Fire Engine Red

Wednesday morning I went to the pool sporting my brand new, fire engine red, TYR bathing suit.

Why should you care?

Because it is the first bathing suit I have purchased in 15 months.

When I first started swimming, I purchased a bathing suit. My criteria was that it had to fit well and it had to look more 'swimmer' than beach goddess. I found a great suit that met the standard and I wore it proudly.

It took less than two months of swimming before it started to disintegrate from the chlorine.

I bought another one.

And another one.

The best one lasted three months before it became transparent when I held it up to the light.

Finally I had the good sense to complain about it in the change room. All the women there immediately chimed in to tell me that I had to purchase a chlorine-resistant suit.

Seriously?!? It's that simple?? These things actually exist?

In retrospect I should not have been surprised. I have learned through all my sports that there is an invention out there to meet absolutely every need - real or imagined.

I was told about a swim shop about 30 minutes away that sells all sorts of swim supplies as well as a wide variety of chlorine-resistant suits.

Last January, and by that I mean January 2013, Doug and I made the trip. I bought a lovely blue Speedo for about $30 more than I had been paying for the see-through suits. I figured I'd have won if it lasted six months instead of three.

It lasted 15 months thank you very much and it is still perfectly opaque in all the right places. The only problem is that it slowly stretched over time and I was now spending a bit too much time adjusting it in the pool in order to remain respectable.

So on Monday I headed back up the highway and purchased another suit. A bright red one this time. A TYR.

When I wore it to the pool on Wednesday, I felt super fast. I had forgotten how good it feels to have a bathing suit that fits snugly and that doesn't sag or shift. The long slow stretch went unnoticed for so long - kinda like how running shoes slowly wear down and you only realize how bad they are when you put on a new pair.

In fact it was kinda weird to see the outline of Dexter and of my infusion site. Weird in a good way - like I was a cyborg with fancy cyborg parts.

My red suit and I will be spending lots of hours together.

Fifteen months is the new record.

Let's see how long this puppy lasts.