comfort level, and perhaps an age thing. I’ll leave the Speedos (btw, they make jammers…wonder why?) (and oh, doesn’t many a competitive swimmer wear jammers?) (but I digress) to the younger crowd…
I swam in high school, always wearing speedos, but now I prefer jammers b/c they are much more comfortable. My legs have gotten much bigger since and therefore the speedos seem to cut into my thighs and it’s quite uncomfortable, I don’t get that with jammers. I’ll be doing a 2.4 mile open water race this weekend wearing jammers, even though I own a speedo, I don’t think the drag is that significant, besides, it’s a training race.
If I wore speedos, everyone would still stare at me for my cycling short’s tan lines. Hence, jammers…
(and oh, doesn’t many a competitive swimmer wear jammers?)
yep. 
nothin’ but good ol’ american conservatism.
to paraphrase a character from a book i read:
there’s 2 types of people who wear ‘speedos’: professional swimmers and mtha fckas with style. I am not a professional swimmer.
I wear jammers (Speedo brand) in spint distance races so I swim in them as well. I swam in high school and college, always in a speedo-style suit. Where I swim, most people are wearing baggies, so jammers provide a little more modesty. I don’t think there is any performance loss wearing jammers.
Victor
North American hang ups and puritism/conservatism. As if women don’t realize then men have balls and a penis, so these guys think they’re being more modest in jammers. Personally I think long legged jammers look really dorky, so i still wear a speedo.
It’s a actually a new conservative trend with North American twenty somethings. Twenty years ago everybody wore speedos and thought nothing of it.
It has nothing to do with “good ol’ american conservatism.” I believe the jammers were first made popular by none other than Ian Thopre. You know, that ol’ Australian conservative. 
it’s a regional thing. Most Americans wear jammers, the rest of the world and long-time American swimmers, wear speedos.
Rational reasons for jammers:
- might be slightly faster than speedos if using the new wizbang fabrics.
I think that’s it…
I switched to jammers because I was the only one in the masters class in speedos and I’m not that fast, then went to Germany and was the only one in the pool wearing jammers… oh well.
I can’t wait until fat hairy men start wearing Jammers and leave the speedos to athletes
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I meet a pair of male friends in Penticton in the summer to swim and ride. I get relentless ribbing about my Speedo collection (which fit impeccably with no overlap or protrusion) when we swim sans wesuit. I feel no shame and continue to wear them.
They’re from Vancouver and both wear jammers. Hmmm… Vancouver and an aversion to public Speedo display. Any one in San Francisco, Sydney, Amsterdam or other “brother” cities know of similar sentiments?
You don’t have to shave the bikini area if you wear jammers. If you are a male triathlete that shaves your legs, you just can’t stop at mid thigh…you have to go ALL the way up.
Plus, all of the stores here only carry the thong and the jammer length swimsuits and nothing in between, so your choice is pretty slim.