Surfing Wetsuit? Will it work

I would guess water will be 67-74.  Centennial Lake could be colder, but hasn't been recently.  You could swim sans wetsuit.  The surf suit may help keep you a bit warmer, but it's not desgned for swimming in and it won't help nearly as much for bouancy (the real reason most triathletes typically wear a wetsuit).

I'm barely familiar with wet suits, much less surf suits, but I can imagine surf suits are not made with the flexibilty on the shoulder area and may tire you very quickly? Just a thought.

to keep you warmer yes, but it WILL be harder to swim as it will slow you down

I believe there is a website rentawetsuit.com Someone posted it in another thread.

try Bonzai (Falls Church, VA)

Edited by JohnnyKay 2007-02-02 12:33 PM

FYI: I've done columbia the last 3 years. Water temps have been above 70 each time. Being in a wetsuit I was very warm, almost uncomfortably so. It easily could have been done w/out a wetsuit at all.

Tri-Speed is probably the closest wetsuit rental to Columbia:

http://tri-speed.com/tri-services-wetsuitrental.html

Not "local" but www.wetsuitrentals.com will get a wetsuit to you in a couple of days, weeks ahead of time, for about $40 plus return shipping.

I don't see why you can't do a tri in a surfing wet suit. Surfers do need to paddle on the board to get out to their destination, it's made out of neoprine, so it will be buoyant, just not the fancy extra bouancy in the feet the some tri -specific suits have.

I would be more concerned about using a tri suit ti surf in, because tri specific suits have a very slick and easily damaged surface that would get torn up on a board.

Just put your wet suit on and go for a swim and see how it feels.

I wouldn't spend any money renting or buying a new one until you see how you like it. Plus, if the water really is 70 degrees you won't need one.

I do sprints and olympics in my surfer "shorty" suit...never a problem (I am MOP). Just do some long swims beforehand to make sure it works for you.

I have the same setup. It is restrictive to the arms, and I get a little tired on the swim because of it, but it keeps me warm and somewhat buoyant.

As mentioned above, try (tri) it on a test run and see what happens...

I used a shorty sleeveless paddling wetsuit for my first season and a half. I tested it versus swimming without a wetsuit and it allowed me to swim almost the same time as without the wetsuit (always a little faster 1-2"/100) and definitely warmer. It won't give you all the benefits of a swimming wetsuit but it is definitely worth testing to see if you can swim in it.

Shane

Thanks guys... I'll have to give it a try again.  I hope it fits!  I haven't tried it on for few seasons.  Maybe I can SELL it and take that cash and save it towards a good wetsuit or rental.