Ricky Berens Splits Swimsuit, Bares Butt At World Championships (NSFW PHOTOS)

US Swimmer and Beijing relay gold medalist Ricky Berens tore the back of his swimsuit in a qualifying heat of the 4x100m relay freestyle on Sunday during the World Swimming Championships in Rome. Shortly before stepping up to the starting block, the University of Texas senior leaned down to stretch and his suit tore.

"I kind of freaked out for just a second," Berens said. "I felt like [the hole] was almost down to my knees. I felt like I was putting on a pretty good show."

He did. And the US qualified for finals and won. Photos of Michael Phelps and the victory here.

PHOTOS:

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Comments

[johara95]

08:14 AM on 08/04/2009

We should have known about ricky's assests way back at day five of the Bejing Games.

see attached below


http://www­.zimbio.co­m/pictures­/NMVqmEPfP­qm/Olympic­s+Day+5+Sw­imming/olV­35M161KB/R­icky+Beren­s

[Kimi HIAPO-MATTHEWS]

11:04 PM on 08/17/2009

Thank you so much for this link. :)

[rick91]

02:04 PM on 07/31/2009

I'm glad that HP is getting to the BOTTOM of this important story.
With pics!

[kittyarmy]

07:24 PM on 07/30/2009

That's funny! But do we really need close-up shots of his crack?

[John Jacoby]

11:11 PM on 08/01/2009

Um...Yes!

[sloreader]

06:36 PM on 07/30/2009

If his "split" was faster than normal his lo-tech "birthday suit" could become all the rage...

[KaPi]

04:44 PM on 07/30/2009

It's one of those "high-tech­" swimsuits.­..high-tec­h enough to have thermostat­ically controlled AC. Apparently the thermostat kicked on just before the race.

[yankeetwo]

04:36 PM on 07/30/2009

Not only is that funny, but it's perfectly natural and normal, too, to show one's body, even in public. Americans, more than almost any other nationalit­y or group, are SO unnaturall­y ashamed of our bodies! Ricky Berens has NO cause for shame, whatsoever­! In fact, possessing a pretty GOOD body, as most swimmers do, he has some cause for pride. Not that I think those of us with less IDEAL bodies have any less cause for pride. ALL bodies are beautiful in their own ways.

Nudity should be permitted and appreciate­d in the US, at least on beaches and other suitable places. There is nothing prurient or obscene about a naked human body, or at least there wouldn't be if (public) nakedness were more commonplac­e. The only thing obscene is the observer who apparently HAS a prurient interest in nakedness, and who objects to it to the point of violating the freedom of others to be naked, in public, if they so choose.

The laws against nudity are truly much sicker than nudity ever could be.

[HarrietteTheSpy]

04:46 PM on 07/30/2009

great post. and the ethos probably creates a lot of unwanted objectific­ation and fixation on body parts such as women's breasts. sometimes I think there are laws to keep women covered just so SOME men (not you) can get their rocks off... let people be natural and watch how sexual obsession / addiction is mitigated too.

peace and love, hts

[larmarch5]

02:40 PM on 07/31/2009

I teach a water fitness class for people with arthritis, disabiliti­es or injuries. The biggest barrier the women must overcome is getting into and out of their swimsuits, much more difficult than men's trunks. I wish we could have a nude option class for them.

[mvonkroeker]

04:19 PM on 07/30/2009

Oh, c'mon!! I'm doing this every couples days... and nobody makes a big stink about it!!!

[yankeetwo]

04:17 PM on 07/30/2009

THAT is funny!

[Rapier]

03:15 PM on 07/30/2009

Also side-split­ting

http://oft­hisandthat­.org/Speci­ealNews.ht­ml

Perfect political descriptio­ns!

[obamaluv]

02:19 PM on 07/30/2009

but

[kepary]

02:14 PM on 07/30/2009

more hard hitting news from the huffington post

[eden4barack08]

02:23 PM on 07/30/2009

Can you spell E N T E R T A I N M E N T ?

[NoMoreInsanity]

01:13 PM on 07/30/2009

Wow...I'm going to start swimming again.

[hollandjwm]

12:38 PM on 07/30/2009

Is anyone EVER going to complain about this? Swimmers have some of the most physically perfect bodies in the world.

[Rosemary43]

12:18 PM on 07/30/2009

I think his rear is rather beautiful. I do feel bad if he suffered any embarrassm­ent.

[Mychaeltodd Robinson]

12:05 PM on 07/30/2009

Maybe this can become a online bathing suit for sale.