First timer advice on wetsuit

messi1900

Hi, I will be competing my first triathlon in the summer and am currently looking to purchase a wetsuit, are there any rules as to the type of wetsuit required or would I be ok with a sleeveless / short sleeve one?

pgibbo

Plenty of people swim with sleeveless wetsuits. No issues using them from what I can tell. As with any wetsuit, the fit is key.

zico10

I think it would be more accurate to say a few people wear sleeveless suits. Unless you're used to swimming in cold water, as the water in Ireland invariably is, I'd recommend you buy a long sleeved suit. For me anyway, even with gloves and booties on, the first few training dips in early May are unpleasant enough. The earlier you're swimming open water in advance of race season, the better. Having only a sleeveless suit would make that first annual swim even less enticing.

As pgibbo says, fit is key, but I still find it hard to believe there is such a well fitting sleeveless suit that it won't let water enter through the shoulder openings. There must be a reason why the majority of pros when they can wear wetsuits, choose to wear full length sleeves.

To the OP; I'm assuming your first race will be in Ireland. There's no danger of you overheating in Irish waters in any type of suit. And even in foreign races where the water temps will be significantly warmer, the majority of the fields opt to wear long sleeved suits. I've swam 3.8k in such a suit in water "officially" measured as being 24.5°C. In all likelihood it was a degree or two higher, but I got through the swim okay. It was uncomfortably hot, but I still wouldn't have chosen to do that swim in a different suit. In a race, you shouldn't be handing any advantage to your fellow competitors, and that's what I feel you'd be doing if you were to swim in a short sleeved or sleeveless wetsuit.

messi1900

Great thanks both for the replies, I will get a full sleeved suit.

pgibbo

I made the assumption that the OP was an OW swimmer that wanted to give tri a go. Anyone I know that uses sleeveless wetsuits in tri are swimmers that are used to swimming in skins in Irish waters and use sleeveless as they think they're not as restrictive and the cold doesn't bother them. I always wondered about the amount of water they would let in.

Kurt.Godel

To the OP- a cheap "surf" wetsuit will do for your first Tri, short arms/legs doesn't matter. After that, you can spend as much as you like (more expensive suits will give you more arm/shoulder freedom) but try on before you buy.

pgibbo wrote: »

I made the assumption that the OP was an OW swimmer that wanted to give tri a go. Anyone I know that uses sleeveless wetsuits in tri are swimmers that are used to swimming in skins in Irish waters and use sleeveless as they think they're not as restrictive and the cold doesn't bother them. I always wondered about the amount of water they would let in.

I've often considered this myself. Anyone I've talked to says the drag from water ingress is negligible, and the shoulder freedom worth it. I wonder if there is another benefit in not having neoprene on the arms- in theory you are fighting against buoyancy ever time you downstroke with covered arms.

joey100

there was an article that touched on this a bit recently enough on slowtwitch. It pretty much said that if you look at all the top swimmers in ITU or Ironman they all wear full sleeved wetsuits, so full sleeved wetsuits are faster. I'm not sure I agree with the reasoning 100% but it does make a point. I don't know if many of the tri wetsuit companies make long john wetsuits anymore so that might be a reason for it, but with the technology and material in wetsuits now I don't think shoulder flexibility is hindered a huge amount in the wetsuit. The newer Roka suits now are designed that they basically pull your arms back into the outfront position from the catch phase, idea is to try and save energy, no idea if it works.

Back to the original question, if it's your first tri do it in a sleeveless one if you have it. If your buying one it all depends on if you see yourself staying in the sport, if you do buy a half decent full sleeve one, if your not sure get something cheap and decide after. The amount of people with shortie wetsuits in their presses after aldi or lidl sold them is huge so you would probably get a lend of one of someone you know even. Fit for the wetsuit is key so make sure it fits half decent, if you think it's too tight it's probably a little small.

griffin100

Kurt.Godel wrote: »

To the OP- a cheap "surf" wetsuit will do for your first Tri, short arms/legs doesn't matter. After that, you can spend as much as you like (more expensive suits will give you more arm/shoulder freedom) but try on before you buy.



I've often considered this myself. Anyone I've talked to says the drag from water ingress is negligible, and the shoulder freedom worth it. I wonder if there is another benefit in not having neoprene on the arms- in theory you are fighting against buoyancy ever time you downstroke with covered arms.

Interesting. You might be fighting buoyancy on the downstroke, but what about the benefits of wetsuit forearm aids like ribbed and dippelled surfaces? My 6 year old Orca Alpha has big forearm patterned panels.

MojoMaker

Aren't they now banned? Not that anyone at a TI race would be likely to spot anything, certainly in the AG ranks.

For the OP, I have a few wetsuits, including a sleeveless one. Fits me like a glove and was relatively cheap and using it I set my best (still modest) 1.9km swim time last year. It doesn't leak at the shoulder, it doesn't leak at the armpit, and swimming in it is an absolute joy if I'm honest. It also whips off really fast getting out of the water.

I don't feel the cold in the open water generally speaking but I'm probably among a minority among folks in triathlon swimming.

I would use the sleeveless suit again in relatively warm water, later season races, or races outside of Ireland in sunnier climes. Having said that I would be happy to wear it in the Barrow during Triathy for example. I also have a small selection of full sleeve suits, including an expensive Huub Archimedes, and all are really nice to swim in too.