When to wear a wetsuit
163
Member
1622 days
Kevo posted 3 years ago.
Of course I live in the South so anything below 70 is cold to us. ;) It should really depend on the length of the race. How long will you be in the water? How good are you at taking the wetsuit off? Those are some of the things I would look at for now. If the swim is 400 to 800 and you can take the cold H2O then go without. The time you save not having to take it off will help your T1 and overall times. My opinion only!
"You can quit and they don't care, but you will always know."
23
Member
1356 days
SBstockybitch posted 3 years ago.
Ah, yes the wetsuite dilemma. As a former beach lifeguard, and avid open water swimmer I have my degree range/ wetsuit wearing scale down pretty good.
First, how long is the swim in your race? Longer- more time in water, and less time relative in the transitions, so a wetsuit is definitely worth it. I'd say olympic or above- def. wear one.
Second, what is the air temp? If the air temp is hot, like above 70, the wetsuit is less needed.
Third, are you comfortable in a wetsuit? What kind do you have? There are sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve, bib pants with a top, etc. Wear chafing gel around your neck and armpits and practice practice practice getting the darm thing off.
Fourth, how much body fat do you have? If you have over 20, you'll be fine at anything above 62 w/o a suit, 15-20 percent, i'd say 65 is the cutoff, 10-15 percent 70 is the cutoff, 5-10 %, 75 cutoff, and below 5- stop training and eat some ice cream.
Okay so temps:
above 80: you will burn into a crisp if you wear anything but a speedo
78: the legal boundary for wetsuits, but still, you will burn up
75: short sleeve if anything, but in my opinon, lame- don't wear one.
70: short sleeve for sure
65: wetsuit is probably needed, you could get by with short sleeve but all the othertriathletes will probably be wearing fulls
60: starting to get chilly; wear a full
58: full
55: full + head cap
below 55- not possible. triathletes are too pansy to swim in this cold of water. sorry but it's true.
Wetsuits are also faster. the keep you more buoyant. Yet on the other hand, as a compettive swimmer my whole life, i find that the wetsuit slows down my turnover rate and i rarely wear them unless it's below 63 degrees and over 1k of a distance.
but most triathlete will find any excuse to wear them as they think it saves their legs for the bike and the run.
Happy Training!
-SB
"The world breaks everyone and, afterward, many are strong at the broken places." -Ernest Hemingway
2
Member
1354 days
davidbr93 posted 3 years ago.
I wear mine at any race where it is legal. In the temps your talking about I would definitely recommend it. If you have not used one in the past you will be suprised at how much faster you will be. Basically the wetsuit helps compensate for the poor postion most beginning swimmer have. I would also recommend swimming in the wetsuit prior to the race. When I started using a wetsuit years back, I noticed my lower back would cramp up during long swims. Not suprising as my butt is much higher in the water with the suit. Since then I do some swim sets in practice with a pull bouy. This helps simulate the position I would have in a wetsuit. Good luck.
Whipping a horse makes it smart, not smarter
849
Member
1489 days
catwood posted 3 years ago.
As a competitive swimmer my whole life too (and also at school in boston) I just don't have a wetsuit.... I'll probably get one within the next year or two, but 60-65 degrees sounds a tad chilly.... Not cold enough for me to give up on a tri because I don't have a wetsuit.... but still cold. You might want to try swimming in the lake first and checking how you feel....
Hi all!
I am new to tris, and have a ton of questions. I am in the Las Vegas, Nv area, and plan to do my first sprint in late April. They say the water temp is expected to be 60-65. I don't really know at what temp I would benifit from a wetsuit. I think I would rather be in tri shorts and a tank. The thought of taking it off doesn't sound like fun to me. I was thinking that I should warm up pretty quickly in that temp, what do you think? What temps are considered cold? Since wetsuits are allowed, I guess its personal preference.
Thanks
Tanya