Shelf Life

I've been swimming regularly (as in three times a week) for 13 months now.

I have gone through two bathing suits.

The first was an old one that I had bought years earlier but had never used. It had sat abandoned in my running clothes drawer until I pulled it out and dusted it off last October. I wore it until late August at which point I decided that it was high time to retire it and get a new one. Not because it was falling apart. Just because I had, by that point, lost 15 pounds and it was looking a little frumpy.

That suit was a TYR and  I really liked it so I went out and, with the help of a nice lady at Sport Check, found a TYR suit in my new size and brought it home.

I now had a new, flashy (well there was a splash of blue on it!) TYR suit to carry me for another 10-12 months of swimming.

I treated the new suit the same way I treated the old one. I took a quick, freshwater shower before each swim. I swam for 1 1/2 hours in a chlorinated pool. I came out, showered in freshwater and rinsed out my suit. I drove home and hung it to dry in the bathtub.

Last Friday, as I was getting dressed after my swim, I notice that my suit was really starting to break down. The back was turning white from all the little elastic bits that fray with use. The bottom was thinning as well.

After only three months.

I'm not that well-trained yet in swimming culture to know how long things last and what brands are the most reliable. I know exactly how long my running shoes last but bathing suits are another story.

My first lasted 11 months but hadn't really started breaking down yet - it was just too big.

My second suit, after 3 months, is showing enough signs of decay that I'm thinking I had better take advantage of Boxing Day sales and stock up.

Both were the same brand.

Any tips swimming friends? Any brands you know that stand up to chlorine and regular swimming? Anything else I should be doing besides rinsing out my suit after each swim?