Wetsuit is Faster!

Yup, absolutely...I posted something similar a while back, the wetsuit is just night-and-day faster for me as well.  I'm about a 1:50-1:54 swimmer over 1 mile without the wetsuit, but about 1:34-1:38 with the wetsuit.  And I'd say the effort level is even a greater discrepancy than you mentioned: for me I'd but it at RPE 4 vs. RPE 6. 

Anyway, from what I've heard and read most people experience something similar--maybe not 22 seconds, but certainly faster with the wetsuit. 

In open water, I measured 1 minute improvement per 750m. So 2 minutes in an Oly.

I did it several times and got pretty consistent numbers.

It is definitely faster.  Your body is naturally buoyant in the chest area, but tends to sink starting at the hips and continuing down to the feet.  This creates tremendous drag, unless you expend energy kicking those legs (not necessarily a good idea in longer distance tris). 

I find the wetsuit like lying on a surfboard.  I'm about 30 seconds faster per 100 meters using a wetsuit. And, I expend less energy.  It's almost like cheating.

Wow, that's a big improvement.  I would settle for half of that.  Do you think it helped to correct your position in the water or something?

Surfboard effect is the best way to describe it, I think. All that air cell rubber on my torso, hips , legs just floats me into a horozontal position with very little effort. I read a swim tip one time that reinforced the importance of staying horizontal to avoid the hydrodynamic drag that comes from your legs falling even a few degrees lower than your head.... it's true.

I think most everyone understands wetsuits are faster ... except some newbs who are concerned about the restriction (be sure to tell them) ... but I was really surprised how much faster.

It's also safer, with the extra buoyancy, I suppose. In fact I thnk USAT should consider allowing amateur men/women a 5mm jammer (waist to knee) or women a 5mm one-peice regardless of water temp, just to offset some of the anxiety that new racers experience when they jump into OW with sixty or seventy of their best friends, all kicking and flailing!

If you have never done a side-by-side wetsuit vs no wetsuit, it is an interesting drill.

That's where I am hoping to find an increase as well.  I have experimented with body position and I find that I can only float on my stomach if I extend my arms and tuck my head down to where I am almost looking behind me.  Proportionally, I have a heavy lower body so I'm hoping that the wetsuit helps for now. In the meantime, I keep looking for an instructor.

Thanks for throwing me a bit of optimism. 

... so I went back today, to try to get a little more information. I swam two separate 1000 meter time trials, with about fifteen minutes between, and logged splits every 200 meters by clicking my watch. The difference between wetsuit and no wetsuit was surprising to me, again.

1000m 19:18 with wetsuit
200 meter Splits
3:38.09 (*this was fast, so probably best replace with average split 3:52)
3:53.67
3:54:63
3:58:50
3:53:82
*Modified total 1000 meter with 3:52 first split = 19:32

1000 meter 23:58 without wetsuit
200 meter Splits
4:27:98
4:32:16
4:34:30
4:37:14
4:36:26

Overall, no splits under 4:27 without wetsuit, and no splits slower than 3:59 minutes with. Without wetsuit, the average was about 4:34 per 200m. With wetsuit, the average (* deleting the one fast split and replacing with average split) was about 3:55. Even subtracting 3% (10seconds) from the "no westuit" trial splits to accomodate for the fact that I swam this after the "wetsuit" trial and was probably a little tired, and you come up with 24 seconds difference per split, or just over three minutes for a 1500 meter Olympic race.

So wear the wetsuit!

X2. Same my legs are huge, 24 inches around widest part, not from weight just genetics built me that way and years of weight lifting, I have such a hard time keeping my hips up because of this and it slows me down alot! Joining a masters class soon I think maybe that will make the difference. If not after reading this Im  definately inspired to get in some sort of flotation gear.