Choosing a wetsuit for pacific conditions
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jnrice posted 27 weeks ago.
hmmmm.. what was the water temp? if you are getting hypothermia in a wetsuit it sounds like you are in seriously cold water or something else is up. did you wear a neoprene cap, booties etc? I've take my Zoot into a glacial lake and swam for about 1/2 hr with no problems, yeah I was cold, but then again i could throw a rock and hit a glacier. I'd be surprised if many people are swimming in more than that in the pacific. is there more to this story or is this all we have to go on? It should be noted that I have NEVER swam in the pacific so I can't speak from experience. :(
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mausoldj posted 27 weeks ago.
The water temperature was 57 degrees and the air temperature was 57 temperature with heavy fog/moisture in the air. I was wearing an old 3mm wetsuit I have used in Florida for the past four years and a blueseventy skullcap. I did a practice clinic on August 28th in Pacific Grove at the same site and swam half the distance I did today and only had a strong headache afterwards. The air temperature was 67, no fog in the air, and it was low-tide (the water is warmer at low-tide).
After the swim today, I raced up to T1, changed out of my wetsuit, dried off my arms and legs, put on a heavy jacket. Began to notice the first signs when I was confused what was going on during the first lap of the bike leg and had trouble just keeping my balance. I made the decision to pull out at the end of the first lap.
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paganopj posted 27 weeks ago.
That sounds like it could be a bonk too.
Just keep spinning....spinning, spinning....uh, do I know you?
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jnrice posted 27 weeks ago.
It might have been hypothermia, but the tricky part is that I have not seen many off the shelf tri suits that had much for thickness. it looks like USAT does require a racer to wear a wetsuit unless the water is below 78F and I think it's about 70F where you need to really start thinking about hypothermia so I'd hope that you can work into the 50's with wetsuit. If you want to talk to some people who know their wetsuits give the guys at Promotion Wetsuits a call. I stopped into their shop and they must of had 40 different types of wetsuits for every conceivable activity and situation. Sorry i don't have any more specific information for you.
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CadenceGuy posted 27 weeks ago.
I wore an AquaMan Gold suit in May with the water temp being 58 degrees and was more then comfortable. Best wetsuit I have ever swam in hands down.
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jnrice posted 26 weeks ago.
Interesting wetsuits. I'd like to try an Aquaman suit. My trick to stay warm is to just work like a dog in the water.
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GGehrke posted 26 weeks ago.
Any water temperature below body temp (98ish) will induce hypothermia after some amount of time... However, 57 shouldn't unless you were in there for a REALLY long time. That doesn't mean you weren't cold, just not actually hypothermic.
Anyways, I swam in the Monterey Bay every couple days in 2008 and routinely checked temps of 52-55 degrees. I use a DeSoto Black Pearl wetsuit (two piece, full length) and love it. I also use a DeSoto cap. The only issues I ever had were with my hands, but that just took some getting used to.
For reference, I'm also a rescue swimmer with the Navy, and my official issue cold water suit is very similar to my DeSoto. One of the benefits is that you get two layers of protection around your core.
Another thought is that if you're still wet when you get on the bike you will get even colder. As the water evaporates off your body in the wind, it takes a LOT of heat with it. I would strongly consider drying off at T1. The extra couple seconds will pay dividends in comfort.
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wirebook posted 26 weeks ago.
Out of curiosity, how fast and/or hard were you swimming? There's some really interesting articles out there around this - but in short they basically say that if you're working at a moderate pace while swimming in cold water, you're not going to go into a hypothermic state.
-Ray
Tri Blog: Http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com
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Brianwake posted 24 weeks ago.
Check out the new Water Rover by De Soto. I just saw it advertised on slowtwitch.com, and while not thick throughout, it does have a lot more rubber than most suits.
I'd like to ask for a favor on an issue I'm having. Today, I did not finish the Pacific Grove Triathlon due to hypothermia. I wore a 3mm wetsuit and blueseventy cap and I'm 22 years old, 6ft. 3in., 156lbs, and 9% body fat. The water temperature was 57 degrees. This was the first time swimming in a triathlon in the Pacific.
The triathlon specific wetsuits I've found from Orca, Blueseventy, and 2xu have been thin (between 1-3.8mm thick), not enough to keep me warm in the Pacific and prevent hypothermia. I believe 5-7mm will be thick enough to keep my internal body temperature warm enough. What full wetsuits are within this size range that provide some measure of flexibility?
Thank you for your advice, I'd like to avoid having this experience again if I can.
David