Pull boy - wetsuit comparison

I think they're very similar, and for my body position issues, the wetsuit is even better. Congrats on your swim :)

It depends. The PB will help get your legs up and if that is a big issue for you (ie., you have poor body position) then this will be a big help and improve speed. (Raises hand...) But many strong swimmers do not see big gains from using a pull buoy because it is 'correcting' a problem that they do not have. On the other hand, I've never heard of a swimmer who does not swim faster in a (quality, properly fitted) wetsuit. It raises your whole body out of the water, and that makes you swim faster.

Not a strong swimmer here (but not weak at either) and the pull buoy creates extra drag that slows me by about 7sec/100.

I'm actually the same speed in a wetsuit as without - I tested it with intervals from 100 to 500 in a pool. Which was actually a bummer, as I was really hoping for the speed boost that everyone else gets. I still wear the wetsuit in races though - for the warmth, and also just in case I'm faster in OW with it

Beware of the crutch.  I swim all winter and spring in the pool and come late spring I do all my swimming in a lake with a wetsuit.  I did my first swim in two months without a wetsuit and I was very slow.  Like early winter slow.  My hips were also very sore as I could feel myself really struggling to keep my lower body closer to the surface.  I think the wetsuit (and I think the same would apply to a PB) made me lazy and weak from the waist down.  I'm thinking I should have mixed in more pool sessions through the season.

It depends on the wetsuit construction, some are very buoyant, very few are neutral. Even if the companies say they are "balanced" this should read as corrective, and corrective is a problem when the wetsuit overcorrect.

I've only tried one wetsuit and I swam slower than usual, in fact it was a horrible experience because of the corrective buoyancy. In similar conditions, no current, no waves and one month apart, I swam 1:16/100m without wetsuit and 1:22/100m with. But, then, without was for a sprint distance and with was for HIM distance so obviously pacing means the two are not directly comparable.

However, the wetsuit was way more buoyant than a pull buoy and I could hardly tread water, my butt would instantly pop up. This impaired my sighting, I had a hard time getting my head out of the water and ended up swimming almost 300m more than I should on the HIM distance swim, so the wetsuit caused an estimated 3-4min penalty.

The suit has been returned and I won't buy from that company again.

BR

I feel like using the PB and wearing a wetsuit have the same benefit for me. I get a huge boost from both and it drops me from 1:47/100 without on a 500m TT to 1:35/100 with a PB or wetsuit. I have never used the PB in the lake or the wetsuit so the comparison is not perfect.

You may find this interesting http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/07/gear-tech/the-2013-triathlo...

Edited by pschriver 2013-08-09 7:30 AM