Jacob Shiplet has spent the past few decades around swimming as a competitor, coach and parent, but he vividly remembers the sticker shock when he shopped for a technical swimsuit with his daughter, Riley.
Such a suit, which is more technologically advanced in order to create compression, reduce water resistance and help competitors swim fast in high-stakes meets , routinely costs at least $400.
"There's a lot of money in the pool at one time," said Shiplet, Hilliard Bradley's eighth-year coach. "You'll go to these (championship) meets and you'll see every girl in one and every boy in one. If you don't have one, you're really at a disadvantage.
"It's like how it is with everything else. You have to have the best of the best."
Whether the biggest benefits are mental or physical – or a combination of both – the term "suit up" will be heard throughout the postseason, which begins Saturday with sectional meets and culminates with state Feb. 20-24 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
"It means you're going to a fast meet and you need to do well," said St. Charles sophomore Jake Lloyd, who ranks third statewide in Division I in the 50-yard freestyle (20.56) and fifth in the 100 free (46.03), according to SwimMeet.com .
New Albany senior Ashlyn Morr, an Auburn signee who was fourth in the 200 free and fifth in the 100 free in last year's Division I state meet , said: "The more I race in a suit, the better I feel, the more comfortable I feel in a big meet. It gets us in the mindset of racing, racing each other, racing faster."
Several central Ohio swimmers cited Arena, Mizuno, Speedo and TYR as the most popular brands. Preferences range from comfort to durability and whether a swimmer specializes in sprint or distance.
Nylon, rubber and spandex lend to tech suits' compression. The suits usually last only a handful of meets.
"(Picking the right suit) is a science, but it's also an art," Columbus Academy coach Anthony Russo said. "You put that suit on and mentally, you think, 'I have a fast suit on, I feel faster.' You feel that instant compression and that speed."
New Albany senior Kaden Elkovitch, whose regular-season time of 21.07 in the 50 free ranks seventh statewide, said he tried each of the popular brands before settling on TYR.
"Each suit has its own personality," Elkovitch said. "The comfort doesn't really matter to me. You can put the suit on 10 minutes before you swim and take it off right after. For me, it's about how it compresses my muscles for maximum performance."
St. Charles sophomore Austin Carpenter, who will swim the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley in the postseason, said some suits have pinched his hips so hard that they contributed to muscle spasms.
Pickerington North senior Chase McCluskey said putting on the suits can be "painful."
"It'll rip out your hair and sometimes tear off your skin," McCluskey said, pointing to a healing scab on his left middle finger. "You have to file your nails to make sure you don't tear the suit. There are multiple things that can happen."
In central Ohio, the postseason begins with five sectional meets, three in Division I and two in Division II. The winner of each sectional event advances to next week's district meets, and the field is rounded out by at-large competitors based on time.
The Division II district meet is Feb. 16, followed the next day by Division I. Both are at Ohio University.
Grandview Heights junior Carrie Furbee, the defending Division II state champion in the 50 free and 100 free and an Ohio State commit, said Speedo Pure Intent is her suit of choice.
"Our hardest workouts are behind us," she said. "We just need to be focusing on the technicalities, keeping everything to its best possible level."
New Albany coach Dave Wharton, a seven-time NCAA champion at Southern California, two-time Olympian (1988 and 1992) and two-time world record-setter, said fabric suits that were so thin they felt like paper were popular when he competed.
"It was a different technology 30 years ago, but the theory of preparing, that doesn't change," he said. "What you do to prepare has evolved over time, like anything else."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Ohio high school swimmers choose championship meet swimsuits
