If you're a competitive swimmer, or are looking to train in the pool a LOT (two or more times a week), this is the perfect suit. I bought my standard swimsuit size (P.S. sizing tip- I find the size most accurately represents the size of your ribcage. Aka, take the measurement along the widest part of your ribcage and that should be close to the size that you need) and it fit exactly as I expected it to. If you're unsure, err on the larger size, because the suit has little stretch to it. But it's SUPPOSED to be like that. I have bought these suits before. I had one last me for 5 (!) years of continual abuse. I'm talking 20 hours a week in the pool and it lasted for 5 YEARS! The next one I bought has so far lasted me 3 years. This is the latest one that I bought, and I'm mostly using it a meet suit, and a backup practice suit. The quality is so excellent for the price. Tips to make your suit last a really, really, really long time: * After you are done swimming, rinse your suit in cold water. DO NOT WASH IT unless you absolutely have to. NEVER PUT YOUR SUIT IN A WASHING MACHINE! Doing so will ruin your suit much faster. If you MUST wash, use gentle detergent and wash in cold water. And for Phelp's sake, DO NOT PUT IT IN A DRYER OMG WHYYYYYYY * Dry your suit after every practice. "Duh," you might say, but trust me, seasoned swimmers often leave suits in their bags due to laziness (or because we forgot as we were stuffing our faces/taking a nap/etc.). Make sure you hang it up someplace where it can get 100% dry. If you leave it wet for long periods of time, you get stuff called "dry mold", which is yes, literally mold, that looks like a white powder, but is difficult to remove from your suit. Drying is important to keeping yourself clean, and your suit lasting a long time. * Less important than the other two, but be gentle when putting your suit on and off. Yes, it will be tight at first, but that doesn't mean you should force it on, like the Hulk in reverse. Stretching out your suit will damage the fibers. Bottom line: This suit is superb quality, really the best practice suit you can buy. The fit is true to size, but tight. But if you are a seasoned competitor, it should not bother you (those who are less into tight suits should definitely size up!). Expect your suit to last you years!
