Iron Mike here presents to you twelve days* of gift ideas for the marathon swimmer in your life. Check back daily!

Day one: Thursday, 14 December. Suits.

I am one of those swimmers (people) who are loyal to a brand when that brand works. Particularly, I am loyal to a particular model when that model works for me. Swimsuits are no different. I buy two brands of suits and only two brands. For each of those brands, I buy one model of suit and only that model of suit. (So, with my luck, I’m sure at some point in the future those models will be discontinued.)

But the suits I buy work for me. And maybe they’ll work for you too.

Dolfin Uglies. I bought these early-on simply because I wanted to make a statement. An ugly statement. But you know what? These suits have grown on me. They’re not boring, that is for sure. And they’re square-leg, which I seem to have more and more trouble finding. I think I have 4 or 5 pairs now. Whenever I do an order with SwimOutlet I’ll throw a grab-bag suit in. Good, solid trunks that last through miles and miles of swimming.

Speedo Endurance+. These suits last forever. I’ve worn these for more than 10 years now I think, and in all that time I’ve had to throw two away. They finally got sheer in the region of the suit where you don’t want it to be see-through. And that was back before I knew any better and I used those suit drying spinny things. I wear these now mostly in open water and in races when I don’t want to make too much of a splash with my Uglies. A little more expensive than the other suits, and I haven’t see these in grab-bags yet, but worth every penny.

*Yes, I know the 12 Days of Christmas is actually from 25 December to 5 January in the western Christian tradition. But if you’re shopping for that swimmer in your life, you gotta start before the 25th!