It seems that people can’t get enough of U.S rower Henrik Rummel and his bulge, seen as the U.S. men’s fours won a bronze medal in rowing at the London Olympics. It’s been all over the Internet and was featured on the shows of both John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Check out this great article by openly gay rowing coach Charley Sullivan explaining the physiology behind it all and laying the focus on the uniforms worn by the athletes. He bemoans the fact that all anyone can talk about is not the rowing itself, but whether Rummel had an erection (he says no). But it’s not just rowing.

In scanning photos from the Games, the bulge phenomena occurs in any sport where jocks wear skin-tight, often one-piece uniforms, including diving, wrestling and track and field. We see it most in rowing because many of the athletes get their awards still in their uniforms. Here is a sample from London.

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