Tri It at Lake Chestermere - water temp?

They just move the race from Coral Springs out there this year due to construction.  Wetsuit= yes. Always use one if you can.

Will be interesting how they run it out there. Probably a better race though than in the city.

Thanks Trevor.

I'm pretty new to triathlon and was just saying to my wife that I didn't really think I would use a wetsuit enough to justify buying one.  However, if I sign up for Chestermere it will be my third weekend wetsuit rental this summer.  I might need to rethink my rent versus buy decision.

Don

never heard the pantyhose thing. As a guy, ummmm that would be freaky. If you want a really good trick, get an empty bread bag and put your foot it in. Then pop your foot into the wetsuit. Slides in nice and easy.

I signed up - thanks for the lake reports.  I use the plastic bag trick for putting on wetsuits.

Don

I had this exact problem my first open water race and am still working on it... what I have found was that I just really needed time in the open water. It is totally different to pool swim.

As for the suit I've made a point of REALLY working it upwards as much as humanly possible so I have a much room as possible around the chest/shoulders but for me the inability to breathe was more panic and anxiety than caused by the suit and time and experience are the only things fixing it.

Royalfreedom - Have you tried an open water swim without a wetsuit?  Do you know how much of your difficulty is the wet suit and how much is OWS in general?  I'm dealing with similar anxieties about OWS and I actually like the wetsuit but there's something about the strangeness of the environment that I find hard to deal with.  Head up doing breast stroke is pleasant; head down, swim-hard freestyle freaks me out a little.

I've done three open water swims this year and I was beginning to think that I had it all figured out, but between swims 2 and 3 I regressed.  I was very glad that I did a practice run before my first race.

Quarry Lake (Canmore) practice run - totally freaked - 75% breast stroke

Quarry Lake Canmore Olympic triathlon - better than I expected - 1% breast stroke

Chestermere Sprint triathlon - 15% breast stroke - somewhat disappointing

I so know what you are talking about! Bought a good(i think) wetsuit(zoot on sale for $400). Managed about 30 minutes swimming(15 minutes each time) in it before the race in Invermere. I am a fairly strong swimmer but during my Olympic race I felt constricted in the shoulders and I tired easily. Came out of the water disappointed as I was doing breaststroke every 100 meters  it seemed. Still managed a decent time for my first Olympic. I am trying to get out and do more practice OWS. Will be in Shushwap for the next week, hoping to practice every day in it. Hoping it is a matter of "breaking in" the suit and getting used to it...Next tri is an Olympic at Miquelon Lake Aug. 21. Will report back then...