Arena has done a great job with this suit. The suit uses a high quality polyester similar to that used in suits made for the European market. So, you get the long-term durability of a polyester suit with the comfort of a nylon/lycra suit. Arena made a similar suit for the American market back in 2000. I got about 2 years of use out of it. I'm hoping for the same here. The suit is true to size, and may even run a bit large. I wear a 30" waist in pants/jeans, and found that the 28" Arena suit fits perfectly. There's a lot of overlap in waist sizes between the Adult and Youth makes of this suit. I see only one difference. The Adult suit is cut a bit more generously on the sides (2.75 vs 2).