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to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit?
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 2012-08-24 6:26 PM |
Expert  1130    Fernandina Beach, FL |  Subject: to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit?Pretty much the question is in the title. I live in FL. Plan on doing most my races in the Southeast (all FL with the exception of HIM Augusta next year) I surf in full suit in the winter and find it can be restricting. Anyway to get the the real question, I have a 70.3 local in October where the water temp should be slightly below wetsuit legal. I'm going to buy a suit for tri's. Is there a huge advantage to wearing a full suit. Would the buoyancy be that big a difference? Or should I just go with comfort and get a sleeveless? FWIW this would be my first tri wetsuit and I'm sure they're more comfortable/less restrictive that 3mm surfing wetsuits. |
| 2012-08-24 7:22 PM in reply to: #4379406 |
Elite 3498 Laguna Beach | Subject: RE: to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit? If you take a look at the majority of swim starts you'll see nearly every athlete is wearing a full wetsuit. There is an initial feeling that a sleeveless may be easier to swim in. While it may be initially, a sleeveless suit does not provide all of the benefits of a full sleeve suit in terms of speed, bouyancy, hydrodynamics and warmth. Many people who initially buy a sleeveless suit eventually go on to buy a fullsuit. Here is some thumbnail "data" (not scientific) I collected for an article I wrote that shows the difference in performance in one isolated swim test I did:
I hope that helps.
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| 2012-08-24 7:29 PM in reply to: #4379451 |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit? Tom Demerly. - 2012-08-24 8:22 PM If you take a look at the majority of swim starts you'll see nearly every athlete is wearing a full wetsuit. There is an initial feeling that a sleeveless may be easier to swim in. While it may be initially, a sleeveless suit does not provide all of the benefits of a full sleeve suit in terms of speed, bouyancy, hydrodynamics and warmth. Many people who initially buy a sleeveless suit eventually go on to buy a fullsuit. Here is some thumbnail "data" (not scientific) I collected for an article I wrote that shows the difference in performance in one isolated swim test I did:
I hope that helps.
Pretty spot on, as most your advice I see on here is. Thanks, full suit it is. |
| 2012-08-24 8:25 PM in reply to: #4379406 |
Champion 9407 Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia | Subject: RE: to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit? Like Tom said, sleeves are faster. More buoyancy and more surface area during the pull will see an athlete swim faster. However, this is contingent on getting a suit that fits and putting it on properly. Lots of athletes have ill fitting wetsuits or don't take the time to put them on properly and as a result, they swim slower and blame it on the wetsuit. Shane |
| 2012-08-24 11:05 PM in reply to: #4379523 |
Expert 769 Alpharetta (until we find a home) | Subject: RE: to go sleeveless or wear a sleeved wetsuit? I guess I am in the ill fitting group - about 5 years ago I got a full wetsuit online (entry 99$ model) as I was starting tris - I did OK with it but found my shoulders would get really tired and my swim cadence went way down. I got a sleeveless this year (wetsuit rental was selling old suits) for 50$. I did set an OLY record for myself on less swim training. I think that a good fit/ good material full wetsuit would be faster for me but I dont have one. As a point of reference - I swim in the 1:20s/100y for pool work , my fullsuit OLY record is 1:29s/100y and my sleeveless is 1:27s/100y and my no wetsuit is 1:35. Not a big difference but I feel fresher after not fighting the shoulders for 25 minutes or so. |
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