Posted on 08/18/2011 12:19:52 PM PDT by DFG
Roy Lester is out to prove that no man above the age of 50 has any business wearing a skimpy, form-hugging Speedo.
In 2007, Lester was forced out of the Jones Beach lifeguard job he had held for four decades when he was told he had to squeeze into a Speedo for the annual swim test.
The 61-year-old Long Island man, who preferred his slightly more modest pair of biking shorts, refused and lost his job.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
That’s humiliating and it’s just wrong. I mean I can’t imagine having to wear a bikini after three kids and I’d refuse if someone insisted. Hope he wins his lawsuit.
Incorrect, NO man should wear a speed-o ever.
For his swim test? Why not?
No fee, but a good hearty LMAO!
If your kids were drowning on a beach he was guarding, you'd sure as hell think again about that.
Those buff lifeguards you see in cool-looking board shorts are wearing "Speedos" (kind of like the word "kleenex" for tissue -- "Speedo" is the brand that has become synonmous the tight-fitting brief that ALL competitive swimmers wear FOR A REASON -- the exceptions are very tight-fitting suits that Speedo calls "jammers" [other companies like TYR have different names] that go to a couple of inches above the knee, or the full-body high-tech competitive suits that aren't appropriate for lifeguarding in any case) -- that REASON being that baggy shorts create HUGE drag and slow a swimmer down. Lifeguards who see someone drowning are supposed to take off board shorts before they get in the water to swim out and rescue someone.
It's RIGHT that lifeguard should be wearing briefs -- "Speedos," if you will. Being a lifeguard isn't a vanity post. It's a lifesaving post. This guy's vanity could prove fatal to someone he's trying to rescue.
Addendum — those lifeguards you see wearing the cool-looking board shorts are wearing “Speedos” (actually, briefs) UNDERNEATH the board shorts.
Why not? Here’s why not,, his strength, endurance, speed etc are all legitimate ways to measure his ability. Objective standards like speed have to have some relevance to the job you must perform. If he can meet that standard in a normal swimsuit,,, that is enough. The state will have to prove that the speedo is an essential part of bring a lifeguard.
Of course a Muslim female would be approved to do it in a burqua......
As long as I don’t have to see the speedo in open view.
Hum? The life guards on our beaches wear red shorts, sorta look like boxer shorts. Apparently, its OK on the west coast beaches and in public pools. I don’t like men’s speed-o swim wear I am really not interested in knowing whether a man is Jewish or not.
Once again, being a lifeguard isn't a vanity job. It's a lifesaving job. A lifeguard who refuses to wear tight "form-fitting" suit because he looks bad in it, is kind of like a fireman refusing to wear big yellow fire slickers because they're so ugly.
The job isn't to look good on the beach. The job is to be able to rescue people in the water, and big, baggy shorts create a lot of drag in the water. WHY DO YOU THINK COMPETITIVE SWIMMERS WEAR TIGHT-FITTING SUITS??? Trust me, it isn't because they're trying to impress the opposite sex.
Those would produce zero drag, maybe even a little bit less than a speedo since the compression goes almost to the knee.
I've held a Red Cross certificate for years and a BSA certificate for about five years. I wear an ordinary ladies' one-piece suit when I'm guarding.
I hear you on that one, FRiend! You haven't lived until you've been to Walt Disney World and seen dough-white European men in itty bitty bikini briefs, white socks, and sandals!!! Skinny or fat, they all look just as bad in them!!! They all oughtta be arrested!!! ;^)
ON THE OTHER HAND, I had the great pleasure of meeting Lenny Krayzelburg (Olympic swimmer) once, and you had better believe ... that's one guy any red-blooded American woman (yours truly, for example!) would practically insist on seeing "in open view" in a Speedo!!
*sigh* My stars. On a scale of 1 to 10, the guy was a million. And he was sweet and humble, too! *swoon*
I am not talking about underneath. These men and women do not strip down to speedos before the jump in the water.
By the way they are not board shorts.
I don’t care what they wear underneath.
Well, yes, women have it different. A lot of gal guards wear the two-piece suits -- I know Dara Torres trains in the two-pieces. Like the one-pieces, they're very tight, designed for minimum drag.
The biking shorts aren't really designed for swimming, and will likely have more drag, ESPECIALLY if they're real biking shorts with appropriate (!!!) padding in them for men who spend hours on the bike saddle. Bikers wear them in triathlons, yes (where they swim as well as bike and run). And yes, they're going to have less drag than board shorts. But as for vanity -- come on, a guy who looks like crap in a speedo is going to look nearly as bad in skin-tight biking shorts.
The guy wants to be a lifeguard, but he wants the rules of engagement to adjust to him, rather than the other way around.
As you no doubt know, nearly all guys HATE the briefs (Speedo's jammers were marketing genius -- probably increased the ranks on swim teams three-fold). This guy is trying to set a precedent that could very well end up making the male lifeguards not as good as they could be, because if he gets an exception, every other guy is going to want one, too, and the end result will be lifeguards who are slower in the water, purely because of their vanity.
Professionals put needs over wants. The behavior of this guy doesn't sound all that professional to me.
Have you asked them?
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