JUST ASKING: Watching the Olympics sporadically, we notice that the women beach volleyball players wear skintight two-piece Speedo-style swimsuits with micro-mini bottoms. My bride and I were wondering, is there any practical reason for this? There's an obvious aesthetic reason. But is there any aerodynamic rationale for the skimpy suits? If so, it would seem to be contradicted by the ball cap and shades all the players wear. There's a protection and comfort factor here too. Would YOU ordinarily want to be wearing a bikini if you had to throw yourself headlong onto the sand from time to time? And the women have to pause after each point to unwedge the suit from their butts.

At the same time, many women swimmers have gone to the bodysuits that come down below the knee. All in all, I believe the aesthetic reason, the hot-girls-in-bikinis factor, is the most logical explanation for these outfits. If one was really conspiratorial-minded, one might even ask why Norway has a women's beach volleyball team in the first place.