How cold is too cold with no wetsuit?

Purely a personal comfort level thing.  The general consensus seems to be that if it's legal, then wear it because more often than not you are faster in one.  For me, anything .5 mile and over I would wear if it were legal.  If I'm in a sprint with, let's say a 500 yard swim and the water is 73 degrees, then I wouldn't wear it.  But that's me.

important to know that you can get hypothermia in any water that is colder than your normal body temperature if you're in it long enough... i've seen in the news stories of individuals getting hypothermia in the 85 degree tropical water.  I don't think there is a "break even" temperature

My first open water swim was with a group of swimmers that don't wear wetsuits above 60.  The water was 63.    One of the guys jokingly told me to wear the wetsuit because it will be easier to find my body if I didn't make it back!  They sure know how to put a guy that was nervous about his first open water swim at ease.  These guys are purely open water distance swimmers though.  None of them do tris. 

this doesNOT mean they need more practice. The shorter the race, the less time you can save in the water.  No matter the distance of the race - you always have T1.

if you save 3 seconds per hundred you save 15 seconds in a 500, 26 seconds in half mile.  

if with your wetsuit you unzip and pull off your arms while running - even if your are an expert at doing it - you will go slower than someone doing a dead sprint.  just the fact it is adding weight and resticting your legs (even a little) adds time -THEN in Trans IF everything goes PERFECT you still need to get it off.  doing it with your feet while you put on your helmet and glasses fluidly still takes more time than just putting on your helmet.  I am going to guess that with a PERFECT execution of wetsuit removal you add 15-30 sec from water exit to no wetsuit on.  

so you are right that it needs practiced but most people will be faster sans wetsuit in a 500 - people who are REALLY good at wetsuit removal AND need some bouancy assist in the swim could do a half mile but for most people it really is not much if any time savings.

i am not sure why wetsuits are allowed period in tris - it ieems like a way to provide an unfair advantage (above half mile).  We already have extreme differences in bikes - do we need to make tri's a sport that only the rich can compete?

Edited by bruehoyt 2009-07-30 7:53 AM

You are losing more than 15 seconds in transition

Going by the tritech tri results - I was the 48th fastest swimmer after leaving T1 I was in 21st place. This was an early season 700m open water swim - probably 2/3 of the people in front of me had wetsuits

Going by Columbus Challenge 700m OWS last week I was the 7th swimmer had the fastest T1 and gained 11 seconds on the guy I ultimately beat for 3rd overall at the finish. He had a great swim time - I am sure his suit contributed. Most of the other males in the top ten lost 26 secs (2 guys lost a lot more). Did these guys save 26 seconds with the suit? very possibly. But breaking even does not equal saving energy. They worked as hard as they could to do that time. Whether someone save energy but going 80% or 90% is a choice. I personally go at a fairly relaxed pace in the swim because going at 90% nets 1:20s and going 80% nets 1:25s with strength for T1 and bike.

So unless you own one and practice with one and are going half a mile or more it is just another thing that can go wrong and won't save time.

If people are saving time (half mile and up) because of equipment it should not be allowed.

Edited by bruehoyt 2009-07-30 9:50 AM

I read an article one time about a triathlete who used the cold swim water to drop her core body temp.  She claimed this paid her big dividends on the bike.

I'm not sure I believe this or not....seems to be one would be warmed back up after about a mile or two of hard biking.

I won't wear a wetsuit unless there are icebergs floating in the water!  I like the feeling of the water.  They also tend to make me motion sick as I bob around like a cork.

~Mike

For 99% of people out there, it indeed does mean they need to practice taking off the wetsuit.  Because that three second number you throw out there is low, and the guess of 30 seconds to take a wetsuit off with perfect execution?  No way.  If :20 gets added to my T1 because of taking off the wetsuit, that's on the high side.