Supersize me

I bought a new swimsuit today. My old one was probably all right, but I was getting a little nervous. I don't know if you've ever had a swimsuit collapse on you, but it is an embarrassing experience. I am still traumatised by the time a few years ago I climbed out of the pool and my swimsuit decided it would like to stay behind. It had drooped almost to my knees before I noticed, hitched up the sagging folds and made a dash for it. It was a surprising experience, and not a nice surprise, either, because the swimsuit didn't just droop alarmingly, it turned transparent. I didn't know a swimsuit could die so spectacularly. I thought it was more of a gradual thing.

So while my current swimsuit seems all right, in my hypersensitive alertness to swimsuit collapse I had noticed - or thought I noticed - a slight loss of elasticity around the legs. This coincided with a sale of swimsuits at the gym, so I checked out the racks and tried a few on.

In the end I decided on a two-piece thing with long shorts. (I tried to find a picture of something similar on the web, but either this is a fantastically unfashionable style or I don't know what to call it, because I couldn't find anything remotely like it.)

I tried on the L size and it was too small for me.

I then tried on the 2L size, and it was a little tight under the arms but not unacceptably so, so I bought it. It was cheap. They didn't have anything larger anyway, and the price was right. It was less than 4000 yen. The original price was 12,000 yen.

After my usual cycling and machines workout, I had a swim. The new swimsuit feels lovely and safe. I am no longer nervous about the old men eyeing me from the Jacuzzi as I climb out of the pool.

I weighed myself before my swim, because the scales were beside the door between the changing room and the pool. I discovered that supersize me weighs fifty one point two kilos.