"Okay Swimmers, take two hundred metres easy to cool down, then climb out for a talk about the new competition regulations this year."
Our coach is Lena Andrews, and we were lucky to have her. Her resume, for a start, included a gold medal finish in the Olympics about a decade back, several medals in the commonwealth games afterwards, and since her retirement from competitions, a coaching history ranging from high level athletes across the country to the current Olympic team.
Such details are, of course, superficial. The real reason we are so lucky to have her, is the smoking hot body she brings to every session. She's tall with elegant long legs that look especially good in the running shorts she wears poolside, not to mention a crop top that shows her exquisitely toned abs. My attendance to sessions was always good, but since she started two months ago, I've made a hundred percent without fail.
My teammates and I gathered around Lena's position. Twenty two of us total in our uni's top-performance squad, we're a relatively small group, and really not funded enough to pay for someone like Lena to be coaching. It is strange that she is here at all, but I know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I've never asked why.
"The World Aquatics Board has recently made a big change to the types of swimsuits allowed in competitions. Nylon swimsuits are now considered performance enhancing items and will be prohibited in competitions. All of your current racing suits will contain nylon, so they will not be permitted; however, your training suits," she looks around at us in our scant but colourful attire, "should be mostly nylon free, so they are permitted in races."
Jake, the team's best freestyle sprinter and unofficial captain interjected, "Does this mean that we will be supplied with new legal racing suits for competitions at some point?"
"I was just getting to that. I have placed an order with a supplier for new suits of an approved style. But it's more than just the material that has changed. With the materials now available, skin provides less drag than these suits, so having them cover as much of you as possible is no longer an advantage. On that note, World Aquatics has provided no minimum amount of skin that must be covered, nor have they implemented any rules regarding modesty."
Lena paused and seamed to enjoy the tension as the sixteen young adults grappled with the implications of what she just said.
"For the gentlemen, short speeds, similar to what you're wearing now will suffice, as any... appendages, shall only cause more drag."
There were a few shy chuckles in response. That was good, she had me worried I'd be in some kind of thong for competitions.
"For ladies; however, for your appendages above the waist, I have ordered a tight fitting garment, which is something like an aquatic sports bra."
The girls breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do we have similar style bottoms to wear?" asked Izzy, a blue-eyed brunette who normally competed freestyle and backstroke events.
"As I said, skin provides less drag than the material. For competitions you will only need the top."
I must have misheard. That can't be what she said.
"Next week, the order will come in and you all can try out the suits in the pool. I'll make it the Monday morning session, there will only be us in the pool, so if any of you feel shy at first, you'll have nothing to worry about."
------
It had taken Lena a long time to convince us all she wasn't joking, afterwards we all headed to the showers in silence. The showers were situated between the changing rooms and the pool, allowing us to look over the water as, now empty, it became still and clear. The pool had a changing village layout with dozens of small cubicles taking up the space, so neither the showers nor the changing room itself was segregated by gender. This also meant we kept our swimsuits on when socialising after the session.
"I still don't think she's being serious, George." Harry told me, unprompted, while running shampoo through his hair.
"I don't know, she was keeping a pretty straight face when telling us about it. And elaborate practical jokes aren't her usual style."
"You're just wishful thinking, letting your dick cloud your judgement."
"It's not that big a deal. Even in their normal suits the girls don't have many secrets. Look, you can basically see all of Ella's bum anyway." I gesture to Ella, whose own suit had ridden quite away up her backside leaving very little to the imagination. Her blonde hair, turned dark in the water, clung in a dense layer to her back, reaching to below her shoulder under the heavy stream of water.
"Well you do have a point, Captain Horny." Ella answers without turning round to look at us.
"Oh shit! Sorry, I didn't mean, it's just-" I try to stammer out my embarrassment, but don't get very far before Ella turns around.
"No, I mean it. We could all probably identify each other just by our arses alone. So what's to stop us from ditching the glorified thong altogether?" She plucked at the bottom of her swimsuit to emphasise her point.
