Euan Latimer: SKINS Helps College Athlete Elevate His Game
Euan Latimer is a rising first-year at University of California - Los Angeles and will be a member of the men’s rugby team. Rugby has been a part of his life ever since he can remember, dating back to when his dad introduced him to the sport 14 years ago while living in Kuala Lumpur. Moving to the U.S. was a big cultural shock, especially when he realized that the popularity of rugby was much less than it was in Malaysia. But Euan was able to find not just one, but several competitive teams over the past few years. The team that he has spent the most time with has been Back Bay Rugby Football Club out of Newport Beach, CA. He also tried out for the Academy team, ERA, which has allowed him to travel all over the world for rugby several times. Last year, the team traveled around Ireland playing games and did the same thing this year in Spain.
He has had many memorable experiences because of rugby, but nothing as impactful as winning the high school championship during his senior year. One of the ways he overcame the inaccessibility of rugby in the US compared to Malaysia was starting the rugby team at his school. In a few short years, he helped the team elevate to a championship caliber club.
Rugby, like many other sports, requires a lot of training to be able to compete at a high level. Euan spends countless hours improving his game per week, from lifts to practices to extra training sessions. Looking for any competitive advantage, Euan was recommended to SKINS by a coach two years ago. He remembers seeing kids wearing SKINS while still in Malaysia, but did not try the compression garments until he was told they would help his performance and recovery.
He has continued using SKINS, especially for recovery. Some days after training, he feels like he “just got hit by a bus”. SKINS helps him mitigate the pain and soreness that he feels to make sure he is ready to train the next day. The garments have been especially helpful on the training trips when he is expected to be at his best day after day.
Euan is planning on continuing to use SKINS throughout his time at UCLA to make sure he is always able to train and recover fully. He is excited to start in the fall as a first year Economics student.
