In New Zealand swim shorts have replaced speedos. As such it is very unusual to see a guy in a speedo, and never a teenager.
When I grew this was not the case. Speedos were the required swim wear on the beach and at the pool. No one seemed to be concerned about how little was left to the imagination. Speedos were the only form of swimwear available for boys, in fact the Christchurch City Council did not allow the use of anything else such as shorts.
We didn’t know the figure hugging costume that boys wore, originally as “speedos” : I suspect to begin with it was a brand name.
Some of my friends found the distinctive penial bulge of speedos empowering. I was someone who found this awkward as after swimming as a teenager it was usual for my penis to be even more apparent. I can recall one school swimming sports of a race being called off owing to a false start and becoming almost erect in a speedo. My mother who saw this didn't bat an eyelid but it was noted. Generally with male teenagers it was important that your penial bulge was prominent as this was proof that they were now men, or at least that is what we thought. Even though I found speedos awkward as they highlighted my penis, this didn't stop me from swimming. You could say I was of two minds. During my early years at High School I took Life Saving as the summer sports option. We did our training in the Municipal Pool wearing loose fitting speedos. 15 year old boys handling each other, practicing mouth to mouth and so on was quite erotic. That we were somewhat aroused, and this was hardly not obvious, didn't really matter as we were about the only people there early in the morning and of course we were all the same. My best friend had a particular thing about speedos and was most concerned that his penis was protruding or bulging from his swim suit more than his friends' and in particular how his bulge had to be bigger than mine. There was a sort of teenage one up man's ship on penis sizes That is to say he used the speedo to compare and contrast. He didn't have the same sense of embarrassment to me and took pleasure in advertising his wares at the swimming pool by walking about in a “cool” manner making sure the sunbathers had a good look. He, incidentally was not the only boy doing this, promenarding their penis. In fact you say it was d’rigour. He was incredibly envious of me . What this was about was never said. I surmised that he had observed how I generally had the impression of an erection showing through my speedos as I pulled myself from the water. On the beach you would see young men in very skimpy gear just covering their pubic hair with semi- erect penises wondering about. We watched with interest the Surf Club members competing for various cups : running : reel : manning the surf boat all wearing speedos with various erections obvious even more so if the togs were wet.
To diverge slightly : the costumes were not that robust or for that matter skin tight and at a beach with a strong surf running it was not unusual for the speedo to be torn to one's ankles or even ripped off. That was when you would see the real thing. Pulling each other's speedo off in the breaking waves was a typical teenage prank, then throwing the garment from one boy to another, leaving the victim swimming naked for what seemed a long time, after which the togs would be thrown back. It is curious to think of us boys milling about on the beach with prominent penial bulges and how we chatted standing up to our parents lying sunbathing with our penises almost in their face. We wore our speedos with the penis down but pulled slightly up, so when the penis was or became semi-erect it extended forward even more. We never went deliberately left or right dressing. In swimming a penis extending up towards the naval indicated an erection had happened. You needed to be careful in this case or your penis would pop out of the side of your speedo or come out past the drawstring. There wasn't much leeway, If it did we would cover our erection with our hands and run for a towel. I had this particular problem and when shorts became allowed found it much easier as that an erection was less apparent. No one ever said anything at the time. Generally we were all semi-erect. I feel this was caused by the slight rubbing effect of the material used in the manufacture of the swim suit. My best friend was particularly proud of his penial bulge and would position his penis to accentuate it. Myself, as I had an issue with erections, positioned my penis up along my stomach, so that if it grew it was not sticking out in the same way as his.With the benefit of hindsight the wearing of speedos provided a sexual display with the way it highlighted the penis. As teenagers we saw them simply as swimming wear. It does occur to me now that we might of well have been swimming naked without this so called costume. In the dressing sheds my friends who would go along with it looked at what each had, but furtively, others went in for skinny dipping late at night or in the day sometimes. I can recall my best friend's brother climbing over the fence of the local swimming pool at night with his friends and skinny dipping. He would skinny dip during the day, with others, at a well known party venue which was supposed to be a holiday home. My brother, who was part of our group, would skinny dip with his mates, when they went camping together in the mountains. Howard.
