When twin brothers Bob and Bill Meistrell designed their first realistic wetsuit then they co-founded their brand, Body Glove Swimwear, in a Boonville pool in Missouri in 1953.
According to them, the first sensible wetsuit discovered by them in 1953 has transformed the ways of diving and surfing. It helped in the birth of Body Glove as that wetsuit fits like a glove to the body.
In 1953, Bill was offered to buy Dive N’ Surf, a local dive/marine shop, owned by Bev Morgan and Hap Jacobs. Jacobs wanted to leave that shop. Both the brothers bought one-third of that business by borrowing $1,800 from their mother. They continued as lifeguards as part-time to manage things accordingly.
Bob and Bill wanted to fight with the cold water of California. From bikini fashion to electrically heated flyer suit used at wartime and woolen sweaters they tried a lot of things to keep them dry. In 1953, ultimately they found that the insulating material used on the back of refrigerators, neoprene, can be the right stuff for making their first sensible wetsuit. This idea gave birth to the brand Body Glove.
