Can I substitute a tight fitting athletic shirt for a rash guard in the pool?

[Anonymous]

Just be careful. We did this in a pinch when we forgot a rash guard. Really rubbed his chest raw.

[Anonymous]

I have done this. I get cold really easily, so I prefer to swim with a rash guard, especially if I'm mostly just supervising my daughter and not really swimming.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

You can get one on Amazon

[Anonymous]

When my daughter managed to lose her swimsuit, I had to scramble to find one for her January swim class. Dick’s Sporting Goods had them, but at a premium. If you really hate money, you could also visit a swim club shop. It’s where swim teams buy their matching gear.

[Anonymous]

How does sitting in a wet shirt make you warmer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does sitting in a wet shirt make you warmer?

It doesn’t . It’s not a wet suit that keeps you warmer in the water. Mostly it keeps the sun off your skin in the summer and it maybe protects you from harsh sand/surf contact, but otherwise it’s just for fashion. Or, like the one PP said it keeps you warmer on your way to the pool.
It does dry quickly much like a non cotton bathing suit does too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does sitting in a wet shirt make you warmer?

It doesn’t . It’s not a wet suit that keeps you warmer in the water. Mostly it keeps the sun off your skin in the summer and it maybe protects you from harsh sand/surf contact, but otherwise it’s just for fashion. Or, like the one PP said it keeps you warmer on your way to the pool.
It does dry quickly much like a non cotton bathing suit does too.

Right. So I don’t understand the argument that people wear swim shirts indoors to stay warm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does sitting in a wet shirt make you warmer?

It doesn’t . It’s not a wet suit that keeps you warmer in the water. Mostly it keeps the sun off your skin in the summer and it maybe protects you from harsh sand/surf contact, but otherwise it’s just for fashion. Or, like the one PP said it keeps you warmer on your way to the pool.
It does dry quickly much like a non cotton bathing suit does too.

Right. So I don’t understand the argument that people wear swim shirts indoors to stay warm.

Yeah same. I mean sitting around outside the pool it'll keep you warm, but once you're in the water the top is now wet, and once you get out the top is still wet, so you're now sitting in a wet long sleeved shirt...

[Anonymous]

We're going back to the Victorian era for men's swimming attire. Teen boys are afraid to be seen shirtless (maybe because so many are fat, out of shape slobs?) and teen girls are wearing practically nothing now. At our pool, high school girls were all wearing bikinis that bordered on being thongs. Even those girls who should've been wearing one-piece suits with vertical styling.

Ridiculous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're going back to the Victorian era for men's swimming attire. Teen boys are afraid to be seen shirtless (maybe because so many are fat, out of shape slobs?) and teen girls are wearing practically nothing now. At our pool, high school girls were all wearing bikinis that bordered on being thongs. Even those girls who should've been wearing one-piece suits with vertical styling.

Ridiculous

Agreed, it's really f#cking weird. Parents are obsessed with covering up their boys (cancer! the sun!) while little girls run around mostly naked by the time they are 5 years old.

WTF is going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH does anyone need a rash guard in an indoor pool for?

No surf. No sand. No bodysurfing. Therefore, no rash.

I don't get it

After you get wet, if you get out of the water and sit on the side of the pool or get out on the deck, then even the warm air in the pool room can feel cold. If my kids did not wear rash guards and had to sit wet outside the pool, in a matter of a couple of minutes they'd be shivering and one would have blue lips (it's happened). The rash guard helps keep them a little warmer when not in the water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does sitting in a wet shirt make you warmer?

It doesn’t . It’s not a wet suit that keeps you warmer in the water. Mostly it keeps the sun off your skin in the summer and it maybe protects you from harsh sand/surf contact, but otherwise it’s just for fashion. Or, like the one PP said it keeps you warmer on your way to the pool.
It does dry quickly much like a non cotton bathing suit does too.

Right. So I don’t understand the argument that people wear swim shirts indoors to stay warm.

Air on wet skin pulls the body heat out faster than air on a wet shirt does. It's not the best insulator, but the fabric does give some limited insulation. You can still get cold, but it takes longer. My kids will get cold in about 30-90 seconds with out a rash guard on (when wet) and in about 3-5 minutes with one on. During classes, they may sit on the pool edge for a minute or two at various times during class. If they don't have a rash guard, they end up shivering through parts of the lesson and pay less attention. When they have one on, they can make it through class without shivering or blue lips. Having gone to open family swim sessions with them, I've watched the difference so I know the difference.